pull down to refresh
20 sats \ 6 replies \ @kepford 6h \ on: Should We Worship Lincoln? BooksAndArticles
The bottom line on Lincoln is that modern politicians need Lincoln to be a hero because he is the creator of the modern US where the federal government holds a gun pointed at the head of each state. Prior to Lincoln the feds were not nearly as strong and the mindset of the people was very different.
I don't think Lincoln is one of the best presidents but rather one of the worst for what he created and the lives that were lost as a result of his actions. Slavery needed to end. There were MANY how both opposed slavery and opposed the war. These people were persecuted in the north.
History is complex. Lincoln isn't all bad but the cult around him isn't helpful to understanding the problems in the United States and how many of them started.
Yes, one big difference in thought was they talked about these united States not the United States. People saw their state as the nation they lived in and the union as a federated group of states. This is a totally different concept than we have now of the unitary state.
reply
That's my point. You are making it even stronger. Even Lincoln didn't view these united States as people do today. When you read the words of the founders and early people of the country its obvious that the states created the union and that the union exists at the pleasure of the states. Today the view is that the states are just sub-units of the USA. Completely backwards.
Its an example of how powerless paper and written rules are in reality. The Constitution is a beautiful document but its an utter failure. It was created to limit the powers of the federal government and protect the rights of each state and its people. On that account it is a failure.
But it was doomed to fail from the start.
reply
If you want to see about states’ rights and how they use them get a gander at this post: #854283
reply
If you want to see what the founders thought of the federal system, you may want to look up: The Preamble to the Bill of Rights to see what the purpose of the Constitution and Bill of Rights was. It is an interesting read, because it is never included with the Bill of Rights, any more.
BTW, Lincoln is the one who ultimately killed the idea of the states being the ultimate power in the federation. Although, people are now coming around to understand it a bit better.
reply
I forget what they are called but the writings of the signers debating the Constitution are also helpful in understanding what they thought the document meant. Before I discovered all this sort of stuff I used to waste time arguing with people about the Constitution. I learned that people do not care. Its just a dumb thing they can say to "support" their desired outcome. No one cares about the Constitution. Winning is all they care about.
This is what conservatives used to do. I don't think they fall into this trap as much anymore but back in the hey day of Rush Limbaugh when I was a kid it was all about the Constitution and the left didn't give a flip.
Trump has kinda ripped to veil off and exposed the clear struggle for power and influence. It was always there but less obvious.
reply
It (the power struggle) is still there and working as hard as ever. The lust for power by the power junkies is so powerful that they will do anything possible to keep it. This is why we have so many motherWEFers willing to sell out for the chance to be powerful and get the money and pelf. I don’t think that there is any way to stop it besides crushing the state as a vehicle for this behavior.
reply