Friday, February 3, 2012

FDR's Four Freedoms

I may almost be done grading the question about "among" in the D of C and I'll comment on the responses at some point, but I though 2301s might be interested in FDR's proposal in his 1941 State of the Union address that people everywhere in the world ought to enjoy four freedoms:

Freedom of speech and expression
Freedom of worshipFreedom from want
Freedom from fear

Click here for audio of the speech.

The first two are familiar to us, but the other two are novel. What are we to make of them? They remind me of the Churchill quote we read where he stated the advantages of civilization. Perhaps they contain freedoms from want and fear. 

What is civilized society? “It means a society based on the opinions of civilians. It means that violence, the rule of warriors and despotic chiefs, the conditions of camps and warfare, of riot and tyranny, give place to parliaments where laws are made, and independent courts of justice in which over long periods those laws are maintained. That is civilization – and in its soil grow continually freedom, comfort and culture. When Civilization reigns in any country, a wider and less harassed life is afforded to the masses of the people.”