Revisiting the Four Freedoms

The awesome blog, Free Technology for Teachers, posted some wonderful links yesterday to resources for Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "Four Freedoms" speech.  This was Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address to Congress.  The focus of the speech, as you might imagine, was the threats to the U.S. from outside its borders and the war that was raging in Europe.  Roosevelt discussed the need for more defense spending, which would require tax increases, and stated that American's should "put patriotism ahead of pocketbooks" (Roosevelt, p. 5). 

He also discussed the roots of the unrest in the world, saying, 

"Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about the social and economic problems which are the root cause of the social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the world.
For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy. 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." (Roosevelt, pp. 4-5)

Have we lost sight of these expectations in the "unbelievable complexity" of our modern world? 

He ended his speech with the "four freedoms".  These are what he called "the essential human freedoms" that every person in the world should be able to expect.  They are freedom of speech and religion and freedom from want and fear.  It seems to me that the first two freedoms are non-existent in many of the countries in the world involved in conflicts today.  They have been threatened in recent years in the U.S.  Hate crimes have been on the rise in some regions.  The political and social climate, which has been referred to as bearing a lack of civility, has been, in fact, an attack on freedom of speech.  When town hall meetings end in shouting matches and the President of the United States is called a liar on the floor of Congress, this is not a lack of civility; it is an open attack on free speech.

It is the last two, however, that truly give me pause.  Do we have freedom from want in America?  I don't think we do.  A story in the Tulsa World today about school closings due to the incredibly cold weather referred to the fact that 60 students in one middle school had no coats.  The Oklahoma Kids Count Factbook for 2009 reports that "almost two hundred thousand (196,160) Oklahoma children live in
poverty. Each year, nearly thirteen thousand (12,911) children are abused or neglected." (p. 6)

Poverty isn't, of course, isolated to Oklahoma.  We see video almost nightly on the national news about businesses closing, unemployed adults who cannot find jobs, families who have plummeted from middle class to poverty.  What has America's reaction been to these tragic events?  Some have rolled up their sleeves and worked to help alleviate pain and suffering in their local communities.  Others, however, protest government programs that would help the disenfranchised.  They are much more concerned about keeping every penny they have than they are about helping the less fortunate in our midst.  They are putting their pocketbooks before their Christian ideals if not before patriotism.

I believe it is time that we look at FDRs four freedoms again.  The "conflicts" in which we find ourselves embroiled are based, for the most part, in the lack of these basic freedoms for the people of those nations.  We also need to remember that charity begins at home.  We need to admit that most of the people needing assistance in this country today, particularly the children, find themselves in the position they are in at no fault of their own.  We need to actually embrace the "Christian values" that are so often espoused.