By Carol Pelosi
On January 6, 1941, two years after the European war that would become World War II and eleven months before the attack on Pearl Harbor that brought America into the war, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt gave a speech, now referred to as his Four Freedoms Speech, which laid out his vision for America and the rest of the world.
“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.
“[W]e look forward to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first is freedom of speech and expression. The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own way. The third is freedom from want. The fourth is freedom from fear, which, translated into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments.”
How do you think America today resembles the vision FDR had?
