I happened upon this old truism again while surfing today. And, while I am sure it is probably an unwelcome sentiment in the brainwashed Obama era, it is still reality:
- You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
- You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
- You cannot help little men by tearing down big men.
- You cannot lift the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer.
- You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
- You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money.
- You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
- You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn.
- You cannot build character and courage by destroying men’s initiative and independence.
- And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.
The Ten Cannots was published by William J. H. Boetcker back in 1916.
“And you cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they can and should do for themselves.”
AGREED FULLY. To be honest I agree with most of these even though in a perfect world (not one that we live in) that is just not going to happen.
Great post jjafuller keep up the good work you should start posting daily with great findings from the past.
I disagree. These are the best rules for the world we live in. In a perfect world everyone would give a shit about each other and work as a unified people.
Methinks Shay’s Rebellion, the Whiskey Rebellion and Fries’ Rebellion would dispute the claim that you can’t strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
There’s never been a time in American history when the small weren’t taken advantage of by the big, whether it’s expecting smallholders to pay debts with gold and silver they obviously can’t access due to the barter system or taxing small whiskey producers 9 cents per gallon and large producers 6, the wealthy have always made the rules in such a way to benefit themselves.
The difference is nowadays “smallholders” can use politics while back then all they could do was use flintlocks.
It’s a balancing act, no list can address the complexity of it. The big thing now is trying to make sure we don’t hurt small businesses overmuch as we try to control the big businesses. That’d be a consequence of extreme progressivism.
Look at these closely.
These were arguments in support of a ruling class already in possession of wealth and fighting against unionization, sometimes violently in the streets through hired thugs or quietly in the night via selective murders and false arrests on bogus charges (aka ‘terrorism).
Their opposition was to support the concept of the cheap labors of many supporting lavish lifestyles for a few. Here we are in 2010 and only the details have changed.
Boetcker said “You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.” and yet this is exactly how the wealthy exert control.
They divert the struggle between the wealthy and the unprivileged bulk of mankind by focusing us on the difference between the very poor and the barely making it. Whites against Blacks against Hispanics … and so on. They own the media. Except for the internet (at present) they control the focus.
Now rethink what you read.