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Lincoln Logs

“Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another, but let him work diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built.” ~Abraham Lincoln

Posted on October 1st, 2007 under quote • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback

5 Responses to “Lincoln Logs”

1
Peter:
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:29 am
Ok, so what does this quote mean for you? I think that in today’s context, this quote could be seen as a statement that government should allow each person to keep what he earns and that the government should not redistribute wealth. Although I am not sure that is what Lincoln meant…
2
rockstar:
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:21 am
I can see this as a statement against government redistributing wealth, and also against trying to equalize everyone. I don’t know when Abe said it, so I’ll have to look into the the original context.
3
Peter:
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:16 pm
Ok here is the context as far as I can tell. This quote comes from a letter that Lincoln wrote to the New York Workingmen’s Democratic Republican Association in 1864 which had recently visited him at the White House and named him an honorary member. The letter was brief, but focused on the unrest among poor working class in New York resulting from the draft for the Civil war which had sparked riots that turned to killing African Americans. Lincoln is pushing these working men not to resort to riots and other civil unrest as anger against the rich and especially not to take it out on fellow working men (African-Americans living in NYC). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York_Draft_Riots

I don’t think that this quote can be seen as an endorsement for or against wealth distrubution though since he was exonerating individuals not any type of government agency. Instead this is a call for peace among different groups of people either rich or poor and stands in direct contrast to Engels and Marx’s idea of revolt.

If you want a more poignant quote that does have modern day applications, here you go:

“We may congratulate ourselves that this cruel war is nearing its end. It has cost a vast amount of treasure and blood. . . .
It has indeed been a trying hour for the Republic; but 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.”

– A letter from Lincoln to (Col.) William F. Elkins, Nov. 21, 1864.
4
rockstar:
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:24 pm
nicely done, my friend…

more on this can be found here
5
Peter:
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
Very interesting book. I think that he represents Lincolns views on Capital and Labour pretty well. Although I am not sure that Lincoln would be impressed with our modern system of industry (as the author does). I don’t think that our system has an equal access to the benefits of property.