"Lost Legacy" Reported on Truck and Barter Blog
Published yesterday on "Truck and Barter" ('where sympathy and hedonism collide'), one of the mega blogs, a nice comment by Kevin Bracato on my piece about John Hari's sad accusation that Adam Smith was one of the cynics.
The blogosphere is a place where ideas circulate and like minded people pass ideas on. The word is gradually getting out that much that is written on Adam Smith or said in his name is a parody on what he actually said. "Lost Legacy" is doing its bit to correct the errors and educate the blogosphere in what Adam Smith really advised:
Don't Mess with Smith
By Kevin Bracato
Don't mess with Adam Smith's writings or reputation, don't take his words out of context, and don't even think about claiming that Adam Smith was "cynical" about the abolition of slavery during the late 18th century, because Gavin Kennedy will smack you down real hard, but in a gentlemanly fashion:
"John Hari reports on Adam Smith’s views as if the gentlemen who founded the Anti-Slavery movement in 1787 “did not listen” to Smith. I presume he does not know that Wilberforce used to quote favourably from “Wealth of Nations” to support the anti-slavery campaign in his debates with the supporters of slavery in Britain and the Americas. Far from not listening, the Anti-Slavery campaign used Smith’s analysis of the political economy of slavery against its practitioners. It is therefore a travesty of the truth for John Hari to report what he does not understand. Isolated quotations make for poor journalism."
The article Mr. Kennedy criticizes is here. And to Palgrave-MacMillian, publishers of Adam Smith's Lost Legacy, this is the type of book that would be good to send to econ bloggers (cough). Also, I like the UK cover better than the US cover.
Look up Truck and Barter.com for a good read on many issues.
The blogosphere is a place where ideas circulate and like minded people pass ideas on. The word is gradually getting out that much that is written on Adam Smith or said in his name is a parody on what he actually said. "Lost Legacy" is doing its bit to correct the errors and educate the blogosphere in what Adam Smith really advised:
Don't Mess with Smith
By Kevin Bracato
Don't mess with Adam Smith's writings or reputation, don't take his words out of context, and don't even think about claiming that Adam Smith was "cynical" about the abolition of slavery during the late 18th century, because Gavin Kennedy will smack you down real hard, but in a gentlemanly fashion:
"John Hari reports on Adam Smith’s views as if the gentlemen who founded the Anti-Slavery movement in 1787 “did not listen” to Smith. I presume he does not know that Wilberforce used to quote favourably from “Wealth of Nations” to support the anti-slavery campaign in his debates with the supporters of slavery in Britain and the Americas. Far from not listening, the Anti-Slavery campaign used Smith’s analysis of the political economy of slavery against its practitioners. It is therefore a travesty of the truth for John Hari to report what he does not understand. Isolated quotations make for poor journalism."
The article Mr. Kennedy criticizes is here. And to Palgrave-MacMillian, publishers of Adam Smith's Lost Legacy, this is the type of book that would be good to send to econ bloggers (cough). Also, I like the UK cover better than the US cover.
Look up Truck and Barter.com for a good read on many issues.
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