Awaiting the Awakening of the Forgotten Man

American Thinker ^ | February 18, 2009 | Lee Cary

[vietvet67]

It took less than a month for the default leadership style of President Obama to appear. How long will it take for the forgotten man who believed in him to awaken to the consequences?

Millions of votes cast by the forgotten man helped elected Barack Obama. Many among those postulated that, if elected, he would govern from the center. Some conjectured that he would, once in office, distance himself from the most liberal in his party, and convert his campaign promises into more moderate actions. He would, many a forgotten man thought, bring a refreshing breeze of bipartisan collegiality to a redundantly strident political environment.

One forgotten man I know speculated that Congress, with at least one chamber controlled by Republicans, would be a brake on Obama plans that aimed too far left. 

Many a forgotten man heard Obama's promises to control spending, cut taxes and bring fiscal responsibility, and liked what they heard.  They heard his plans for huge federal government initiatives in, for example, health care and education. And they accepted most as worthy issues that would, over time, be openly debated and vetted on their merit by the body politic. Voters would have, they were told and believed, many opportunities to register their thoughts and ideas via that most avant garde of public forums, on-line.

They presupposed that he would make good on his promise to post pending legislation five days (then it was two) before congressional votes (then none). He would appoint no lobbyists to his administration. Ethics would rule supreme - except in matters of paying one's taxes.  He would scour the nation for the best and brightest and not rely on the same old Inside-the-Beltway denizens to walk the halls of his administration. But they're back.

Many a forgotten man listened, and liked what they heard. Obama sold them.

And when the votes were counted, many among the forgotten men breathed a sigh of relief that, at last, long-awaited change had come.   

Now, less than a month in office, in the wake of the fast, forced-feeding of a gigantic spending bill that no member of Congress is known to have even read, one wonders if any among the forgotten man has awakened to the consequences of what has happened, and will happen.

Economist and New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has repeatedly called upon President Obama to be the reincarnation of FDR, but more aggressively active for bigger government. Krugman wants a newer New Deal on steroids. He titled one of his articles "Franklin Delano Obama."    

It was FDR who first appealed to the cause of the forgotten man in national politics. It happened on April 7, 1932 during a radio address from Albany, New York. Running for what would be his first of four presidential terms, FDR said,  

"These unhappy times call for the building of plans that rest upon the forgotten, the unorganized but the indispensable units of economic power, for plans like those of 1917 that build from the bottom up and not from the top down, that put their faith once more in the forgotten man at the bottom of the economic pyramid."

Later in that speech, he leveraged class envy and juxtaposed the small forgotten man to the large banks and corporations, saying,

"Here should be an objective of Government itself, to provide at least as much assistance to the little fellow as it is now giving to the large banks and corporations. That is another example of building from the bottom up."          

So, for FDR, the forgotten man was the "little fellow" oppressed by rich bankers and corporations. He, if elected president, would rescue the forgotten man from "an emergency at least equal to that of war."

Truth be known, Roosevelt didn't invent the notion of the forgotten man. That's credited to William Graham Sumner (1840-1910), a Yale professor. In an essay entitled "On the Case of a Certain Man who Is Never Thought Of" (1884), Sumner began with this definition of the original Forgotten Man.

"The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man.

For once let us look him up and consider his case, for the characteristic of all social doctors is that they fix their minds on some man or group of men whose case appeals to the sympathies and the imagination, and they plan remedies addressed to the particular trouble; they do not understand that all the parts of society hold together and that forces which are set in action act and react throughout the whole organism until an equilibrium is produced by a readjustment of all interests and rights.

They therefore ignore entirely the source from which they must draw all the energy which they employ in their remedies, and they ignore all the effects on other members of society than the ones they have in view. They are always under the dominion of the superstition of government, and forgetting that a government produces nothing at all, they leave out of sight the first fact to be remembered in all social discussion - that the state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man, and this latter must be a man who has produced and saved it. This latter is the Forgotten Man."

So the first Forgotten Man was not a subject of governmental pity, but the pocketbook for government charity to "others of whom they make pets."

"The friends of humanity start out with certain benevolent feelings towards ‘the poor,' ‘the weak,' ‘the laborers,' and others of whom they make pets. They generalize these classes and render them impersonal, and so constitute the classes into social pets. They turn to other classes and appeal to sympathy and generosity and to all the other noble sentiments of the human heart. Action in the line proposed consists in a transfer of capital from the better off to the worse off....

All schemes for patronizing ‘the working classes' savor of condescension. They are impertinent and out of place in this free democracy. There is not, in fact, any such state of things or any such relation as would make projects of this kind appropriate. Such projects demoralize both parties, flattering the vanity of one and undermining the self-respect of the other."

While the New Deal was a good faith effort to bring aid to FDR's forgotten man, New Deal initiatives helped lengthened the time that Sumner's forgotten man suffered through the Great Depression, despite repeated assertions to the contrary by Krugman's selective reading of history.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president in 1933 there were 12,830,000 (24.74%) unemployed Americans. Five years later, in 1938, after a myriad of legislative and programmatic New Deal initiatives, there were 10,390,000 (18.91%) unemployed Americans. That year the nation was in the midst of a new recession within the longer-running Great Depression. It was also the year my father had to hock his only winter coat so that he and my mother could eat.

Most of Sumner's forgotten men and women who voted for Barack Obama, who will pay the expanded interest on the nation's new debt burden, have yet to awaken. A few have. Sadly, some never will.  But to many, an awakening will eventually come, after time, and considerable pain. But it will come.

[all the best]

May Obama become the forgotten man.

[JRios1968]

May Obama become the forgotten man.

No. For this Nation to make real progress, we will need to make sure everyone remembers who, why and how got bamboozled into trusting a Socialist with the power to tax and spend us into oblivion.

Part of the problem is, too many have forgotten what 4 years of Jimmy Carter did...let us never forget.

[gunnyg]

“Awaiting the Awakening of the Forgotten Man “
********************

Your “forgotten man” voters are not just honest mistakes—they represent votes of people sympathetic to the commie way of life, the same who wanted a king in George Wahington, a “sugar daddy,” a “free lunch,” a free ride, etc.
The poor will always be with us. Can you grok that????? When/if you do, the solution is obvious.
Just Plain Dick
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

[central_va]

that the state cannot get a cent for any man without taking it from some other man,

The Govt can also "print" money, stealing from everyone.

[central_va]

Let me say it first, President B. O’Carter. LOL

[XenaLee]

Part of the problem is....we’ve allowed the leftists to take over the running of our public school system AND to take over the mainstream media outlets for too long now.

Unless or until we can get equal control of both of those we will never have a chance to save this country. Just look at the media blitz & non-stop attacks and release of national security info. aimed against Bush for the past eight years (and even Reagan before him). With the low-quality/union and leftist-biased teachers indoctrinating half of US kids, we’ve allowed the lefties to create entire generations of dumbed-down, entitlement-minded morons.

Something’s gotta give....

if it’s not already too late.

[Little Ray]

Most of the “forgotten” men and women are in the 50% of population that pays 3% of the taxes and are looking forward to their “free” government goodies.

[knarf]

The forgotten man?
There is no forgotten man.
It's the reason or motivation to remember a man that evidences his value.

What is (a) man? Is he the result of happenstance, crawling up out of primordial soup, gasping for breath and struggling for existence?

Is he a personal creation of God?

America was founded by men, populated by people and flourished under the concept, the knowledge, that we are God's creation ... not necesarilly His children (John 1:12ff), but certainly His creation.

When God started to be politically excised from American thought, America's demise was assured.

It didn't take long for evolutionary thought processes to replace scripturally spiritual thought processes.

When asked, "Do you care?", both the creationist and the evolutionist affirm they do .... the difference is why.

There is no forgotten man, only a reason to remember him.

Jesus says, "I will never leave you nor forsake you, I love you, I have chosen you"

Politicians have your cel number and remember you enough to cajole you to vote for them.

The forgotten man?

Nay, not forgotten ... mislead.

[PogySailor]

But to many, an awakening will eventually come, after time, and considerable pain. But it will come.

I'm not certain that will happen. Too many will accept misery so long as everyone else (except the thin layer at the top) is also in misery. Welcome to the crab bucket.

[wintertime]

Part of the problem is....we’ve allowed the leftists to take over the running of our public school system AND to take over the mainstream media outlets for too long now......Unless or until we can get equal control of both of those we will never have a chance to save this country.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Re: Schools

Government K-12 schools were a socialist wet dream from their beginning in the mid-19th century. The goal of those pushing government K-12 education was, is now, and always will be, turning the American people into socialist/Marxist sheep!

Therefore....It is impossible to “get control” of government education and “fix” it because it has never been broken. It is working admirably well in turning our children into Marxists. Government schools must be eliminated.

Solution: Conservatives must start private education foundations that would sponsor individual conservative teachers. These teachers could then open **free** mini-schools, homeschool cooperatives, and one room school houses. The foundations could certify the teachers, approve the curriculum, and test the students.

On the college level, conservatives must pool their money by donating to private education foundations. In this way the gifts to colleges and universities would be large enough that the money could have tight controlling strings.

Conservatives must also open new colleges and universities.

The media:

Saul Alinsky techniques can work both ways. Our conservative children ( educated in conservative institutions) can be just as effective in infiltration as the Marxists.

Re: Sports, Theater, and Arts

Conservatives must work to move these programs to the parks and recreation departments or provide free alternatives. Just look at any small town paper and see the “rah-rah” support generated for the government schools by these government supported sporting teams and other non-education school activities.

[RobinOfKingston]

Part of the problem is....we’ve allowed the leftists to take over ...

That is absolutely true. A characteristic of conservative people is to want to live your own life in a fruitful, cooperative manner, expecting that others will do likewise. Sadly, "others," in this case have been busy undermining our country and way of life.

[Popman]

The "forgotten man" of FDR is not the "forgotten man" of today.

Obama used the same theme FDR did to get elected except Obama "forgotten man" are looters, parasites, agitators, commies, Marxist as well Union thugs.

The "forgotten man" of FDR era wanted a economic level playing field, the Obama "forgotten man" wants the playing field turned into a gulag if they don't get what they want

[WOSG]

“When Franklin Delano Roosevelt became president in 1933 there were 12,830,000 (24.74%) unemployed Americans. Five years later, in 1938, after a myriad of legislative and programmatic New Deal initiatives, there were 10,390,000 (18.91%) unemployed Americans. That year the nation was in the midst of a new recession within the longer-running Great Depression. It was also the year my father had to hock his only winter coat so that he and my mother could eat.”

PING for the failure of the New Deal.

[subterfuge]

Hey America!! You just got served!

[schu]

I know several very bright people who voted for Obambi, it did not take too long for them to realize what a terrible mistake they made. A friend of mine last January after the Blago, tax cheats and other issues started surfacing acted surprised, he thought Obambi would be different.

I pointed out that this was all very predictable, just look at Rev Wright, Rezko, etc, the pattern was there for all to see. It was then that the lights came on, he had been duped, this is not a good feeling for anyone.

Obambi needs to scramble to pull it together, but his self-centered arrogance will probably prevent him from fixing it. All those articles last fall about the “Obamabi cult” just might come true. Let's hope not.

sschu

[WOBBLY BOB]

BTT