LETTERS: LINCOLN'S WORDS SOUND RELEVANT TO BUSINESS TODAY

To the editor:

Missourian readers may find the following quote by a prominent Republican worth pondering: When "corporations have been enthroned ... an era of corruption in high places will follow -- and the moneyed power will endeavor to prolong its reign by working on the prejudices of the people ... until wealth is aggregated in a few hands ... and the republic is destroyed."

This statement by Abraham Lincoln was prophetic of the four decades following his death when his prediction nearly came true. What would Lincoln think of the current state of our government, our political process, the corporate-owned and controlled media and the control of our local economies by outside entities?

I'm trying to remember just how much that CEO of Wal-Mart made last year. And what about the salaries of the local citizens who work for him? They'll get there. They just need to try a little harder.

And who really pays for those mindless political campaigns with their emotionally manipulative sound bites? And what about those slick public relations advertisements designed to entrance the viewer with the supposed benevolence of the oil companies, the pharmaceuticals and the food giants? And whom did that vice president work for again?

I have a feeling Lincoln would have a comment or two. I don't think any of this is what he, the Founding Fathers or, for that matter, Adam Smith had in mind.

ROBERT J. POLACK

Cape Girardeau