The latest National Review offers a corrective to those who ascribe liberal ? actually, illiberal ? ideas to our 16th president.
Allen Guelzo writes:
Lincoln understood that equality of opportunity was not a guarantee of ?fairness? of result. ?Some will get wealthy,? he conceded, but that was no excuse for class complaint or class warfare. ?I don?t believe in a law to prevent a man from getting rich; it would do more harm than good.? His theory of the ideal economy was one where ?the prudent, penniless beginner in the world, labors for wages awhile, saves a surplus with which to buy tools or land, for himself; then labors on his account another while, and at length hire another new beginner to help him.? He never blamed poverty on an unfeeling capitalist machine, nor, for that matter, did he try to wear the poverty of his youth as a badge of pride.
