| Subject: Lincoln no fascist |
Author:
sofla
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Date Posted: 14:29:11 10/16/02 Wed
In reply to:
An amused greedy war-hungry Republican
's message, "Re: Lincoln a bloody warmonger? Tuma going a bit far" on 20:44:56 10/12/02 Sat
While Lincoln took many tyrannical steps, the suspension of the right of habeus corpus is probably not one of them. The Constitution itself recognizes the suspension of that in wartime as appropriate.
Nor was Lincoln some business toady. He saw the war profiteering by the ammo makers, the gun makers, and the bankers, taking advantage of the nation's need for financing by charging usurious rates of interest, and was appalled. He even went outside the money changer system, the pinnacle of the businessmen's tyranny over this nation and the world, by issuing debt-free 'Greenback' dollars.
From a private letter, since put into the public domain:
"The money power preys upon the nation in times of peace and conspires against it in times of adversity. It is more despotic than monarchy. More insolent than autocracy, more selfish than bureaucracy. 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 is destroyed."
Lincoln also stated that no foreign power could, by force, march along our lands, or take a drink from one of our rivers, but that if ever the nation were to be defeated, it would be from internal treachery.
Given such clear sighted insights, I think Lincoln redeems himself in the end. Despite the warts (literally and figuratively), Lincoln stands convicted not of fascism (the unholy union of government and private business interests), which he clearly opposed, but of patriotism to the Union, and overzealousness in that pursuit.
His abuses should be condemned, but with a sharp eye as to accurately characterizing his motivations, which were American nationalism-- statism, if you wish to call it that, but not fascism or corporatism, which his nationalism would oppose. Just as Jefferson's decision to make the Louisiana Purchase may have been unConstitutional, but with a nationalist motivation.
Statists and nationalists are motivated by the public good, whereas fascists and corporatists favor the private good over the public good. The former may use bad methods, and get bad results, but at least they are not intentionally the enemies of the public good, as the latter are.
It is a mistake to put Lincoln in the latter camp.
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