Richard T. Ely Quotes
There is within man an ethical feeling ... telling us that in our economic life as well as elsewhere we must seek to promote the welfare of our neighbor and brother.
Richard T. Ely, 1854-1943, Economist, Introduction to Political Economy, 1889
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
Normally, this would not be a particularly noteworthy quotation. However, at the time the Republican Party had shifted far to the right–more so than at any other time since its inception. The primary election he was in brought out the most right wing members of the party, which was for gutting the social safety net, did not see health care as a right, and even wanted to terminate Obamacare and Social Security as it existed. Yet when asked in a nationwide TV interview, what the government should do for the poor and destitute who could not afford health care or other necessities. His courageous answer and position doomed his bid for the presidential nomination.
This type of quotation is what makes Pareto very difficult to classify along the classic political spectrum. Although a law and order type conservative, he twists the classic moral dilemma that the French philosophers made so much of, to put the onus to feed the starving man on society as a whole.
This kind of ethical and moral commitment to others who are need distinguished Kasich from most Republicans of his time.
Richard Theodore Ely was an American economist, author, and leader of the Progressive movement who called for more government intervention in order to reform what they perceived as the injustices of capitalism, especially regarding factory conditions, compulsory education, child labor, and labor unions.
