FDR's "Second Bill of Rights"

[Fire Walk With Me]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Bill_of_Rights

The Second Bill of Rights was a list of rights proposed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, the then President of the United States, during his State of the Union Address on January 11, 1944. In his address Roosevelt suggested that the nation had come to recognize, and should now implement, a second "bill of rights". Roosevelt's argument was that the "political rights" guaranteed by the constitution and the Bill of Rights had "proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness." Roosevelt's remedy was to declare an "economic bill of rights" which would guarantee:

Employment, with a living wage,
Freedom from unfair competition and monopolies,
Housing,
Medical care,
Education, and,
Social security
Roosevelt stated that having these rights would guarantee American security, and that America's place in the world depended upon how far these and similar rights had been carried into practice. Later in the 1970s, Czech jurist Karel Vasak would categorize these as the ‘second generation’ rights in his theory of three generations of human rights.

[Xithras]

1. "People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made."

That's always been one of my favorite FDR speeches.

Today, FDR would be hanging out with the rest of us lefties under the bus. It's a mad world.

[Fire Walk With Me]

2. That's an excellent quote, thanks. Perfectly suits what the repubs are doing and aiming for.

[jwirr]

5. If he was under the bus then that is where I would want to be.

[Fire Walk With Me]

3. Economic fairness. What a concept.

[RaleighNCDUer]

4. In the midst of the greatest military mobilization this country ever knew

he acknowledged that having these rights would guarantee American security.

If you depend on the military for national security, you get a military security state.

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. Cass Sunstein..

...who is officially persona non grata on DU, has written an excellent book on the subject.

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. Kick for something we should all demand.

[Fire Walk With Me]

8. Last kick for something everyone should know.