Today, when violent right-wing fascists have attacked the US Capital, I find it heartening to see that on January 6, 1941, at a time when the Nazis and other fascists controlled most of Europe, President Franklin D. Roosevelt, used his State of the Union address to make a full-throated defense of democracy and freedom.
Given 11 months before the US entered World War II, the speech is most famous for the section asserting that everyone in the world had a right “Four Freedoms” – freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
This clarion call became a touchstone of international relations and popular culture. They are incorporated into the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights, which was drafted by a committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt. They were the subject of famed painting by Norman Rockwell.
And they were twice featured on stamps that collectively are today’s #stampoftheday. The first was a 1-cent stamp, issued in February 1943 that features Paul Manship’s painting, “Liberty Holding the Lighted Torch of Freedom and Enlightenment.” Roosevelt personally selected the image because he believed that the stamp should convey the reasons the U.S. was fighting fascism in Europe and Asia. The second was a 5-cent stamp, issued in January 1946, that was one of four stamps issued in the year after Roosevelt’s death in April 1945.
In addition to the four freedoms, the speech also contained two other sections that in many respects are as timely today as they were in the dark times when Roosevelt spoke.
Much of the speech was devoted to rallying America to confront the dangerous state of the world outside of its borders. “The future and the safety of our country and of our democracy are overwhelmingly involved in events far beyond our borders,” said FDR, who added (in words that would be appropriate today), “Let us say” to the democratic government around the world…”‘We Americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our energies, our resources and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world.'”
Continuing (again in words that describe our current situation as well as anyone today), he asserted that a strong defense policy was not enough. “The mighty action that we are calling for cannot be based on a disregard of all things worth fighting for,” he said, before adding, “this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems” that had led to the rise of fascism and communism.
And, then, he laid out principles and an agenda that could serve as the basis for actions by the next president and the new, Democratically controlled Congress. “There is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy,” he said. “The basic things expected by our people of their political and economic systems are simple. They are:
– Equality of opportunity for youth and for others.
– Jobs for those who can work.
– Security for those who need it.
– The ending of special privilege for the few.
– The preservation of civil liberties for all.
– The enjoyment of the fruits of scientific progress in a wider and constantly rising standard of living.”
“These are the simple, basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.”
In particular, he said,
– “We should bring more citizens under the coverage of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance.
– We should widen the opportunities for adequate medical care.
– We should plan a better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment may obtain it.”
Such principals, it seems to me, could well be the basis for the next COVID relief package. Those calling for such a package, might, like Roosevelt, concede that these measures would require “personal sacrifice” but also take heart from “the willingness of almost all Americans to respond to that call….[even if] a part of the sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes than we are paying today.”
And current advocates, like FDR might also caution, “No person should try, or be allowed, to get rich out of this program; and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation.”
Only then did Roosevelt turn to what he called “a world founded upon four essential human freedoms.”
“The first is freedom of speech and expression–everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way–everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want–which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.
The fourth is freedom from fear–which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor–anywhere in the world.”
Such a world, he contended, “is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation. That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new order of tyranny…To that new order we oppose the greater conception–the moral order.”
He continued: “Since the beginning of our American history, we have been engaged in change—in a perpetual peaceful revolution—a revolution which goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions–without the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working together in a friendly, civilized society.”
These powerful words helped set the stage for the extraordinary actions needed to defeat fascism and usher in a somewhat better (albeit still quite imperfect) new world order. They were needed then and, as today’s extraordinary events show, similar words – and actions – are needed today.
Be well, stay safe, engage in a “perpetual, peaceful revolution,” fight for justice, and work for peace.