Shame on Lincoln

At the turn of the 20th century, Lincoln Steffens wrote, "The Shame of the Cities," which assumed all businessmen are selfish, rapacious and dishonest. He called a typical businessmen "a bad citizen." "He is a self-righteous fraud." "The commercial spirit is the spirit of profit not patriotism; of credit not honor; of individual gain not national prosperity; of trade and dickering, not principle." Andrew Mellon, all of his life, rightly believed such criticism to be ill-founded and malevolent.

I amend Lincoln Steffen's shameful statement: An honest business man is self-righteous and a good citizen. He operates in the spirit of profit because he loves his country. He issues credit honorably expecting honor in return. His individual gains benefit other individuals and encourage national prosperity. Free market trades are not dictering, rather they operate on a natural principle of individual self-interest which spreads wealth.