On the record
When men have an idea of how social agencies work and their consequences are wrought, they at once strive to secure consequences as far as desirable and to avert them if undesirable.
Said by
John Dewey
Source
gutenberg.orgJohn Dewey: “When men have an idea of how social agencies work and their consequences are wrought, they at once strive to secure…”
Editor's note · Context
Dewey asserts that knowledge of social agency leads to proactive efforts to achieve desired outcomes.
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That the state should be to some a deity and to others a devil is another evidence of the defects of the premises from which discussion sets out.
But he does so only at the cost of repression of those of his potentialities which can be realized only through membership in other groups.
Custom consolidates what accident may have originated; established power has a way of legitimizing itself.
But this conclusion is an obvious invitation to trial of forces to see where superior force lies.