EDITOR’S NOTE: Given the state of federal government and the upcoming 4th of July holiday, I took a prompt that NPR sent out to readers “What does Freedom Mean to You?” and sent it to the couple dozen Pioneer contributors. We’ll share those thoughts with readers over the next several days.
Here’s Jim Heffernan’s thoughts about freedom, quoting FDR about true freedom in 1944. Readers, please share with us – “What does freedom mean to you?” Share it words, poetry, photos, art … I think we all need to remind ourselves about what freedom truly means. Send your contributions to editor@tillamookcountypioneer.net
By Jim Heffernan
Liberty, civic and economic, for ALL – is what America needs to truthfully call itself “great.”
Civic liberty is guaranteed by our Constitution. Economic liberty has been promised by the ideal that “all men are created equal”, but never truly delivered to all men (and women).
I was lucky. I am a white male born in 1946. I was born into working class family, but I had a good education, and life has been good to me. The advantages I had have been severely degraded for my children and grandchildren.
Economic liberty is something we don’t talk about much now days, but without it, civic liberty doesn’t count for much. Economic liberty is honoring the pledge of equality for all.
Franklin Roosevelt clearly understood what economic freedom was. He enumerated them in his 1944 “State of the Union” address. Here’s what he had to say.
“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.”
My sorrow is that these words, words that should have been the continuous guiding light of our government and politics, have been relegated to an obscure footnote of history.