Maggie Thatcher and Abraham Lincoln

[Liz Rosenthal]

(04-09-2013 08:20 AM)Laurie Verge Wrote:  I agree with you completely, Kate. We have an expert on Lincoln quotes on this forum, I believe. El Core, aren't there some quotes from Lincoln about the necessity of having mankind develop their own skills and not depend on a welfare state?

There was no such thing as a "welfare state" in Lincoln's day, in name or in practice, so Lincoln wouldn't have had a reason to refer to it. While I'm not an expert, I'm pretty well-read in the Lincoln Canon, as I'm sure a lot of people are on this Symposium. The closest expression I can think of to what you're talking about, Laurie, is Lincoln's statement, on more than one occasion, in the context of opposing slavery, that artificial restraints should be lifted from all shoulders; everyone had the "right to rise."

On the other hand, many of Lincoln's Democratic opponents (in print and in elected office), who opposed emancipation and/or the establishment of the Freedmen's Bureau, and perhaps such notions as giving freed slaves "40 acres and a mule," published cartoons and broadsides and argued publicly that such coddling, if you will, would lead to a society of lazy black people. One of the arguments *for* slavery was that black people were naturally lazy and needed direction in order to be productive; therefore, slavery was the best option for black people living in American society. Tragically, this train of thought helped defeat postwar Reconstruction and lasted well into the 20th century by serving, in a twisted way, to justify the "Jim Crow" South. It was transformed into an argument against LBJ's Great Society programs and those New Deal programs that survived the 30s, and generally informed subsequent arguments of conservatives opposing such programs (think of Ronald Reagan's derisive reference to "welfare queens").

I know that a lot of people would like to think of Abraham Lincoln as someone more in line with Ronald Reagan's philosophy than a leader of more liberal bent, but his actions belie such a conclusion and do not appear to be supported by his writings and speeches.

With regard to Lincoln's letter(s) to his step-brother John D. Johnston, it's true that he urged Johnston to help himself by working. The context was that Johnston was looking for yet another hand-out from his more well-to-do step-brother to finance another scheme that would come to nothing. Lincoln was very frustrated by Johnston's lack of interest in making a living. To me, such correspondence isn't evidence of an economic laissez-faire ideology on Lincoln's part, but is simply evidence of a private family difficulty.