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Edward C. Banfield (1916-99), the conservative political scientist who spent most of his career at Harvard University, was one of the most eminent and controversial scholars of the twentieth century. His best-known work, The Unheavenly City (1970), was a deeply informed but unsparing criticism of Great Society-era attempts to alleviate urban poverty. His New York Times obituary observed that Banfield “was a critic of almost every mainstream liberal idea in domestic policy,” who argued that “at best government programs would fail because they aimed at the wrong problems; at worst, they would make the problems worse.” In many respects, he was one of the first neoconservatives.Kevin Kosar, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, has studied Banfield's writings closely. (He is also married to one of Banfield's granddaughters.) He was the force behind the recent republication of Banfield's first book, Government Project (1951), which had been out of print for decades. Government Project is about a New Deal plan to help destitute agricultural workers during the Depression by resettling them on a newly constructed cooperative farm in Pinal County, Arizona. The Casa Grande Valley Farms, as the project was known, recruited some sixty families to live there and provided them with land and a government-created community complete with new homes, roads, and farm buildings. For a few years, the cooperative farm flourished, but ultimately it failed because the residents, unable to establish mutual trust, could not cooperate.In this podcast discussion, Kosar describes how Banfield's study of Casa Grande made him begin to doubt the efficacy of government planning, and eventually turned him from a committed New Dealer to a skeptic of government's ability to induce people to cooperate. This skepticism was strengthened by his subsequent study of village life in southern Italy — the basis for his 1958 classic The Moral Basis of a Backward Society — where he found that the inhabitants' distrust of anyone outside their immediate family made collective governance all but impossible. Kosar also describes Banfield's work on highly cooperative Mormon communities in southern Utah, Democratic machine politics in Chicago and other large American cities, and the shortcomings of urban programs such as the War on Poverty. Kosar concludes that Banfield came to believe that problems like crime or poverty ultimately were “the output of individual behaviors — and that means fixing those problems means changing the individual. And he was just very skeptical that a government program could change an individual.”
The grossly defective character of a 1950s Italian village is of more relevance to twenty-first-century America than we might like to believe. (The written version of this review, in web, PDF, and ebook formats, can be found here.)
Show Outline Network After Work Tampa at Yard Of Ale Wed, October 23, 2019 - 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT - 406 S. Howard Ave. Thursday, October 24, 2019 from 8:30 AM to 11:00 AM Cask Social Kitchen 208 S Howard Ave, Tampa Intercom - Blue - Website - Starbucks Kennedy & S. Dakota Ave, Kennedy & West Shore, Moody & Howard, or Armature Works A relentless pursuit of growth Consumerism, Toys, Trinkets The aftermath of buying it all. Long-term dreams in the toilet Self-control, Time Horizon, Reread Edward C. Banfield, Lower Class, Time Horizon, Fascinating Reality Check Stop the Bleeding Focus on Core competencies Business and Individual I am Paul Truesdell and I am a lifestyle business where business is a lifestyle. Insert your name. It's a mindset. We work. All growth, Uber, all growth, Exponential curve. Relentless Growth of Mo's MoJo, Till It Peters Out Apple, mature, profits, growth, Analysts, immature Next stage. Five Cows Strength, time to recover, much longer, but still built like a brick shit house. And hit like a ton of bricks Emotional, intellectual, relationships - no change, financial - no change, do what you like, good, profitable and can control life's good. Extraneous expenses Purge them Time Frame, if not now when? Review all aspects of life, man it goes fast Perplexed, everyone is wrong, maybe it's you Reset, cut costs, make more, adjust expectations. Profitability is key Reading about 10-year deferment college, costs, hitting hard, house, kids, loans, OMG, I graduated debt-free and in the 70s I had over $20,000 in savings, checking, and my brokerage account. $86,000 in today's dollars, not bad, not great, but that was in the mid to late 70s. Well, 34th year, October 1st. Nothing has changed Technology yes. Issues, no. Frankly, politics makes me sick and it seems like it's the same old thing But one thing is true. Make more, spend less, adjust expectations, it's that simple, Start early and build habits, if not, you'll lose the game we call money. Sign Up Now! Sign Up Now - Our newsletter posted on a bi-weekly basis. Your Privacy – Our Top ConcernIn an age of unsolicited emails, you can trust FCF to keep your information confidential. We do not spam you with junk email or daily emails; which we absolutely hate ourselves. We adhere to a two-week email schedule, which may be more frequent is a significant event takes place. We never share your email addresses with any third party, and we never send unwanted emails to you. We are a company that protects and safeguard the privacy of our prospective and existing clients. See our privacy policy for more information.Newsletter Content: The FCF Blog and Connecting Dots PodcastThe email you receive provides a brief introduction to the content on our blog and podcast that we think you may find of interest. We also provide links to articles, documents, podcasts, and videos of others that we feel you may find of interest.Our Writing StyleWe strongly encourage all FCF home office and field personnel to keep it short, simple, and to the point. We think mathematically and make liberal use of bullet-points and lists. Long-ago we learned that our style of writing must be concise, well organized, and formatted to ensure ease when scanning a document for important information.This Money Stuff Isn't EasyNo kidding. We know that. Even though it's easy for us, it's not for 95% of the U.S. population. Per 100,000 Americans, there are approximately 295 medical doctors, 40 lawyers nationwide (788 in DC, 90 in New York, and 64 in Maryland), 203 CPAs, 400 accountants, 63 financial analysts, and 15 investment advisor representatives. Moreover, so, if you happen to be a bit confused as to what an investment advisor is, don't worry, you're at the right place. We'll make sure you know what a true-fiduciary based investment advisor is and how rare we are.Paul Grant Truesdell, J.D., AIF | CEOFounder of Fixed Cost Investing℠Sponsored by Fixed Cost Financial, Inc.The home of Fixed Cost Investing℠212-433-2525Disclaimer Connecting Dots is a production of Fixed Cost Financial, the home of fixed cost investing. All rights reserved. Re-broadcast or distribution prohibited without express written authorization. Connecting dots is for educational use only. Investment Performance Is Not Guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future results. This broadcast does not take into account your particular investment objectives, financial situation or needs. Nothing should be construed as an individual recommendation. Always read and all applicable information carefully before making an investment decision. Investments are not bank guaranteed, not FDIC insured. and may lose value. Due to our extensive holdings and that of our clients, you should assume that we have a position in all companies discussed and thus a conflict of interest should be assumed.
The president of the American Enterprise Institute from 1986 to 2008, Christopher DeMuth is currently a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute. In this conversation, Kristol and DeMuth discuss political thinkers including Edward C. Banfield, James Q. Wilson, and Friedrich Hayek and consider how ideas shape policy. DeMuth also relates his story of a chance meeting with then-Senator Barack Obama and their discussion about Chicago politics.
The president of the American Enterprise Institute from 1986 to 2008, Christopher DeMuth is currently a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute. In this conversation, Kristol and DeMuth discuss political thinkers including Edward C. Banfield, James Q. Wilson, and Friedrich Hayek and consider how ideas shape policy. DeMuth also relates his story of a chance meeting with then-Senator Barack Obama and their discussion about Chicago politics.
The president of the American Enterprise Institute from 1986 to 2008, Christopher DeMuth is currently a distinguished fellow at the Hudson Institute. In this conversation, Kristol and DeMuth discuss political thinkers including Edward C. Banfield, James Q. Wilson, and Friedrich Hayek and consider how ideas shape policy. DeMuth also relates his story of a chance meeting with then-Senator Barack Obama and their discussion about Chicago politics.