Not a Socialist, But a Marxist?

[L Verge]

Hopefully some who are good at pulling up current newspaper articles can give you a usable link to this lengthy article that appeared in this past Sunday's edition of The Washington Post, page C5. Penned by Gillian Brockell, it proclaims that "Lincoln Was Not a Socialist...But He Sure Liked Marx."

It is based on the December 1861, first annual message that Lincoln sent to Congress --what we now term The State of the Union Address. The next day, it was featured in newspapers across the country, including in Confederate states. Just to give you a hint, here's the first few paragraphs of the article:

"He railed against the 'disloyal citizens' rebelling against the Union, touted the strength of the Army and Navy, and updated Congress on the budget.

"For his eloquent closer, he chose not a soliloquy on unity or freedom, but an 800-word meditation on what the Chicago Tribune subtitled 'Capital Versus Labor.'

"'Labor is prior to and independent of capital,' the country's 16th president said. 'Capital is only the fruit of labor and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital and deserves much the higher consideration.'

"If you think that sounds like something Karl Marx would write, well, that might be because Lincoln was regularly reading Karl Marx."

Of course, in true Post fashion, the writer takes a swipe at President Trump... From that point on, however, I found the article very interesting from a historical perspective. If it can't be posted here, I will try to find time to hit some of the highlights.