A New Deal
The desperate economic crisis our country in now facing is not the first and hopefully will not prove the worst yet experienced. History has valuable lessons to offer and if we are to make significant changes for the majority of the population and not just a wealthy elite we must employ the knowledge of the past.
On January 11, 1944 as the United States emerged from the ravages of the Great Depression and World War II, president Franklin D. Roosevelt speaking to congress proposed a second Bill of Rights:
“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 may 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 economic fears of old age, sickness, accident and unemployment”;
“The right to a good education”
The majority of working Americans do not enjoy these rights more than 60 years later and and so we must continue the struggle.