Jane Addams' "A Modern Lear" - 1896

and the idea of "affectionate interpretation". Her refusal to
recognize the reality of antagonisms between capital (or a
paternalistic benefactor like George Pullman) and labor. Her
reflections on the Pullman strike, resulting from residents in
Pullman's model town of Pullman Illinois striking when their wages
were cut due to a cyclical depression yet Pullman resisted cutting
their rents accordingly. Goes to the core of the transformation in
Addams' thinking about the harm that can be inflicted by
philanthropy, to the extent that it privileges the benefactor and
puts him/her out of touch with the spirit of the time, the moral
ethic unique to the current generation, the "consent" of one's fellow
men. On the other side she chided the laborers for having no piety
with which to balance and negotiate their claim. The new order must
always acknowledge its debt to the old. The analogy is with the
family and the breakdown of affection and family claim in King Lear.
Good food for thought. Was apparently a big impetus in the
intellectual life of John Dewey.