Speaking of Smith Archives
Read With Me: Friedrich Engels' The Origin of the Family, Private Property and the State - Part 1
Erik Rostad for AdamSmithWorks
Friedrich Engels makes an abrupt shift with the following statement: “The modern individual family is founded on the open or concealed domestic slavery of the wife, and modern society is a mass composed of these individual families as its molecules.”In the pages that follow, Engels calls for a social revolution as well as the abolishment of monogamy, private property, and the state. It’s a startling shift in the book. Engels’ thesis is that monogamy and its enforcement mechanism, the state, have created irreconcilable class differences that must be eliminated. His ultimate goal is a return to the communistic life and group marriage, which he believes will result in equality between the sexes.
Friedrich Engels makes an abrupt shift with the following statement: “The modern individual family is founded on the open or concealed domestic slavery of the wife, and modern society is a mass composed of these individual families as its molecules.”In the pages that follow, Engels calls for a social revolution as well as the abolishment of monogamy, private property, and the state. It’s a startling shift in the book. Engels’ thesis is that monogamy and its enforcement mechanism, the state, have created irreconcilable class differences that must be eliminated. His ultimate goal is a return to the communistic life and group marriage, which he believes will result in equality between the sexes.
When Can Superiors Act Superior?
Jon Murphy for AdamSmithWorks
Smith sees the need for such a dual-world given there are times when beneficence may need to be forced to “promot[e] the prosperity of the commonwealth, establish good discipline, and…discourage[e] every sort of vice and impropriety” (pg. 81). Things like requiring parents to care for their children, children to care for elderly parents, or building party walls to avoid spreading fire (TMS 81, WN 324) should be compelled through force.
Smith sees the need for such a dual-world given there are times when beneficence may need to be forced to “promot[e] the prosperity of the commonwealth, establish good discipline, and…discourage[e] every sort of vice and impropriety” (pg. 81). Things like requiring parents to care for their children, children to care for elderly parents, or building party walls to avoid spreading fire (TMS 81, WN 324) should be compelled through force.
What can Adam Smith teach us about the moral economy of sanctioning oligarchs? Part 2
Brianne Wolf for AdamSmithWorks
The West’s decision to sanction Russia’s superrich makes sense given Smith’s account, on the one hand, because of the general tendency to admire and worship the rich. If the wealthiest are punished, so with them goes public opinion, perhaps swaying Putin.... On the other hand, Smith tells us our tendency to admire the rich and great also causes us to look the other way when they behave badly.
The West’s decision to sanction Russia’s superrich makes sense given Smith’s account, on the one hand, because of the general tendency to admire and worship the rich. If the wealthiest are punished, so with them goes public opinion, perhaps swaying Putin.... On the other hand, Smith tells us our tendency to admire the rich and great also causes us to look the other way when they behave badly.
What can Adam Smith teach us about the moral economy of sanctioning oligarchs?
Brianne Wolf for AdamSmithWorks
Smith posited that there is a moral economy in trade, not just an economic one. We learn what kinds of behaviors are acceptable as we engage in both conversational and material exchange with others.
Smith posited that there is a moral economy in trade, not just an economic one. We learn what kinds of behaviors are acceptable as we engage in both conversational and material exchange with others.
