The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson

The Ever-present Wisdom of Abraham Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln was a knowledgeable, intelligent, and wise person well beyond his humble beginnings, education, and years. In three of his speeches before he became President, he demonstrated all these attributes. These speeches are Lincoln's The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions speech of January 27, 1838, Lincoln's A House Divided speech of June 16, 1858, and Lincoln's Cooper Union Address of February 27, 1860. In these speeches he demonstrated his command of the troubles of his time and their causes. But these causes go beyond his time to the very nature of the problems of a Republican form of governance. Thus, they ring as true today as they did in Lincoln’s time.

In Lincoln's The Perpetuation of Our Political Institutions speech he points out the importance of maintaining our "American Ideals and Ideas", "Freedoms, Liberties, Equalities, and Equal Justice for All", "Justice and The Rule of Law in America", and "A Civil Society", while railing against mob rule and mob violence. He warns that to temporize on these convictions leads to internal divisions and violence, which pose a real existential threat to our republic, and that the danger to our republic comes from amongst ourselves:

“At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.”
 - Abraham Lincoln

Consequently, without maintaining our American convictions we will endanger ourselves and sow the seeds of our own self-destruction.

In Lincoln's A House Divided speech he warned that the divisions of America brought about by the expansion of slavery in the U.S. Territories cannot be maintained, and that a crisis was approaching. A crisis that if not resolved peacefully would be resolved in bloodshed. A crisis that could not be resolved by political compromise nor equivocation, but which requires moral fortitude to right the wrong of slavery. He also points out that the destruction of American can only be brought about by internal forces:

“In my opinion, it will not cease, until a crisis shall have been reached, and passed.
‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’
I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free.
I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided.
It will become all one thing or all the other.”
 - Abraham Lincoln

Whether it be by design or happenstance, he points out that individual acts, which may appear reasonable in of themselves, when joined together build an edifice that is abhorrent. Thus, these individual acts must be opposed to ensure that a repugnant edifice is not attained.

In Lincoln's Cooper Union Address he attempts to point out the misunderstandings of history and the illogic of Southern beliefs on the Constitutionality of slavery in the U.S. territories. He also fulminates against the reviles against those that would disagree with slavery, and the utilization of misrepresentations, slanders, and libels against the opponents of slavery. He also points out the supporters of slavery belief in their opinions in that:

“Their thinking it right, and our thinking it wrong, is the precise fact upon which depends the whole controversy. Thinking it right, as they do, they are not to blame for desiring its full recognition, as being right; but, thinking it wrong, as we do, can we yield to them? Can we cast our votes with their view, and against our own? In view of our moral, social, and political responsibilities, can we do this?”
 - Abraham Lincoln

He also cautions that such reviles, misrepresentations, slanders, and libels should not be an excuse for inaction by the opponents of slavery when they are utilized:

“Neither let us be slandered from our duty by false accusations against us, nor frightened from it by menaces of destruction to the Government nor of dungeons to ourselves. Let us have faith that right makes might, and in that faith, let us, to the end, dare to do our duty as we understand it.”
 - Abraham Lincoln

While in Lincoln’s time the major issue was slavery, today in America we have the issues of Abortion, Transgenderism, supposed Racism and Sexism, Street Crime, Illegal Immigration, and Climate Change that are tearing Americans apart. We have seen distortions of our history and misapplication of the Constitution to achieve political agendas and policy goals not within the bounds of the Constitution. Our First and Second Amendment Rights are under assault, along with other Natural and Constitutional Rights. We have also seen a weaponization of government to persecute, criminalize, prosecute, and imprison those that would disagree with Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders actions, while at the same time ignoring the violence and criminal actions of those that agree with Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders actions.

In the vast majority of these cases we have seen that it is the Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders engaged in these actions against Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders. While Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders believe that they are right, the depth and passion of Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders beliefs are unmatched by their opponents. A passion that they believe allows them to demonize, denigrate, disparage their opponents, and to engage in "Torturous and Convoluted Reasoning", "Obfuscation, Smoke, and Mirrors",  "Euphemisms, Doublespeak, and Disingenuousness", and “The Perversion of the English Language” to achieve their goals. This is demonstrated by their extensive usage of pejoratives against their opponents, as I have written about in my Article "Divisiveness in America", and their usage of "The Three D's (Demonize, Denigrate, Disparage) of Modern Political Debate". They do this in the belief that Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders are more intelligent, better educated, and morally superior, they are, of course, always correct and good. As such, they view Conservatives and Republican Party Leaders as not just being wrong and stupid but that they are bad or evil persons, and that their (noble) goals justify their (despicable) deeds.

As such, Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders are behaving in the same manner as Democrat Leaders and Slavery proponents did before the Civil War. Thus, the ever-present wisdom of Abraham Lincoln is as applicable today as it was during the time of Abraham Lincoln. If the Progressives/Leftists and Democrat Party Leaders are not defeated at the ballot box, then I am worried that they may have to be defeated with the ammo box. Otherwise, the last best hope of Liberty and Freedom may perish from the Earth.