(9 am. – promoted by ek hornbeck)
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.”
— U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins)
Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)Bold text added by the diarist
(Note: The authenticity of this quote has been disputed, but I believe it is worthwhile to discuss nonetheless. The link I have provided is my proof of the validity of this quote, but I leave it to you, the reader, to decide.)
Almost 150 years later . . .
More below the fold
Witness our Too Big To Fail banking oligopoly in their new rigged markets and the bonuses and profits they rake in.
Witness the war profiteering of the Military Industrial Complex and the never ending wars they have created
Witness the Health Insurance Cartels and their ongoing Murder by Spreadsheet business system. We still have no non-profit single payer or public option in America.
Witness the deaths and health violations caused by the coal industry in their relentless search for greater and greater profits. Massey energy maintains their monopoly by exploiting the labor of men and the fruits of the earth.
Witness the greed and recklessness of the Oil Industry. BP is just one face of a heartless oligopoly that drives nations to war and destroys the environment for their own profit.
One could go on and on and on.
Witness the great disparity in income between the very rich and everyone else in the last few decades. Witness the attacks on Latinos, Muslims, African Americans, the LGBT community and women’s rights that dominate political discourse in the right wing of American politics. Witness these statistics.
. . . this year’s annual Economic Report of the President pointed out, “in recent years nearly half of all income – including both wages and salaries and nonlabor income – has gone to 10 percent of families.” “The top 1 percent of families now receive nearly 25 percent of income, up from less than 10 percent in the 1970s,” the report said.
Less than 5 years after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln the Republican party became totally subservient to the powers of Big Business and the interests of the rich.
We live in a nation of Corporate Personhood, a nation where Corporations have limited liability and freedom of speech, a nation where money equals speech and Corporations have an unlimited right to both. A nation where unfettered free trade outsources our jobs, a nation where national deficits caused by wars of aggression and tax cuts for the rich can only be solved by taxing the non rich and slashing government services, a nation where our trade deficit is entirely ignored, and where anything less than free market corporatism is considered socialism by many.
And then read the words of President Abraham Lincoln one more time . . .
I see in the near future a crisis approaching that unnerves me and causes me to tremble for the safety of my country. As a result of the war, corporations have been enthroned and an era of corruption in high places will follow, and the money power of the country will endeavor to prolong its reign by working upon the prejudices of the people until all wealth is aggregated in a few hands and the Republic is destroyed. I feel at this moment more anxiety for the safety of my country than ever before, even in the midst of war. God grant that my suspicions may prove groundless.”
— U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, Nov. 21, 1864
(letter to Col. William F. Elkins)
Ref: The Lincoln Encyclopedia, Archer H. Shaw (Macmillan, 1950, NY)Bold text added by the diarist
150 years later, may God grant us the strength to survive the Corporations we have created.
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Crossposted at The Progressive Electorate.com
6 comments
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a nation of MEN and WOMEN, NOT Corporate Persons and Corporate Personhood
with Democracy for ALL, not just those who can afford enough free speech to be heard
Author
who turned me on to this quotes some days ago. We may not always agree, but you have shared knowledge with me on more than one occassion, and I am grateful for it always.
Cheers
Our political parties are stand ins for corporations. It is corporate values they represent and a corporate ethic they honor.
If you believe the Democratic Party is somehow better than the Republican, less fundamentally corporatist or more beholden to the will of the people, in all friendship and with all respect, you are mistaken.
The standard political parties ARE America, Incorporated, and to be a willing part of either is to be a pawn of the corporations. I realize that people want to believe in some kind of higher good by belonging to one party or another, but it just isn’t true. Sorry.
the amendment to the brief of Santa Monica Co vs Southern Pacific being added by a court reporter on the payroll of the railroad corporation.
The Supreme Court should review this at their leisure.