.
Charlie was good enough to add the following to a blog entry I made, but I think it deserves its own loud-and-clear space:
“I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and
causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. Corporations have
been enthroned, an era of corruption will follow, and the money power of
the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the
prejudices of the people, until the wealth is aggregated in a few hands,
and the republic destroyed.”
– Abraham Lincoln, 16th President of the United States
P.S. Please note the kindly comment made by "Anonymous:" It appears that Abraham Lincoln never said the above, nor, especially, espoused the views expressed. I offer my thanks for the correction: I dislike sloppy attributions of the kind I was willing to credit ... even if the sentiment does bang my applause chimes. What an impoverished and wimpy intellectual strategy ... citing some elevated name as a means of bringing credibility to a given argument or position. It's like people in Buddhism who can quote "The Dhammapada" and, because the words were allegedly spoken by Gautama, rest their case in a kind of smug delight. What's the matter with the sentiments themselves? Aren't they either true or not true but in either case up to the listener (and speaker) to verify?
.
Abraham Lincoln never said this. It appeared in a Lincoln encyclopedia in the 1950s, but it has since been thoroughly discredited by Lincoln scholars. The fact is, Lincoln's non-war related domestic policies did a great deal to "enthrone" corporations and he was, in reality, a great proponent of big business. It is a testament to his greatness as a leader and his importance to American history that he is post-humously appointed as a spokesman for so many causes--even those that directly contradict his historical actions and well-articulated positions.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading a collection of Lincolns letters and speeches. He did support using private banks for the state revenues in order to keep money in circulation and available to the community as opposed to a proposal to keep such revenues in state hands locked in a box until dispersed. He also fought the effort to collect said revenues in gold only eschewing the script issued by the state of Illinois.
ReplyDeleteBut he fought a suit by some to force the sale of existing stocks in said bank, declaring it to be a grab by "capitalists" whom he considered a danger to the republic and it's citizens.
Charlie -- I knew you were doing something of the sort and I did not intend to brand you as some featherweight intellectual who can do no better than to cite 'important names.' No doubt Lincoln, like others, sounded an alarm that was worth heeding ... but has been largely ignored in big-money's march to get it all.
ReplyDeleteNo worries Adam. I didn't check the source as being half way through the collection I'm reading i've found enough material to support the view before he was elected president and thought it likely i'd trip over it in due time.
ReplyDeletePlenty of folks have sounded such an alarm through out history, even among our founding fathers. That we've lost the republic to greed is to be expected, just as every renaissance is followed by a dark age. The pendulum swings of history are slow and certainly seem weighted to the side of a minority ruling class above a majority serf class. This is the historical norm, and i see no sign of it changing.
Charlie -- But it's OK if I whine, right?
ReplyDeleteAbsolutely, if you have the energy. Being mostly tired i prefer the grumble myself. But when i was younger and more able to apply myself, i developed a passable whine. Like piloting a hammock properly some effort and practice is needful. But with similar application a hyper-whine can be developed that will bring those around you to want to hit you. It adds to their chagrin to ask them, "do you want to hit me now"? But they wont for fear of escalating the whine into the rubber-face capable of searing the eyebrows at a reasonable distance. To have such impact on ones fellows can be gratifying at the least.
ReplyDelete