In our opinion: The Four Freedoms

On Jan. 6, 1941, 11 months before the U.S. entered World War II, Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered his State of the Union address to Congress. The speech, which came to be known as the Four Freedoms speech, has as much relevance and truth today as it did then.

The Four Freedoms he expressed that day — freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want, and freedom from fear — were impossible to imagine in Adolph Hitler’s Germany or Benito Mussolini’s Italy. Sadly, they’re becoming harder to find in Donald Trump’s America.

Instead of freedom of speech, Trump has silenced critics, bullied media companies and given his minions freedom to lie. Unless you’re a conservative Christian, your unfettered freedom of worship is at risk. Instead of freedom from want, Trump has ordered draconian cuts to federal food programs, medical research, education and health care. As each day goes by, activists opposed to the MAGA cabal wonder how long it will be until masked thugs from ICE kick down their doors.

One warning in FDR’s speech resonates today: "We must especially beware of that small group of selfish men who would clip the wings of the American eagle in order to feather their own nests."

In addition to his Four Freedoms, FDR listed values all Americans should support and those who lead us should personify. “[T]here is nothing mysterious about the foundations of a healthy and strong democracy,” he said. “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.”

Democrats stood by these values in 1941, and they continue to support them today. They are the same values Brunswick County Democrats have always sought and will continue to demand from candidates for municipal, county, state and federal office.

But FDR’s notion of government as a bastion for democracy is under attack by Republicans at all levels of government. Unlike 1941, today’s threat to democracy isn’t external – it’s in the White House. And unlike 1941, no nation will come to our rescue if we fail to sustain our democracy.

It’s up to us, and only us, to resist. Our form of government will fail — and we will have failed our children and grandchildren — unless we block Trump’s warped values and autocratic design.

The Brunswick County Democratic Party will do whatever it can to preserve and protect FDR’s Four Freedoms. Join us for our protest, co-sponsored by the Horry County, South Carolina Democratic Party, on Saturday, October 18 in Shallotte, where we will once again peacefully demonstrate in support of democracy and against the autocratic ambitions of Trump and his Republican Party.

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