W. H. Auden Quotes
It is already possible to imagine a society in which the majority of the population, that is to say, its laborers, will have almost as much leisure as in earlier times was enjoyed by the aristocracy. When one recalls how aristocracies in the past actually behaved, the prospect is not cheerful.
Auden, W. H. The Dyer's Hand and Other Essays. Random House, 1962, p. 77.
Paine was totally wrong on this count. It is true that monarchy and aristocracy were never the same as they had been, but the American and French Revolutions were catalysts for the monarchs and aristocrats to reform. In a Darwinian sense, monarchy and aristocracy evolved, and the early members would hardly recognize the modern aristocracy of Britain and other European countries that still have them and the Constitutional monarchs of today have almost evolved into a new specie.
This was published after he died.
This is also true in modern politics where almost all petitions and demonstrations are also the apprehension of loss of rights. This is true even when parties contest as in 2011 where the Tea Party and the Occupy Movement both were outraged that they were losing their rights, and in a different ways, both were.
First non-Congress Party governor of an Indian State (Communist)
Armstrong was a Union military chaplain with the troops that had captured Petersburg, Virginia. Of particular interest in this quotation is his report on the attitude of the poor whites after the war had destroyed the economy of the area and reduced the former wealthy aristocrats to poverty.
At the beginning of the 21st century there were substantial demographic changes in America which eroded the majority historically held in America by White Christians. A smaller proportion of the American population were identifying with any religion. At the same time that Blacks and Hispanics were a larger proportion of new immigrants than were whites. And those minority groups both had a fertility rate that was substantially grater than that of whites. The result was that in the early 21st century the white Christians were losing their majority status in America.
Wystan Hugh Auden was an Anglo-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in tone, form, and content. Some of his best known poems are about love, such as "Funeral Blues"; on political and social themes, such as "September 1, 1939" and "The Shield of Achilles"; on cultural and psychological themes, such as The Age of Anxiety; and on religious themes such as "For the Time Being" and "Horae Canonicae".
