1944 Franklin D. Roosevelt - Second Bill of Rights

 In 1944, FDR outlined his second bill of rights to congress:

"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."

What is often missed is the context of these rights. FDR was determined to defeat Hitler and fascism. He believed our security depended not only on the defeat of the Axis Powers, but also the end of dictatorships. Here is some context of this speech:

"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.
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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."

Today, we have witnessed so many failed attempts to guarantee these rights, and the loss of liberty that such attempts may bring, that we forget how basic some of these rights are, and how terribly they were violated. In 1948, the United Nations community vowed never again to allow such atrocities like those of the second world war to happen again. So on December 10th, they adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Franklin Delano Roosevelt's widow, Eleanor chaired the commission and helped to draft and secure the Declaration.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=16518
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Freedoms
http://img.groundspeak.com/waymarking/562e227e-d48e-434d-b7f8-30c5e9642c30.JPG
http://www.fdrlibrary.marist.edu/library/er_humanrights.html