What's wrong and how to fix it.

October 27, 2012 4:50 PM

It’s not as though as a society we have become that much stupider than our forbears; it’s because we have become that much more corrupt.

Adam Garfinkle discusses American political dysfunction in one, two, three parts.
posted by Shit Parade (13 comments total)

That quote from Lincoln is damned prescient.

[C]orporations 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
posted by arcticseal at 5:20 PM on October 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

It would have been had Lincoln actually said that; it's a fake quote.
posted by Justinian at 5:22 PM on October 27, 2012 [6 favorites]

Pedigree for this quote is often asserted by point to the 1950 Lincoln Encyclopedia, complied by Archer H. Shaw, which "authenticates" the quote by citing a purported 1864 letter...however, this source is fraulent"

What else did Lincoln say?

"The trouble with quotes on the Internet is that you can never know if they are genuine.” – Abraham Lincoln
posted by Shit Parade at 5:30 PM on October 27, 2012 [3 favorites]

It’s not as though as a society we have become that much stupider than our forbears; it’s because we have become that much more corrupt.


I'd like to believe this, but given recent comments regarding rape, I'm still going with much stupider.
posted by 4ster at 5:37 PM on October 27, 2012

I'd like to believe this, but given recent comments regarding rape, I'm still going with much stupider.

More stupid, more corrupt, toss in the man-power baggage we can't seem to lose and you might as well call the whole thing The Caligulan Era. Or was it Claudius. Well, call it something mean, it deserves it.
posted by Slackermagee at 5:41 PM on October 27, 2012

Related: Just how useless are the political media?
posted by adamvasco at 6:57 PM on October 27, 2012

Nothing more corrupt than owning human beings as chattel.
posted by KokuRyu at 7:02 PM on October 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

It would have been had Lincoln actually said that; it's a fake quote

Damn, might have known he was too busy hunting vampires.
posted by arcticseal at 7:08 PM on October 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

I quite enjoyed this, thank you.
posted by heatherann at 7:56 PM on October 27, 2012

Came in here because I thought that said Art Garfunkle. Oh well.
posted by BlahLaLa at 8:55 PM on October 27, 2012

This guy does know that the American Revolution was sparked by a bunch of rich businessmen who the Crown was going to jail for tax evasion, right?

"No Taxation Without Representation" make a good rallying cry, but "I haven't paid import taxes in ten years and I'm not going to start now" is more of an individual motivator.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 9:42 PM on October 27, 2012 [1 favorite]

Here's some deeper background on the Lincoln "quote" about corporations.
posted by trackofalljades at 11:59 AM on October 28, 2012

I started reading this, and then I started skimming it, and then I skipped to the end. As far as I can tell, he never lays out his plan for how to fix "it"? Am I just missing something here, or was this article a long, elaborate troll?
posted by Balna Watya at 1:53 PM on October 28, 2012