I love the way we tied the problem of slavery in the
mid-nineteenth century – the abolition of which can seem like an obvious moral
necessity from our modern standpoint – to present day issues such as global
warming. I think it’s helpful (for
understanding Lincoln) to acknowledge the existence of problems that clearly
have obvious and immediate moral imperatives, yet are frustratingly entrenched,
and are seemingly impossible to solve from a practical point of view. In this way, a study of Lincoln becomes
highly relevant to the most pressing issue of our own time. We can see the same types of movements
emerging. There are those in favor of
immediate and drastic change - who are often denounced as radical and
impractical, even though they are undoubtedly right as the severity of the
problem – as well as those that simply deny the existence of a problem
altogether, and a whole assortment of positions in between. I’m not sure Lincoln gives us any clear
insight into the present crisis, but perhaps by understanding the reality of
such overwhelming problems we can better appreciate Lincoln.
