Arnold J. Toynbee Quotes
Since Mill, in 1848, wrote his chapter on the future of the working classes, the question of the distribution of wealth has be-come of still greater importance. We cannot look round on the political phenomena of to-day without seeing that this question is at the root of them. We see the perplexity in which men stand, and the divisions springing up in our great political parties, because of the uncertainty of politicians how to grapple with it.
We are still grappling with the distribution of wealth issue.
Arnold J. Toynbee, 1852–1883, English Economic Historian, Uncle of Arnold J. Toynbee, the English Historian, Lectures on the Industrial Revolution of the 18th Century in England
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At the time English democracy was still suspect especially among the aristocracy.
She was writing about the textile mills of Manchester, England in the Industrial Revolution. Workers’ wages were so low that many of them could not feed themselves and their family decently
In modern America, there are two political views of this notion. The one held by a small majority of the population is Trenchard’s quotation taken literally. Their view is that there if the is no way to maintain liberty if there is too wide a gap between the rich and the rest of the population. The second variant, held by many conservatives limits the equality to equality of opportunity. They are loathe to take any position that says that any gap between the rich and the remainder of the citizens might be too large. They would particularly disagree with the first sentence of another Trenchard quotation, {627024}.
The only publication with a full time Poverty beat
Worry about the disproportional power of the rich is not a modern concern, but was a concern from the very beginning of the nation. There was a belief that if there were a legislative body representing the entire population the rich would tend to dominate it. The solution that England had found was a bicameral Parliament—a House of Lords representing the wealthy and the powerful and the House of Commons, representing the bulk of the people. America followed suit but never did have the class distinction of England.
Arnold Joseph Toynbee CH FBA was a British historian, a philosopher of history, an author of numerous books and a research professor of international history at the London School of Economics and King's College London. From 1918 to 1950, Toynbee was considered a leading specialist on international affairs.
