Simon Patten
Simon Nelson Patten (1852-1922) was an American economist and social theorist. He is credited with inventing the term social work. [1] and with first expression of the idea of a society of affluence or abundance later also developed by another economist, John Kenneth Galbraith. Patten argued that "poverty could be abolished if (people) would accept values and restraints appropriate to an age of abundance - and discard (ideas) developed through centuries of scarcity." [2] Industrialisation, according to Patten, ushered in a new age of abundance that he termed the "new basis of civilization" (the title of his best-known book). [3] "Over the long run, he believed, economic advance would lead to cultural and spiritual uplife, as satiation with creature comforts and baser amusements would prompt the cultivation of higher aspirations and more refined tastes." [4]
- ↑ Patten, Simon Nelson (1952-1922). 1970. In Encyclopedia of social work, ed. Robert Morris, 2:892-3. New York: National Association of Social Workers.
- ↑ ibid.
- ↑ Patten, Simon N. 1968. The new basis of civilization. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
- ↑ Lindsey, Brink. 2007. The age of abundance : How prosperity transformed America's politics and culture. New York, N.Y.: Collins. p. 64.
Additional references Boswell, James Lane. 1934. The economics of simon nelson patten. Philadelphia,: Pub. by the author. Nearing, Scott. 1925. Educational frontiers : A book about simon nelson patten and other teachers. New York: T. Seltzer. Patten, Simon N. 1916. Culture and war. New York,: B. W. Huebsch. Patten, Simon N. and Rexford G. Tugwell. 1924. Essays in economic theory. New York,: A. A. Knopf. Patten, Simon N. 1909. Product and climax. New York,: B.W. Huebsch. Peterson, Houston. 1946. Great teachers, portrayed by those who studied under them. New Brunswick [N.J.]: Rutgers university press.