| As men do not live by bread alone, they do not fight by armaments
alone. Those who man our defenses, and those behind them who build
our defenses, must have the stamina and the courage which come
from unshakable belief in the manner of life which they are defending.
The mighty action that we are calling for cannot be based on a
disregard of all things worth fighting for.
The Nation takes great satisfaction and much strength from the
things which have been done to make its people conscious of their
individual stake in the preservation of democratic life in America.
Those things have toughened the fibre of our people, have renewed
their faith and strengthened their devotion to the institutions
we make ready to protect.
Certainly this is no time for any of us to stop thinking about
the social and economic problems which are the root cause of the
social revolution which is today a supreme factor in the world.
For there is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy
and strong democracy. 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. These are the simple,
basic things that must never be lost sight of in the turmoil and
unbelievable complexity of our modern world. The inner and abiding
strength of our economic and political systems is dependent upon
the degree to which they fulfill these expectations.Many subjects
connected with our social economy call for immediate improvement.
As examples: We should bring more citizens under the coverage
of old-age pensions and unemployment insurance. We should widen
the opportunities for adequate medical care. We should plan a
better system by which persons deserving or needing gainful employment
may obtain it.
I have called for personal sacrifice. I am assured of the willingness
of almost all Americans to respond to that call. A part of the
sacrifice means the payment of more money in taxes. In my Budget
Message I shall recommend that a greater portion of this great
defense program be paid for from taxation than we are paying today.
No person should try, or be allowed, to get rich out of this program;
and the principle of tax payments in accordance with ability to
pay should be constantly before our eyes to guide our legislation.
If the Congress maintains these principles, the voters, putting
patriotism ahead of pocketbooks, will give you their applause.
In the future days, which we seek to make secure, we look forward
to a world founded upon four essential human freedoms. The first
is freedom of speech and expression—everywhere in the world.
The second is freedom of every person to worship God in his own
way—everywhere in the world.
The third is freedom from want—which, translated into world
terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every
nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants- everywhere
in the world. The fourth is freedom from fear—which, translated
into world terms, means a world-wide reduction of armaments to
such a point and in such a thorough fashion that no nation will
be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against
any neighbor—anywhere in the world.
That is no vision of a distant millennium. It is a definite basis
for a kind of world attainable in our own time and generation.
That kind of world is the very antithesis of the so-called new
order of tyranny which the dictators seek to create with the crash
of a bomb. To that new order we oppose the greater conception—the
moral order. A good society is able to face schemes of world domination
and foreign revolutions alike without fear. Since the beginning
of our American history, we have been engaged in change —
in a perpetual peaceful revolution — a revolution which
goes on steadily, quietly adjusting itself to changing conditions—without
the concentration camp or the quick-lime in the ditch. The world
order which we seek is the cooperation of free countries, working
together in a friendly, civilized society.
This nation has placed its destiny in the hands and heads and
hearts of its millions of free men and women; and its faith in
freedom under the guidance of God. Freedom means the supremacy
of human rights everywhere. Our support goes to those who struggle
to gain those rights or keep them. Our strength is our unity of
purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
Franklin Roosevelt's Annual address to Congress - "The Four
Freedoms"
January 6, 1941
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