Social Darwinism is a body of pseudoscientific theories and societal practices that purport to apply biological concepts of natural selection and survival of the fittest to sociology, economics and politics. Social Darwinists believe that the strong should see their wealth and power increase, while the weak should see their wealth and power decrease. Social Darwinist definitions of the strong and the weak vary, and differ on the precise mechanisms that reward strength and punish weakness. Many such views stress competition between individuals in laissez-faire capitalism, while others, emphasizing struggle between national or racial groups, support eugenics, racism, imperialism and/or fascism. Today, scientists generally consider social Darwinism to be discredited as a theoretical framework, but it persists within popular culture.
Harry Warren was an American composer and the first major American songwriter to write primarily for film. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Song eleven times and won three Oscars for composing "Lullaby of Broadway", "You'll Never Know" and "On the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe". He wrote the music for the first blockbuster film musical, 42nd Street, choreographed by Busby Berkeley, with whom he would collaborate on many musical films.
Etta Moten Barnett was an American actress and contralto vocalist, who was identified with her signature role of "Bess" in Porgy and Bess. She created new roles for African-American women on stage and screen. After her performing career, Barnett was active in Chicago as a major philanthropist and civic activist, raising funds for and supporting cultural, social and church institutions. She also hosted a radio program in Chicago and represented the United States in several official delegations to nations in Africa.
Berkeley William Enos, known professionally as Busby Berkeley, was an American film director and musical choreographer. Berkeley devised elaborate musical production numbers that often involved complex geometric patterns. Berkeley's works used large numbers of showgirls and props as fantasy elements in kaleidoscopic on-screen performances.
Benjamin Sumner Welles was an American government official and diplomat. He was a major foreign policy adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and served as Under Secretary of State from 1936 to 1943, during Roosevelt's presidency.
William Graham Sumner was an American clergyman, social scientist, and neoclassical liberal. He taught social sciences at Yale University, where he held the nation's first professorship in sociology and became one of the most influential teachers at any major school.
Alexander Dubin was an American lyricist. He is best known for his collaborations with the composer Harry Warren.
Albert Jay Nock was an American libertarian author, editor first of The Freeman and then The Nation, educational theorist, Georgist, and social critic of the early and middle 20th century. He was an outspoken opponent of the New Deal, and served as a fundamental inspiration for the modern libertarian and conservative movements, cited as an influence by William F. Buckley Jr. He was one of the first Americans to self-identify as "libertarian". His best-known books are Memoirs of a Superfluous Man and Our Enemy, the State.
James Neil Hamilton was an American stage, film and television actor, best remembered for his role as Commissioner Gordon on the Batman TV series of the 1960s, having first played a character by that name in 1928's Three Week-Ends. During his motion picture career, which spanned more than a half century, Hamilton performed in over 260 productions in the silent and sound eras.
Gold Diggers of 1933 is an American pre-Code musical film directed by Mervyn LeRoy with songs by Harry Warren (music) and Al Dubin (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It starred Warren William, Joan Blondell, Aline MacMahon, Ruby Keeler, and Dick Powell. It featured appearances by Guy Kibbee, Ned Sparks and Ginger Rogers.
Alvin Harvey Hansen was an American economist who taught at the University of Minnesota and was later a chair professor of economics at Harvard University. Often referred to as "the American Keynes", he was a widely read popular author on economic issues, and an influential advisor to the government on economic policy. Hansen helped create the Council of Economic Advisors and the Social Security system. He is best remembered today for introducing Keynesian economics in the United States in the 1930s and 40s.
Fīat iūstitia ruat cælum is a Latin legal phrase, meaning "Let justice be done though the heavens fall." The maxim signifies the belief that justice must be realized regardless of consequences. According to the 19th-century abolitionist politician Charles Sumner, it does not come from any classical source, though others have ascribed it to Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (see § Seneca: "Piso's justice").
Albert Galloway Keller was an American sociologist, author, and student and colleague of William Graham Sumner. He is best known as the editor of Sumner's papers, in numerous volumes, published in the early 20th century by the Yale University Press. He was a scholar in his own right and wrote on German colonial policy, economic geography, and sociology.
Horace French Graham was an American politician who served as the 56th governor of Vermont from 1917 to 1919.
John Grant Mitchell Jr. was an American actor. He appeared on Broadway from 1902 to 1939 and appeared in more than 125 films between 1930 and 1948.
Herbert Hoover's tenure as the 31st president of the United States began on his inauguration on March 4, 1929, and ended on March 4, 1933. Hoover, a Republican, took office after a landslide victory in the 1928 presidential election over Democrat Al Smith of New York. His presidency ended following his landslide defeat in the 1932 presidential election by Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt, after one term in office.
The New Deal was a series of domestic programs, public work projects, and financial reforms and regulations enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, with the aim of addressing the Great Depression, which began in 1929. Roosevelt introduced the phrase upon accepting the 1932 Democratic presidential nomination, and won the election in a landslide over Herbert Hoover, whose administration was viewed by many as doing too little to help those affected. It was widely believed that the depression was caused by inherent market instability, and that massive government intervention was necessary to stabilize and rationalize the economy.
Anton Grot was a Polish art director long active in Hollywood. He was known for his prolific output with Warner Brothers, contributing, in such films as Little Caesar (1931), and Gold Diggers of 1933 to the distinctive Warners look. According to a TCM profile, he showed a "flair for harsh realism, Expressionistic horror and ornate romantic moods alike".
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression is a book by Amity Shlaes published by HarperCollins in 2007. The book is a re-analysis of the events of the Great Depression, generally from a free market perspective. The book criticizes Herbert Hoover and the Smoot-Hawley Tariff as exacerbating the Depression through government intervention. It opines that Franklin D. Roosevelt pursued erratic policies that froze investment and failed to take the steps needed to stop the Depression, and that the New Deal extended the length of the Depression and had deleterious effects on individuals.
The Forgotten Man may refer to:
