Progressive societies outgrow institutions as children outgrow clothes.
Henry GeorgeRead
No person, I think, ever saw a herd of buffalo, of which a few were fat and the great majority lean. No person ever saw a flock of birds, of which two or three were swimming in grease, and the others all skin and bone.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote illustrates the idea of equality in nature and society, suggesting that extremes of wealth and poverty are unnatural.
Henry George uses vivid imagery of buffalo herds and flocks of birds to convey the idea that in nature, there is a balance that does not allow for a few individuals to be excessively wealthy while the majority suffer from scarcity. This insight highlights the inequality present in human societies and suggests that it is against the natural order for such extremes of wealth and poverty to exist.
Themes
EqualityWealthPovertyNatureInequality
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on economic policies, one might use the quote to argue for wealth redistribution.
More from Henry George
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It is not the business of government to make men virtuous or religious, or to preserve the fool from the consequences of his own folly. Government should be repressive no further than is necessary to secure liberty by protecting the equal rights of each from aggression on the part of others, and the moment governmental prohibitions extend beyond this line they are in danger of defeating the very ends they are intended to serve.
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Poorly paid labor is inefficient labor, the world over.
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The protection of the masses has in all times been the pretense of tyranny - the plea of monarchy, of aristocracy, of special privilege of every kind. The slave owners justified slavery as protecting the slaves.
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So long as all the increased wealth which modern progress brings goes but to build up great fortunes, to increase luxury and make sharper the contrast between the House of Have and the House of Want, progress is not real and cannot be permanent.
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