A Man for Our Time
I'm almost halfway through the last book of Nigel Hamilton's 3-book series on Franklin D. Roosevelt at war: "War and Peace". They're each around 500 pages so -- not for the feint of heart. I don't want to turn this into a book report so I'm just going to say a couple of things and get to what's on my mind.
First, they are great books and I highly recommend them. I had read the first book in the series, "The Mantle of Command" several years ago. It was well worth the time I spent re-reading it. The other two are just as good, if not better.
Second, the series isn't about FDR's life. The series is about FDR in World War II. The war started in December 1941 (for America). Roosevelt had been President since March of 1933. I believe that is important to note. Before World War II had started (for the U.S.), FDR had already been President for two full terms. But it wasn't like we didn't know WWII was coming. Germany invaded Poland in September of 1939. France fell in June of 1940 -- a month before FDR was nominated for his third term at the Democratic Convention.
It is time for the President's State of the Union speech and he is sick with influenza. (It's amazing how much more I notice viral infections in the books I read now.) So, instead of going to Congress to give his speech (as normal), he delivers it to Congress in written form and takes to the radio (think "Fireside Chat") to deliver it to the American people. Interestingly, film crews are present but he only asks them to film the last part of the speech. The part where he calls for a Second Bill of Rights.
This is the part that gets me. Considering all the above -- a world war, coordinating with allies to pull off the greatest invasion ever, being sick with the flu -- the man has the intellectual capacity and vision to understand how important these principles would be to the future of humanity.
We are that future. It was 76 years ago that President Roosevelt uttered these words. But I want you to consider them for today. Right now. In the middle of a pandemic, after just recovering from the Great Recession, with the world's great democracies in disarray and riots in the streets of the world's only remaining superpower. See if you find wisdom in these words.
_________________________________
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.
__________________________________
Many of these rights have not yet been realized. While many countries have Universal Healthcare -- "the right to adequate medical care" -- the United States does not. Think about that in the context of this COVID-19 pandemic. Our hospitals are overflowing with patients and simultaneously going broke. If for-profit hospitals are a better policy choice then how do you explain a "business" going broke with a record number of "customers"? And we all know the Federal Government will end up bailing them out.
FDR did manage to get Social Security passed. And with the possible exception of Medicare (signed by Johnson, a self-described "FDR Democrat"), Social Security is the most popular program ever enacted by the Federal Government. It works.
"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age (Social Security), sickness (Medicare), accident (nope), and unemployment (nope);"
How is American's medical insurance model looking right now? With 40 million Americans unemployed, how many do you think lost their health insurance along with their job? How many of the newly unemployed are now shocked (and probably outraged) to find out just how hard it is to file for unemployment (much less get it)? Which looks better right now? The system we have, or the system FDR envisioned 76 years ago?
"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;"
Or, alternatively, we can implement trade tariffs to destroy our markets and feed corn to cows because that will maximize profits and industrialize our food production -- reducing the 5 major foods groups to just 2: Corn and soybeans. (The for-profit health system will love it. Trust me.)
"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;"
Or, alternatively, we can outsource our jobs to places without labor or environmental protections so as to maximize shareholder value, create more billionaires and ensure that we can't even make a 75¢ mask to protect our citizens during a pandemic.
That's how I want you to look at the Second Bill of Rights. Go back and read them again. Or you can watch them. And be curious enough to wonder why it took Michael Moore to find this film. (What???)
Don Brown
May 31, 2020
First, they are great books and I highly recommend them. I had read the first book in the series, "The Mantle of Command" several years ago. It was well worth the time I spent re-reading it. The other two are just as good, if not better.
Second, the series isn't about FDR's life. The series is about FDR in World War II. The war started in December 1941 (for America). Roosevelt had been President since March of 1933. I believe that is important to note. Before World War II had started (for the U.S.), FDR had already been President for two full terms. But it wasn't like we didn't know WWII was coming. Germany invaded Poland in September of 1939. France fell in June of 1940 -- a month before FDR was nominated for his third term at the Democratic Convention.
With that background, let me set the scene that motivated this blog entry. It's January of 1944. The "United Nations" (FDR's term for the Allies) had agreed on a date for the D-Day invasion of France. FDR can see his way ahead into the future and knows that, with America's industrial production, the war is all but won. Germany cannot withstand an assault by America with Great Britain from the West and Russia from the East.
It is time for the President's State of the Union speech and he is sick with influenza. (It's amazing how much more I notice viral infections in the books I read now.) So, instead of going to Congress to give his speech (as normal), he delivers it to Congress in written form and takes to the radio (think "Fireside Chat") to deliver it to the American people. Interestingly, film crews are present but he only asks them to film the last part of the speech. The part where he calls for a Second Bill of Rights.
This is the part that gets me. Considering all the above -- a world war, coordinating with allies to pull off the greatest invasion ever, being sick with the flu -- the man has the intellectual capacity and vision to understand how important these principles would be to the future of humanity.
We are that future. It was 76 years ago that President Roosevelt uttered these words. But I want you to consider them for today. Right now. In the middle of a pandemic, after just recovering from the Great Recession, with the world's great democracies in disarray and riots in the streets of the world's only remaining superpower. See if you find wisdom in these words.
_________________________________
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.
__________________________________
Many of these rights have not yet been realized. While many countries have Universal Healthcare -- "the right to adequate medical care" -- the United States does not. Think about that in the context of this COVID-19 pandemic. Our hospitals are overflowing with patients and simultaneously going broke. If for-profit hospitals are a better policy choice then how do you explain a "business" going broke with a record number of "customers"? And we all know the Federal Government will end up bailing them out.
FDR did manage to get Social Security passed. And with the possible exception of Medicare (signed by Johnson, a self-described "FDR Democrat"), Social Security is the most popular program ever enacted by the Federal Government. It works.
"The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age (Social Security), sickness (Medicare), accident (nope), and unemployment (nope);"
How is American's medical insurance model looking right now? With 40 million Americans unemployed, how many do you think lost their health insurance along with their job? How many of the newly unemployed are now shocked (and probably outraged) to find out just how hard it is to file for unemployment (much less get it)? Which looks better right now? The system we have, or the system FDR envisioned 76 years ago?
"The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;"
Or, alternatively, we can implement trade tariffs to destroy our markets and feed corn to cows because that will maximize profits and industrialize our food production -- reducing the 5 major foods groups to just 2: Corn and soybeans. (The for-profit health system will love it. Trust me.)
"The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;"
Or, alternatively, we can outsource our jobs to places without labor or environmental protections so as to maximize shareholder value, create more billionaires and ensure that we can't even make a 75¢ mask to protect our citizens during a pandemic.
That's how I want you to look at the Second Bill of Rights. Go back and read them again. Or you can watch them. And be curious enough to wonder why it took Michael Moore to find this film. (What???)
Don Brown
May 31, 2020
Comments