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freshwest

(53,661 posts)
17. Whoa, I didn't get that far. It's why when I hear media dissing any reform to SS for effect, and
Mon Jul 1, 2013, 09:50 PM
Jul 2013
pushing and doing the Koch brothers will in everything else, calling it civil liberty, my 'fishy meter' goes into overdrive as well. I agree with the plan of the man they hated more than life itself, Franklin D. Roosevelt:



Second Bill of Rights


The Second Bill of Rights was a list of rights proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt during his State of the Union Address on January 11, 1944.[1] In his address Roosevelt suggested that the nation had come to recognize, and should now implement, a second "bill of rights". Roosevelt's argument was that the "political rights" guaranteed by the constitution and the Bill of Rights had "proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness." Roosevelt's remedy was to declare an "economic bill of rights" which would guarantee:

Employment, with a living wage
Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies
Housing
Medical care
Education
Social security


Roosevelt stated that having these rights would guarantee American security, and that America's place in the world depended upon how far these and similar rights had been carried into practice. Later in the 1970s, Czech jurist Karel Vasak would categorize these as the "second generation" rights in his theory of three generations of human rights.



Franklin Roosevelt -Second Bill of Rights

Franklin Delano Roosevelt proposed a Second Bill of Rights in a speech on January 11, 1944. This was an economic Bill of Rights.


“The Economic Bill of Rights”

Excerpt from President Roosevelt's January 11, 1944 message to the Congress of the United States on the State of the Union:
[2]
“It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.

This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.

As our nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.

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.”[3] 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.”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights

This is the legacy of the Democratic Party, being shredded by the Koch brothers, right wing religion, GOP lies and media compliance. I focus on poverty and basic rights, for as FDR, said above:

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.”[3] People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.

It is why the GOP want Obama and the government to fail. It is why they obstruct everything Obama proposed, which was also called a New Deal with many of the same alphabet government employment programs FDR enacted. The GOP fought him from Day One, calling his programs Obama Youth Squads, his plans for health care Death Panels, and so on.

They want misery and people on the run, listening to grifters, cultist and demagogues so they can step in and create their dictatorship.

That's why I have little patience for those who don't get down to Earth and deal with what affects real people and that's the pain of being shoved around by the rich. No amount of smearing is going to convince me that who follow every Koch inspired media sensation when we have the dire wolf at the door. While people squabble, they are pulling the rug out from under us.

I really appreciate the link you posted. It's very enlightening.



P. S. Also at the Wikipedia link is the story of the video. The audio was lost for many years, until Michael Moore found it and put it in Capitalism: A Love Story.

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