What Would Lincoln Do About Our Current Economic Dilemma? A Huge History Lesson

In May of 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. When the Civil War ended three years later, a westward movement began that encompassed tens of thousands of people and lasted for over a half century while creating in its wake THE GREATEST ECONOMIC EXPANSION IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

Recognizing a Better Way
So, with our current market teetering precariously on the brink, you'd think the natural question would be, what can we learn from this fascinating piece of American economics history? For starters, despite the Ph.D.'s and the politician's reluctance to do so, we must get past the dueling, and temporary band aids of cutting taxes and interest rates. Realistically speaking, this is a malignant tumor, not just another scrape on the knee. And to contemplate Lincoln's Homesteading example is to recognize that there's a much better way to address our current national economic dilemma.

The Driving Force
Let's dig a little deeper and identify the driving force, the great motivator that inspired tens of thousands of courageous American families to pack themselves and their belongings into covered wagons in order to settle America's western frontier. What was it? It was the simple opportunity to own a piece of the American rock, and in so doing, to control their own lives in a way that's impossible while working for someone else.

Power Follows Property
In the immortal words of Daniel Webster, "Power follows property." Lincoln understood this basic principle in spades, and offered spirited Americans the opportunity to empower themselves by offering them the opportunity to own land. The net result of that offering was an economic expansion like we've never known before or since. Nothing else even comes close.

Let's Compare Conditions
So in the midst of Bush II's latest tax cuts, and the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate lowering (3/4's of a point today) one challenge for 21st century leaders today, whether it's Obama, Clinton, Edwards, Kucinich, McCain, Romney, Huckabee, or Ron Paul, is to compare current conditions with the post Civil War conditions of Lincoln's Homestead Act and see if there aren't some similar opportunities that we're overlooking.

Let's Ask a Few Questions
They could even ask a few questions such as, "Does the ownership opportunity have to be limited to land only? Or could it include community ownership of an NFL professional sports franchise like the Green Bay Packers? Could it include a state's natural resources such as the Alaska Pipeline project? Or could it include the public airways, power grids, utility companies, etc., etc., etc.? I mean are there any real limits to these 21st century ownership opportunities other than the limited resources necessary to consummate the transactions? The possibilities are limited only by our imagination!

What Would a Modern Lincoln Do?
And if limited resources are the only obstacle to ownership, then the 21st century leader's challenge becomes, how would a modern day Lincoln create economic access to almost infinite ownership opportunities (and all the financial benefits that flow from it) for new generations of Americans? What would he do to facilitate the transformation of American workers into American owners, and in so doing, inspire the American spirit, to inflame the American imagination, and revitalize the American economy in a way that ONLY PROPERTY OWNERSHIP has ever proven to do? Yes, it's all about ownership!

The New Leader's Challenge
So the challenge for Clinton, Obama, Edwards, Kucinich, McCain, Romney, Huckabee, Ron Paul, as well as Bush II and Ben Bernanke is to move beyond the temporary (yet immediate) band ads of tax and interest rate cuts that do nothing to address the underlying root causes of our dilemma. The opportunity to develop a modern Capital Homestead Act of 2008 is staring us right between the eyes. The only missing piece is the leader who's capable of recognizing the opportunity, articulating those possibilities to the American people, creating the legislation, and allowing the inspiration of ownership, self determination, and economic freedom to take its course as Lincoln did 150 years ago. America's future depends on that leader, whoever he/she may be.

For a multitude of related possibilities check out www.capitalhomestead.com. Also check out a book entitled Curing World Poverty edited by John H Miller for more information.