On the record
The extent of its social utility is what blinds us to the numerous and great social disutilities that attend its present working, or at least reconcile us to its continuation.
Said by
John Dewey
Source
gutenberg.orgJohn Dewey: “The extent of its social utility is what blinds us to the numerous and great social disutilities that attend its present…”
Editor's note · Context
Dewey critiques the blind acceptance of private property due to its perceived social benefits.
Share
More from John Dewey
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.
Mistakes pile up and consolidate themselves into laws and methods of administration which are more harmful than the consequences which they were originally intended to control.
In no two ages or places is there the same public.
They are reflections into the singular human being of customs and institutions; they are not natural, that is, “native,” organic propensities.