It's easy to see why Amity Shlaes was inspired by this concise essay, and FDR's abuse of it, in naming her book on the Great Depression "The Forgotten Man; A New History of the Great Depression." 
 Sumner articulates what Hazlitt would some 60ish years later call the "one lesson" of economics, that is, the impact of a policy on not just the special interest of its intention, but rather ALL actors in a given system. While Hazlitt's concerns are economic, and many of Sumner's conclusions have economic application, Sumner's scope is broader, and indeed, concerns societal function as a whole. 
 It's amazing that an essay published in 1883 still speaks powerfully to the debates present in societal discourse today - even as Sumner's ideas have been pushed far from the mainstream by modern liberals. 
 If you are as captivated as I was, you will want to know this essay was part of a larger publication entitled "What the Social Classes Owe Each Other," that is also available online. I hope to review that, too. Even if the entire publication is too meaty for you to stomach, I highly recommend "The Forgotten Man" segment and have included a link to the article as well as the brilliant opening and closing paragraphs below, both to remind myself and inspire you to follow! 
 "The type and formula of most schemes of philanthropy or humanitarianism is this: A and B put their heads together to decide what C shall be made to do for D. The radical vice of all these schemes, from a sociological point of view, is that C is not allowed a voice in the matter, and his position, character, and interests, as well as the ultimate effects on society through C's interests, are entirely overlooked. I call C the Forgotten Man.... 
 ...The fallacy of all prohibitory, sumptuary, and moral legislation is the same. A and B determine to be teetotalers, which is often a wise determination, and sometimes a necessary one. If A and B are moved by considerations which seem to them good, that is enough. But A and B put their heads together to get a law passed which shall force C to be a teetotaler for the sake of D, who is in danger of drinking too much. There is no pressure on A and B. They are having their own way, and they like it. There is rarely any pressure on D. He does not like it, and evades it. The pressure all comes on C. 
 The question then arises, Who is C? He is the man who wants alcoholic liquors for any honest purpose whatsoever, who would use his liberty without abusing it, who would occasion no public question, and trouble nobody at all. He is the Forgotten Man again, and as soon as he is drawn from his obscurity we see that he is just what each one of us ought to be." 
 I was able to read this essay online via the link below: 
 https://mises.org/library/forgotten-man 
 The Forgotten Man, Amity Shlaes, 2007 
 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show... 
 What the Social Classes Owe Each Other, Sumner, 1883 
 https://www.gutenberg.org/files/18603... 
 Economics in One Lesson, Hazlitt,1946 
 https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...