«One day you discovered you'd learned a cartoon version of Lincoln in school. Not the man who favored an amendment to the Constitution forever preventing the federal government from abolishing slavery»
The moment you realized they were lying to you
Our culture and societal cohesion relies on a shared understanding of history as a collection of false but believable myths. Myths are formed from idealized stories retold to essentialize some moral principle or some virtuous characteristics that inspire us. Of course, the noble goal of freeing the slaves motivated our nation to transform itself. This is one element that binds us proudly in fraternity, because we are a part of a great improvement in society. We are built on myths to fuel our virtues, such as courage and valor. We look back to the precursors to our society, such as the 300 Spartans who stood bravely against the vast Persian army of Xerces. Their battle cry Molṑn Labé defied the enemy to come take their cannons and semiautomatic rifles, as it does today for us.
