Word: lincoln
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...former Harvard dean and former Executive Director of the Lincoln Filene Center for Citizenship and Public Affairs, Tufts University...
...liquor business thrived under prohibition; marijuana dealers have no problems peddling the illegal wee. Will argued, however, that laws can affect people's ethics, citing two examples: the Civil War, and the Civil Rights legislation of a century later. In the case of the former, Will said Abraham Lincoln decided than an immoral act--the spread of slavery--had gone too far. Lincoln enforced his belief that the freedom of choice could no longer be allowed. In adopting the rights legislation of the 1960s, Congress decided it would be better for Blacks and whites to eat together, work together...
...morality played a role in both government actions, the common underlying goal--as in most successful attempts to alter behavior--was to enhance personal freedom. Will argued that there can be "closed questions in an open society," meaning that some things are clearly immoral and therefore beyond debate. For Lincoln, the closed question was slavery; for Congress in the 60s, it was segregation. But Will's definition of what constitutes a "closed question" is wrong. In both instances, the primary issue was the excessive restriction of personal choice...
...rigorous ongoing national debate over trimming entitlements helps direct attention to a fundamental and vital question: What level of benefits does a citizen have a right to expect from his Government? Both liberal Democrats and conservative Republicans could probably accept Abraham Lincoln's answer -Government ought to undertake only those functions that individuals cannot perform for themselves-although they would surely interpret it differently. Certainly a decent, and especially an affluent, society must ensure some very basic rights: no one should starve, or die for lack of medical attention. Beyond that, Government should strive to improve the lives...
...school board near Lincoln, Neb., considered leaving the program, partly out of disgust with the paperwork involved. Cafeteria managers must follow the Agriculture Department's 111-page guide for school food service, and each day someone must fill out an 18-column sheet listing all financial details of every meal served and sold. The board decided to stick with the program, because without subsidies its schools would probably have had to stop serving its 98 free and 102 reduced-price meals each day. Though the students who eat those meals are a minor fraction of the district...