Who Hijacked Our Country

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

FDR's Second Bill of Rights

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt was delivering his January 11, 1944 State of the Union speech, he said it was time for America to implement a Second Bill of Rights.

(Here's another link.)

FDR said our political rights guaranteed by the Constitution and the Bill of Rights had “proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.”  Roosevelt's solution was an “economic bill of rights.”  And he said America's security would depend on how well these rights had been put into practice.  Here are some excerpts from FDR's SOTU speech of 1/11/44:


As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. “Necessitous men are not free men.”  People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, a second Bill of Rights under which a new basis of security and prosperity can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.  Among these are:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

The right of every businessman, large and small, to trade in an atmosphere of freedom from unfair competition and domination by monopolies at home or abroad;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.

America's own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for all our citizens.

For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.

Pretty radical, huh?  Today most Democrats wouldn't touch this with a ten foot pole.  Republicans would probably have a mass coronary.  How far we've devolved.


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4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ronald Reagan declared FDR evil and declared war on him. Most New Deal programs have been watered down ever since. Perhaps if he had lived longer he could have achieved it. Britain voted in Universal Health Care at the end of the War but Truman Felt it too hot to approach.

I noticed he slipped in "Race, Creed and Color" maybe he meant to slip in some Civil Rights bill over his Southern Buddies

Erik

Later this year PBS is showing Ken Burns' "The Roosevelts" I can't wait to see it.

March 20, 2014 at 12:44 PM  
Anonymous Screamin' Mimi said...

Where have the heroes like FDR gone? Where are the people of vision? Downright scary to think that it's only taken 75 years to devolve this far. Where's the end? (Going down)

March 20, 2014 at 7:04 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...


the economic collapse of America IS going to happen. It cannot be stopped at this point. I guess 5 years of printing $85 billion per month might not really be that great an idea! Then again, following Zimbabwean monetary policy never was a good idea! Maybe the Fed will simply run out of paper.

I was discussing my conversation with WAR today with a friend here in Dallas and he asked me what I thought we needed to survive when the dollar collapses? Should we purchase gold and silver, guns, food, etc? All of the above? Should we have a bug-out location to head to should the world as we know it come to an end?

I gave him these wise words and I hope you will all take them to heart: “Hell if I know!”

One thing I would be very nervous about would be any money in the stock market. Companies have been benefiting from artificially low interest rates while cutting labor and production costs for years now. Interest rates WILL rise. I read an article at Ulsterman Report where supposed Wall Street insiders are getting out of the market in preparation for the collapse. All of this jives with what Wayne told me last weekend.

What I really told my friend is we will need food and the means to defend ourselves and families. Gold and silver might be nice but, when the lights go out, guns and ammo will most likely carry much more trade value. This is not discounting the need for something with trade value. Gold and silver are probably the best solutions. Food will also be important in an economic collapse as the transportation industry will be as screwed as everybody else. Shelves will probably be empty. It would be wise to have several months of food supply stored while Americans start figuring things out.

March 21, 2014 at 8:16 AM  
Blogger Tom Harper said...

Erik: I think the medical establishment invented the phrase "Socialized Medicine" during Truman's presidency. The manufactured hysteria was enough to derail any thoughts Truman might have had about following England's and Europe's footsteps.

I'll have to check out The Roosevelts when it come to PBS.

SM: Maybe Frasier Crane was right. "Going Down!"

Anonymous: Thanks for the warning. Sounds like a pretty grim forecast. But like they say, no matter how pessimistic you try to be, it can get even worse.

March 21, 2014 at 11:23 AM  

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