Thom Hartmann: If you don't have a job - you're not free

[thomhartmann]

Run time: 08:36 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqHaTcL7IPE   Posted on YouTube: September 15, 2011 By YouTube Member: TheBigPictureRT Views on YouTube: 180   Posted on DU: September 15, 2011 By DU Member: thomhartmann Views on DU: 962

 
For the last 30 years or so - Republicans have defined what freedom means in America. At the debate this week - Ron Paul told us what it means to be “free” in America. As in - freedom to die alone. Just like what happened to Ron Paul's campaing manager - Kent Snyder - back in 2008 - when he contracted pneumonia - spent 2 months in the hospital - and died $400,000 in debt - because he didn't have health insurance. Ron Paul doesn't even give his campaign staff health insurance - I guess because he wants them to be "free."

That means freedom from government keeping air, water, and food safe - freedom from government taxing us to pay for roads, bridges, and police officers - and freedom…I guess…from lawyers being allowed to sue on our behalf when a corporation or incompetent doctor ruins our lives. That’s what Republicans want you to believe freedom means - freedom mostly from the government. And considering our government is made up of “We the People” - then it essentially means freedom from each other - maybe that's why some people are arming themselves to the teeth today. But this isn’t how freedom used to be defined in America. In 1936 - President Franklin Roosevelt defined freedom a different way when he famously said, "An old English judge once said: 'Necessitous men are not free men.' Liberty requires opportunity to make a living - a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for."

A necessitous man in not a free man…so what does that mean? Basically it means -if you have necessities that are not met, if you’re in need - then you’re not free.

If you're hungry and don’t have food - you’re not free.

If you’re homeless - you’re not free.

If you don’t have healthcare - you’re not free.

If you don’t have a job - you’re not free. That’s why - shortly before he died - Roosevelt laid out his Second Bill of Rights - so that more and more Americans could enjoy that freedom that comes with living in the United States. And while FDR’s second bill of rights never came to fruition, his New Deal did - and so, too, did Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” - and from after World War 2 until Reagan - our nation spread freedom to more and more Americans by caring for each other - by everyone pitching in to create a social safety net - including the rich who paid an income tax rate over 70% after their first million or so - and most of the time above 90%.

And what happened was more and more Americans were free to chase down their dreams - to be artists and inventors - to find that perfect job - to teach and to build. They were free to spend more time with their families and to take vacations. They were free to dream, and to persue those dreams - and the explosion of innovation and opportunity in America during the period from the 1940s through the 1980s was the result of that freedom. That's because they weren't constantly living on the edge - constantly living in need - they weren't "necessitous men and women." They were free to quit a dead-end job because they knew it wasn't the only way they could get health insurance - which all the states back then required be offered by non-profit companies and so was less expensive than today. They were free to start-up a small business because they weren't living paycheck to paycheck and they could take a risk without fear that their family would starve if the business went bust. And because of all this new freedom - provided for BY government policies - our economy boomed - the middle class thrived - and the United States was a superpower - and a beacon of freedom to the rest of the world.

Then it all changed. Reagan called FDR's concept of freedom nonsense - he called it communism - and he pivoted the nation toward a new definition of freedom - the one Republicans like Ron Paul and Rick Perry promote. Bill Clinton continued the re-definition of freedom - and ended welfare "as we know it." Today - half of Great Society has been repealed - and the New Deal centerpiece of Social Security is under attack. Regulations that keep us safe are being repealed - taxes on the rich and corporations that pay for the social safety net are being dropped - and despite what Republicans like to claim - Americans are more "free" from the government than they've ever been since the Great Depression. And what do we see happening? Working peoples' wages are going down - more Americans are living in poverty than at any other time in this nation's history - at least 20 million Americans are unemployed - 53 million Americans are without healthcare - more than 40 million Americans can't afford to put enough food on the table for their families.

We're free alright - free to go hungry - free to be poor - free to be jobless - free to breath toxic air and drink dirty water - and free to get sick and die - and all the while, free from the government helping us. We need to once again ask ourselves what it means to be free - because for the vast majority of Americans - this new definition of freedom just isn't working. Anthropologically speaking - historically speaking - humans have never bought into this bizarre new Republican - or Ayn Rand - notion of "freedom." For thousands of years we've organized ourselves into groups - in families - in tribes - in cities - in nations - just so we could all collectively provide each other enough basic protections and safety to live more free lives. That's the point of a democratic government in a republic like ours - to guarantee our freedom both from government intrusion but also from want, destitution, disease, and from the corporate predators around us. It's in our biology to live in "We" societies.

So let's tell Rick Perry and Ron Paul and the rest of the Republicans to go build their libertarian "Me" societies somewhere else - like the libertarian paradise of Somolia, where the government provides only the most basic of services. Then the rest of us can be free to recover our society from the damage of Reaganomics - and restore true freedom here in the United States of America

The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on RT TV & FSTV "live" 9pm and 11pm check www.thomhartmann.com/tv for local listings

[LongTomH]

1. FDR's programs probably saved my Father's life!

After his father died, Dad's family lost their farm during the Depression. Dad spent his teen years in a Civilian Conservation Corps came, where he at least was fed. He also got much of his education in the CCC camp.

A modern Civilian Conservation Corps could provide much the same benefits for young people today. It would be a bridge to a first job for most, and a lifesaver for many.

[saras]

2. And if you work for a corporation, you're not free.

Are you free to report a crime you witness (irrespective of the fact that it involves corporate intellectual property, the highest levels of management at your employer, and a signed employee agreement where you agreed not to report anything to anyone except the appropriate corporate authorities)?

Didn't think so.

[Larry Ogg]

4. In the 80's: I tried blowing the whistle on the corporation I worked for.

They had a very lucrative cost plus contract to mismanage the City Transit System, and fleece the tax payers out of tens of millions of dollars.

I Called my congressman's office, talked to city managers, went to three different news stations. It all fell on deaf ears.

Friends, family, coworkers, all agreed with me about the corruption and mismanagement at taxpayers expense, as this was a time when National News was doing a weakly show on the fleecing of America; my story - like most, wasn't one of them.

But still, the only thing friends, family, and coworkers would do or say, is that you can't fight city hall, and don't rock the boat.

It's obvious that the complacency of American tax payers comes from their not wanting to get involved, and now we have the most corrupt, bought and paid for government in American history. And you still have people who say, you can't fight city hall, and don't rock the boat.

[sabrina 1]

3. Excellent, thank you!

:kick:

[baldguy]

5. "Freedom from taxes, freedom from lawyers..."

How 'bout Freedom from Fear & Freedom from Want?

[Mimosa]

6. Get Hartmann on Current TV NOW

Olbermann is a boor. Not that anybody disagrees with K.O. his style is wrong. Thom has better style.