The Case Against Bimetallism Classic Reprint

Author : William Graham Sumner
Publisher : Forgotten Books
ISBN 13 : 9780364127483
Total Pages : 40 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (274 download)

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Download or read book Bimetallism (Classic Reprint) written by William Graham Sumner and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2018-03-08 with total page 40 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from Bimetallism One might as well tell a physiologist that his science is false because no man ever existed whose organs were all perfectly normal in their functions, as to contradict an economist because no man ever acted from purely economic motives. Indeed the absurdity is far greater in the latter case, since the economist deals with societies, not individuals so that not only is the ih ference unfounded, but the fact alleged is untrue of societies. One might as well object against a physiologist, when he states physiological laws, that moral forces (or, rather, more or less immoral forces, for that is what we mean) affect the bodily func tions, as to interpose the objection against economic laws that immoral forces affect economic phenomena. The fact in both cases is undeniable the inference - that these external interfer ences alter natural forces and laws, and therefore ought to be taken into account in the statement of scientific principles - is equally unfounded in both. One might as well tell a physiolo gist that a knife thrust into an organ alters physiological forces and laws, as to tell an economist that legislation controls the laws of value. It is because the physiological laws are not altered that the victim dies. The hygiene, pathology, and therapeutics of society are mixed with its physiology in our text-books, but the scientific distinctions must be maintained intact if we would reason correctly. Value belongs to the physiology of society, legislation almost always to its pathology. Legislation creates the conditions of disease, leads to distorted organs, disordered functions, deceptive phenomena 4 below), and taxes the saga city and clear-headedness of the student to find again the normal forces in their distorted action; but we have to guard ourselves well against the delusion that it changes forces or laws. To adopt that delusion is to lose perception of the difference be tween social health and social disease. We are struggling here for the introduction into political economy of universal canons of science which are recognized in all other departments which enjoy authority and are making real progress. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.