As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.

   “As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master.  This expresses my idea of democracy.  Whatever differs from this, to the extent of the difference, is no democracy.” What does Abraham Lincoln mean by the ‘extent of the difference’?  Easy.  Every day, in any little way, Obama strips off another layer of our individual freedom.  Closer and closer we move to serfdom under the leader’s commands.  He also grows in power as master over each of our individual fates.
    Lincoln recognized that the role of master over slave, the undesirability and imposition of one’s beliefs and will over another’s actions - ruins our chances for life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.  Unfortunately, we slip and slide downward from a democratic republic every day.