Abraham Lincoln, "The Great Emancipator". There was no doubt that Lincoln was a thoughtful man, who was often consumed with self doubt. He questioned himself at almost every turn, and reasoned things to their utmost conclusion. The political situation he thrived in was as treacherous as has been seen in global politics.
By many accounts he cared deeply for the plight of those who were bonded servants and slaves proper. He himself having spent time working for little or nothing in slave like conditions. He also journeyed as a young man into the South and saw the conditions and day to day life of slaves and was appalled. His parents no doubt had something to do with his stance, attending an anti-slavery baptist church, though Lincoln himself was more of an agnostic.
He and his government transformed the industrial future of the US. Mobilising the true power of the United States in its effort to win the war against the errant South. This at the time was argued to create conditions very similar to slavery. Men working on railroad builds or canal work were not much better off than slaves in many respects.
The moral outcry could arise here. He freed the slaves but created a new type of slavery.
The interesting point to note here is that without the industrial complex that came about as a result of that civil war (which in terms of the future power and influence of the US, they did need, despite what Axl Rose may think) the United States could not have emerged in the twentieth century as the preeminent global superpower.
We would be without the great cultural benefits that flowed from it. The art, music, idea's and people. These things flowed about the earth, opening the eyes and minds of millions in a good way. So despite the industrial revolution creating a working situations which can be considered "enslavement", the nature of the it was such that people working embraced the cause, because they were paid.
The system needs an overhaul but elements of it work really well. The idea of people contributing to the goals of the state is an important one. Everyone contributing to the greater good.
It is too often that all we hear is the bad that the US does, or the harm that it causes.
Beyond the foreign policy, there is a lot more to the place, and the people who exist in it. It is also like a gigantic living thing, and life sucks the life out of life, often to the point of death. That is the nature of the universe.
Back to the potential for moral outcry in a place like the USA though. The only reason a moral outcry is ever possible is because the people who are crying out morally are members of the very same state that is in the dominating position. They can oppose the situation without fear of any reprisal.
They owe to the cause of their moral outrage the very ability to engage such morality.
Lincoln was crucial in that he created the opportunity for the United States to continue to emerge as a unified group of political entities. The secession could well have been the end of the United States as we know it. An extremely important factor was of course the reasoning of the two conflicting sides. They both saw the enemy as friends and fellow citizens that needed to be brought into line.
This made the reformation that took place inevitable.
Lincolns government laid the framework for the industrial complex, enabling Yankee industry to take off and drive the United States to the four corners of the globe.
Obama sits in the seat of responsibility, that is disguised as the seat of power. Lincoln was in a similar political set up, though his words and actions had far more effect than Obama does in terms of his personal politics. Obama seems to have found that he has had to put aside a lot of what he himself believes as right, in order to cater to the needs of the United States.
Obama of course almost the ultimate symbol of emancipation. The black president.
How bewildering that he should be in control of the nation that enslaves the earth? The tendrils of the military industrial corporate complex covering the planet.
One thinks Lincoln himself would have been absolutely mortified. Modern day slavery, lifelong toil so others live in gilded comfort? He was however, an industrious man by nature and worked his way from being a mere yard boy to one of the most powerful offices on the planet. He saw the value of hard work and the potential that existed in the individual.
Lincoln set the scene for the acceleration. It is truly astounding, the speed of technological development around us, and the manner at which it sped up in the mid 1800's.
It is remarkable to think of the manner in which Lincoln is responsible for the current global situation. The United States owes its position to men like him.
They were certainly different animals though, more able to express their opinion. Rather than being cowed and guided by PR teams and economic factors. One of the most endearing things about a historic political figure like Lincoln was that he worried himself into premature aging while in the presidency.
He never thought he knew exactly what to do and tortured himself with analysis of what to do in certain situations. He took the guilt of the nation in terms of the deaths of Union soldiers. He seemed to care far more.
Then again, what does the world know of Obama's internal struggle? The mind boggles at what the man must have to deal with alone in his head.
The current Syria situation is an excellent opportunity to flex US muscle again in a military sense and to gain a strategic location that will prove very useful. The neo-con objectives are slowly completed. Remarkably, with a Democrat in the White house!
Russia have backed down slightly and the bullish US seems to be about to get their way. Such is the nature of empires. In many ways, you can only watch as these things happen. You certainly do not have to agree with them though.
The UN continues to be merely a decoration on the shoulder of the United States as a gigantic soldier, shooting first and writing contracts later.
Whereas the UN should be the worlds most powerful political entity. Capable of shutting down any individual countries aims or ambitions in terms of conquest and empire strengthening.
Until the UN becomes more powerful, we have to wait and watch as certain powerful national entities do as they please.
