Dear America,
So, here we are, seven score and a decade later, we, the people, commune on a moment:
The Gettysburg Address
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
If you can trust an Associated Press story about an Associated Press journalist -- a young Joseph Ignatius Gilbert -- assigned to make a record on the day, then feel free to jump into this wonderful backstory, here, as featured on The Washington Post.
But let's go back a wee bit further, shall we?
Here's a sign of things to come -- from 1858 -- when Abraham Lincoln was running for State Senator, against Douglas, having just received the Illinois Republican Party nomination...
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. Either the opponents of slavery will arrest the further spread of it, and place it where the public mind shall rest in the belief that it is in the course of ultimate extinction; or its advocates will push it forward, till it shall become lawful in all the States, old as well as new — North as well as South.
It would seem America is divided once more; it's only a matter of time before we decide our fate, of our own choosing, of becoming "all one thing or all the other."
Which brings me to a quote widely misattributed to be a Lincoln-ism, but isn't, and fully worthy of a repeat and creator correction; so without futher adieu, let's go to wise words of The Ten Cannots from Reverend William John Henry Boetcker (1873-1962):
You cannot bring about prosperity
by discouraging thrift.
You cannot strengthen the weak
by weakening the strong.
You cannot help little men
by tearing down big men.
You cannot help the wage earner
by pulling down the wage payer.
You cannot further the brotherhood of man
by encouraging class hatred.
You cannot help the poor
by destroying the rich.
You cannot establish sound security
on borrowed money.
You cannot keep out of trouble
by spending more than you earn.
You cannot build character and courage
by taking away man's initiative and independence.
You cannot help men permanently
by doing for them
what they should do for themselves.
But perhaps Boetcker was inspired by these words from the man of the hour, Abraham Lincoln:
"Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built." Abraham Lincoln, March 21, 1864, in remarks made to the New York Democratic Republican Association [thank you Dictionary.com]In any event, in the search to gather all things G today, I happened to come upon a journalistic masterpiece from PBS NEWSHOUR, intent on clearing up quotes and misquotes, while compiling a library of reference material revolving around the age-old divide between the haves and the have-nots and chronicled for quite some time on PBS, and thus titled, The Inequality Dilemma, by Paul Solman. [click it if you want]
The ideas are nothing new.
Who really cares who said what, right?
But for good measure, here's another good one, from Dr. Adrian Rogers, swiped from a page on goodreads.com:
“You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it.”
With a nation half full and half empty, the fiasco known as Obamacare has told us what we have not learned. So the real question remains, what have we learned in the last seven score and a decade, added to the four score and seven years ago, and what are we prepared to do about it?
From Saint Paul to the Thessalonians, "The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat." [love love love BibleHub]
In the beginning, America understood this basic principle; it's translation never denied, nor had to be explained. It's a new day. Real FREEDOM for all requires the all to be responsible.
You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they should be doing for themselves...You cannot further the brotherhood of man by encouraging class hatred...You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong....You cannot build character and courage by taking away man's initiative and independence...You cannot establish sound security on borrowed money...You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.....You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than you earn...You cannot help the wage earner by pulling down the wage payer....You cannot help little men by tearing down the big men...You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift....You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it....Let not him who is houseless pull down the house of another; but let him labor diligently and build one for himself, thus by example assuring that his own shall be safe from violence when built...
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.
It's just another day when America will decide to become all one thing or all the other.
Make it a Good Day, G
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