Fiorello H. La Guardia Quotes
The people have been plundered by profiteers... [Saying] that is not demagogy; it is democracy—the democracy of Jefferson. It is not radicalism; it is republicanism—the republicanism of Lincoln.
Fiorello H. La Guardia, 1882-1947, U. S. Congressman (Republican & Socialist, NY), New York City Mayor (Republican and Fusion Party), Quoted in The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, July 23, 1922
Sourced by: Eigen's Political and Historical Quotations
At the time, there was generally only a single newspaper in an area in New Zealand.
There is a very interesting parallel with the views and statements of FDR at the same time.
Webster was taking regular bribes from large corporations and even complained when his payments were late. So he might have had a pro-large business bias. At the time taking bribes even if there was a quid pro quo was not illegal or even “unethical” by then Congressional rules.
He was warning that the corporations and monopolies were taking advantage of the poor who, if there is not some balance of redress and justice will resort to violence such as the man who just short him. He gave the speech still bleeding with the bullet lodged in his body. He refused to go to a hospital or get medical care until he had finished his speech. See {633076}.
There were few if any consumer protection laws in those days and many wealthy aristocrats made their money by taking advantage of the poor. They were the landowners, bankers, financiers and often the industrialists. Shaw was a sarcastic social critic and this is a typical line he gave his upper class characters. Today, we have more controls on business and finance, and many wealthy business people have gotten that way by providing great value to the consumers and being honest. However, we still have large numbers of wealthy members of society who do make their money from the poor and middle class by unethical and often illegal means. In the aftermath of the Meltdown of 2008. hundreds of thousands of the homes of the working poor and middle class were foreclosed by the major banks forging the legal documentation for the foreclusures. Millions of consumer contracts are issued that even a PhD cannot understand the terms of without special legal and financial training. There is even a legal definition of a salesperson lying to make a sale which is so commonplace that our law excuses it and calls it "puffing". However, there has been over time, improvement over Shaw's era.
By producing growth and an increasing standard of living and universal education, capitalism’s citizens have the time, education, and resources to protest and produce social unrest. However, that assumes that there is also a democratic state. For Schumpeter and many others, capitalism and democracy go hand in hand, but many point to historical examples of one developing faster than the other.
Fiorello Henry La Guardia was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City from 1934 to 1945. Known for his irascible, energetic, and charismatic personality and diminutive stature, La Guardia is acclaimed as one of the greatest mayors in American history. Though a Republican, La Guardia was frequently cross-endorsed by other parties, including the rival Democratic Party, under New York's electoral fusion laws.
