At what point shall we expect the approach of danger? By what means shall we fortify against it? Shall we expect some transatlantic military giant to step the Ocean, and crush us at a blow? …Never! All the armies of Europe, Asia and Africa combined… could not by force take a drink from the Ohio, or make a track on the Blue Ridge, in a trial of a thousand years.
At what point then is the approach of danger to be expected? I answer, if it ever reach us, it must spring up amongst us. It cannot come from abroad. If destruction be our lot, we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
Abraham Lincoln, 1838
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Is the comment of i838 applicable to 2009? What about germ warfare, dirty bombs, etc. that did not exist then. I do not believe we will be obliterated but also do not understand the “death by suicide” phrase.
I think it’s very applicable to 2009. The central point is that we are not going to be conquered from without — not by nations with armies, nor by terrorists with bio-weapons or dirty bombs. The only true existential threat to the United States is that we will turn on each other and self-destruct from within, i.e., “die by suicide.”
Spot on, Derek. Nicely (and accurately) said.