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The New Deal's immediate predecessor as a national economic philosophy — and the source of most of the objections to the New Deal — was what businessmen and politicians called "the system of '96." Originally articulated during the presidential election of 1896 by Republican Party leader Mark Hanna, the system of '96 was derived from the philosophy of a nineteenth-century British thinker, Herbert Spencer. Spencer's "social Darwinism" argued that life is an incessant struggle for survival, pitting individuals against each other. The economy reflects this struggle, with wealth and power going to those individuals born "fit" — cunning, disciplined, intelligent enough to prevail in the fight. Such fit individuals were rare, but society progressed by recognizing them and orienting the bulk of resources toward them, as they were best capable of enlightened use of such resources. Partisans of the system of '96 sometimes...
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This section contains 291 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
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