Lincoln

I had the privilege yesterday to attend a preview here in Stockholm of Steven Spielberg’s portrait of President Abraham Lincoln.

It is a full-sized movie of a man with a character which is larger than life. The film covers the final political process pushing through the House of Representatives, the 13^th Amendment on the abolishment of slavery and the ensuing peace and murder.

This film is a lesson in the practice of democracy, covering the full space between sublimity and the brutality of canvassing the last votes. Victory was never certain, but it arrived. As Nayan put it, “this movie is a lecture defining the meaning of principled pragmatism”.

It is a movie to be revisited again and again. It is a lesson in the hardest of disciplines, that of exercising one’s character without corrupting others or corrupting oneself, facing the truths of oneself. In the midst of the turmoil of politicking self-promotions, slander, intriguing, media hyping - everyone, of course represents the noblest of causes. Lincoln rests on a very, very clear foundation which is adequately amplified by Spielberg: equality, freedom, democracy. These three pillars are completely inseparable, never to be corrupted, never to be sacrificed.

The film argues forcefully the case for constitutional integrity, the rule of law and everyone being equal before the law, however different they may be as individuals. The film is a forceful reminder of, that the debates that are underway on governance beyond the nation-state, must always be based on the democratic principles. That principle and only that principle can generate legitimacy. Lincoln saw no short-cuts. He was strong enough to take the qualms to sacrifice 600 000 lives. He met death eye to eye on the battle field, in the hospitals but he never let sentimentality cloud his judgment on what principles he represented as an individual and as a nation.

Spielberg tells a necessary story to our time. We should think about it and talk about it and let the story inspire our own thinking about how we act and why.

/Bo