I’ve been thinking a lot about how we got into this current political and societal mess.

For a long time, I blamed Reagan and his policies. During that administration, the social safety net began to be shredded, the pillars were put in place for the right-wing media ecosystem, the move of the court to the right began, we basically decided giving tons of money to the military was good for all time, Republicans began their long and fruitful association with the Evangelical right (and on to Christian nationalists), and on and on.

One could make a good case that it really began in the 50s, with evil thugs like McCarthy and the Goldwater campaign and I wouldn’t argue. (I once read that the 60s reaped the foul harvest of the 50s, and I think that phrase is appropriate.) But the more I thought about it, the more I think it began far, far earlier. That indeed, one of our greatest presidents also made one of our biggest mistakes, right there on par with the horrific 3/5ths “compromise”.

Lincoln. I’m talking about Lincoln here.

I’ve been saying for months and months that the right doesn’t want to take us back to the 1950s, like many people often say; they want to take us back to the 1850s. (While I don’t think many on the right really want full-on chattel slavery, I’m absolutely positive many of them—especially the rich ones—would love to see some indentured servitude. Indeed I wouldn’t be surprised if we started hearing rumblings from them that it would be good for the country and economy for, say, people who file for bankruptcy (except themselves) are required to work off their debt in a job of the state’s choosing. And of course we already have it in some states in the form of convict labor.)

“The 1850s?” say you. “How can that be?” Well, let’s roll back through the Constitutional Amendments they either want to eliminate or essentially invalidate:

• Increase voting age back to 21, or even higher (26th, 1971)
• Presidential term limits (22nd, 1941)
• Women’s suffrage (19th, 1920)
• Direct election of Senators, ie letting it move back to the state legislatures, which can be manipulated much easier (17th, 1913)
• Birthright citizenship, which they’re going after right this minute (14th, 1868)

Which takes us right back to the Civil War. And those are just the ones they’ve talked about. I’m sure they’d be happy to revoke the 27th, 24th, 23rd, and probably several more (look them up).

I’m not making this stuff up; these are all things various members of the right have advocated. And I’m not talking about people on the fringe (though for Republicans that hardly means anything nowadays); I’m talking about people in office, or in think tanks, or sitting on the bench. People with actual power.

And this is why I’m blaming Lincoln for some of this. Or at least letting the seed of it take root. At the end of the Civil War, the North was kind. Chivalrous. Lenient. And despite what some Southerners say, Reconstruction was not nearly as thorough a cleansing of discrimination in the South as it needed to be. And of course the Southern politicians began chipping away at Black rights immediately and setting the stage for Segregation (Plessy v. Ferguson, 1896).

Not only has that contributed to the south staying racist and acquiring too much power, it also showed that the law doesn’t apply equally to all. These powerful people were to a large extent let off the hook. Some rejoined Congress, for fuck’s sake! One started the KKK. Others did exactly the kind of thing you’d expect racist traitors to do. But hey, they were powerful people, and let’s “heal”, so they were let off the hook. Like Nixon. Like Trump. Like basically every powerful person today.

Now I’m well aware Andrew Johnson blew it too, and there were other factors, but Lincoln was the commander in chief and President.

So in conclusion, yeah, they want to go back to the 1850s. The seeds for rolling back our civil society started almost immediately, and was carried on through “the Lost Cause”, Segregation, and other right-wing rationalizing BS. And if I sound angry, it’s because I am.

They shoulda hanged ’em.

NB: No, I did not have all these dates, court cases, and constitutional amendments in my head; I had to look them up. But I definitely do know what the right is talking about trying to overturn.