October 11

Blog #102 – FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights

As part of his State of the Union address on January 11, 1944, President Roosevelt presented the nation with a 2nd Bill of Rights – economic rights that the government would have to guarantee for all Americans once the laws were passed.  Take a look at the following video:

Some of the key passages are as follows:
“It is our duty now to begin to lay the plans and determine the strategy for the winning of a lasting peace and the establishment of an American standard of living higher than ever before known. We cannot be content, no matter how high that general standard of living may be, if some fraction of our people—whether it be one-third or one-fifth or one-tenth—is ill-fed, ill-clothed, ill-housed, and insecure.
We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence…People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
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 can be established for all—regardless of station, race, or creed.
Among these are:
1. The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation (since only 2-3% of the nation are farmers and less than 20% are in industry, this would have to change if this BoR / laws were implemented);
 
2. The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
 
3. The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living (since so few of us are farmers now, this might change);
 
4. 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;
 
5. The right of every family to a decent home;
 
6. The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health (did we just achieve this in 2010 with the passage of ObamaCare?);
 
7. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
 
8. The right to a good education.
All of these rights spell security. And after this war is won we must be prepared to move forward, in the implementation of these rights, to new goals of human happiness and well-being.  For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.”
Image result for fdr 2nd bill of rights

He listed 8 things that would bring economic security to our nation and hopefully, by extension, to the rest of the world.  At the point that he gave this address in history, America was NOT planning on a Cold War with the Soviet Union or stockpiling tens of thousands of nuclear missiles or spending billions on a military budget every year.  None of the 46 years of futility vs. the Soviet Union was set in stone, nor the explosion and entrenchment of the military-industrial complex in our national economy like it is today.

However, America was coming out of the war w/ its biggest national debt in its history (having borrowed $200 billion from the American people in war bonds – $170 billion held by U.S. taxpayers – and from American banks + $100 billion in income taxes).  Congressmen were wary of spending huge amounts of money on peace time programs, especially for FDR, because his New Deal programs had had such a mixed track record of success and failure.

The reason I bring this issue up is b/c I think that the country has spent the next 73 years (and may continue) to try to achieve his goals.  As we progress through the school year, we’ll return to these eight core principles and examine how we have failed and / or succeeded.

Your questions to answer: 
1. Out of the 8 new rights listed above, which of them do you believe have been addressed in some way or another since 1944?  Try to pick at least 2 and explain our country has tried to address them (if you choose #6, please try to do some research and not repeat misinformation that you might have heard on talk shows, i.e., it’s going to save billions, death panels, it forces everyone to buy insurance, etc.)

2. Which of these 8 rights should be the one that is immediately addressed or fixed by our Congress and President?  Why?

3. Which one of these seems the least likely to be enforceable / possible to make an economic right (please don’t pick the farming right – it doesn’t affect too many people)?  Why?

350 words minimum total for all three answers.  Due Monday, October 16th by class.    

Here’s Glenn Beck’s take on FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights.  Here.

Further reading:
To read a book review entitled: “FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights: A New New Deal” click here.
A response to this book from Forbes magazine who say that only one Bill of Rights is quite enough. click here.
Here’s an analysis of how the 2nd Bill is going so far: Click here.
An article about how the 2nd BoR violates the Constitution, click here.

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Posted October 11, 2017 by geoffwickersham in category Blogs

63 thoughts on “Blog #102 – FDR’s 2nd Bill of Rights

  1. Cariel Gamlin

    Cariel Gamlin
    The two things that have been addressed since the second bill of rights,they are education and medical care. How? Well let’s tackle it one at a time. First, we have education One is we have the no children left behind(2002) then the ESEA.The ESEA act was made 50 years ago then, was reauthorized by Former president Obama on 12/10/15. This was a bipartisan for educational reform.The page explains what the no children left behind,”Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), the nation’s national education law and longstanding commitment to equal opportunity for all students…..Requires—for the first time—that all students in America be taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college and careers,” (Every Student succeeds Act Department of Education). This excerpt explains The ESEA then states one of the many things this act does. Another example would be The prior act The No child left behind act. This excerpt explains why this act needed reform,The previous version of the law, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, was enacted in 2002. NCLB represented a significant step forward for our nation’s children in many respects, particularly as it shined a light on where students were making progress and where they needed additional support, regardless of race, income, zip code, disability, home language, or background. The law was scheduled for revision in 2007, and, over time, NCLB’s prescriptive requirements became increasingly unworkable for schools and educators. Recognizing this fact, in 2010, the Obama administration joined a call from educators and families to create a better law that focused on the clear goal of fully preparing all students for success in college and careers”(Every Student succeeds Act Department of Education)
    Every person has the right for a job. The job market is in constant fluctuation. Though i would like to say everyone who wants a job and has a job it’s not true. To be fair there are also people who are unemployed and want to stay unemployed, The rate it is at is 4.2%. Good thing we have protection for these people during their job search(find out more on https://www.careeronestop.org/). Anyways, Though some much of of this has been addressed and attempted to fix. I’m not saying the government isn’t helping they are but maybe find a better way to help people find jobs for that percentage. (Sorry worried to press on medical care)
    Though decent living is currently being managed in a great way currently, adequate job needs a little bit more attention. As u quote from Mr. W himself “mcjobs” aren’t currently only being worked by high schoolers and college students. It’s hard to regulate. Its hard. I don’t think there is a way to manage this sadly.

  2. Abby Nelson

    I believe that one of the problems that has been looked at since 1944 is everyone’s right to a decent home. When Levittown was created in 1947, William Levitt refused to give home ownership to African Americans and other minority races, forcing those people to live in cramped small cities and towns. When neighborhoods were finally opened to African Americans and minorities, they were red-lined, meaning the government lacked them as “bad” and didn’t give them adequate funding to provide things such as nice schools and recreation facilities to it’s residents. Since 1944, red-lining is now prohibited in all neighborhoods and cities and more people are finally getting the right to a decent home with the benefits it has to offer.

    Another one that has been enforced since 1944 is the right to have a decent wage which can provide food, shelter, and recreation. In 1938, the first minimum wage was enacted, it started at 25 cents an hour (around $3.80 now) which could be enough to help bring a steady income into the family. That minimum wage has been raised 22 times since the original founding in 1938 and helps people in low-income jobs to have a steady and consistent pay. Although it may not be enough to support a family in the suburbs, it is a way for Americans to earn a steady income with no drops in pay.

    The right that Congress or our President should fix is the right of every business man to trade in a market free of monopolies. Supporting small businesses is a sound way for Americans to develop a community where they live and it supports the people they know rather than big businesses, but because of the radical movement of commercial companies it seems relatively impossible to do so. Because of these people moving to large corporations rather than small businesses, many small companies go out of work or have to raise their prices higher to support themselves, causing their pool of costumers to shrink even lower. Without the monopolies of large companies, small cities and towns develop a community where people rely on other people in the town and not on big businesses.

    The one right that is almost impossible to make and economic right is the right of everyone to a job. Because of the dramatic switch in lifestyles from 1944 to now, the jobs and amounts change. After World War II, the other manufacturing nations were in serious debt and in need of repair, practically destroying their economy, because the other nations were struggling, this made America the main provider of manufactured items, which brought many jobs to the United States and gave the American people a decent living situation. Manufacturing jobs were in high demand and could be easily attained by a workforce without higher education, but that is not the same case today. Since 1944, the manufacturing countries that were devastated by the war have brought up their economy, making the manufacturing jobs in America less and less, which puts a lot of people out of work even still today, and because of the increase in advancement of technology and the use of China in industry, more and more jobs are getting replaced which puts a lot of baby boomers and Gen X people out of work. Due to the rapidness of the development of technology, the US government is unable to secure the ability to hold a job as a right because of the uncertainty following the use of technology and looking abroad to make cheaper products.

    Abby N

  3. Rachel

    Since 1944, many steps have been taken (or at least attempted at) to reform the points of interest that Roosevelt mentions in his second bill of rights. Primarily, there is always a lot of talk among politicians that “jobs are being created in America,” referring to FDR’s first right; the right to a job. A significant politician in America, Bernie Sanders, stated that “in terms of job creation, every billion dollars invested in the physical infrastructure creates 47,000 new jobs.” Statements such as these prove that job creation and stabilization has and will continue to be a legitimate concern among American leaders. These efforts have shown progress; in Barack Obama’s last 5 months in office alone, he created 908,000 new jobs. With these statistics, it is apparent that job creation for all Americans is a large area of focus. Furthermore, lawmakers have since made it easier to be a parent and a supporter to one’s family. With the official effectiveness of the FMLA (Family and Medical Leave Act), parents are allowed 12 weeks of parental leave with a secure job waiting for them when they return. This act affirms Roosevelt’s seventh right, specifically dealing with the protection from the fear of unemployment. With an assured job, parents can now grow their families without the fear of not being able to support themselves afterwards.
    Even with a quick glance at American society, it is clear that all of these rights should be necessary to each family. I believe that specifically, it is crucial that the second right, the right to a salary enough to support one’s basic needs, is fulfilled for every citizen. It is difficult and nearly impossible to produce a society with well functioning and contributing members to society when many are barely making it along with their minimum-wage paychecks. Along with this, as a thriving country, it is our responsibility to make sure that every American is well taken care of, no matter what background they originate from or their beliefs.
    In a society where big industries dominate the economy, it is unrealistic to have a completely fair market across all platforms, as described by FDR in his fourth right. I believe that in many circumstances, such a market is attainable but not in all industries. For example, the diaper business is dominated by a few companies; Pampers, Huggies & Luvs. Although it may seem like a random example, the diaper industry is a large one, reaching a worth of $46.5 billion in 2016. Such industries have little room for competition for small companies and do not allow for this right to claim its full glory. Overall, I do believe that this can exist in certain areas, but definitely not in all industries.
    Rachel S

  4. geoffwickersham (Post author)

    1. Out of the 8 new rights listed above, which of them do you believe have been addressed in some way or another since 1944? Try to pick at least 2 and explain our country has tried to address them (if you choose #6, please try to do some research and not repeat misinformation that you might have heard on talk shows, i.e., it’s going to save billions, death panels, it forces everyone to buy insurance, etc.)

    The right to a good education and the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation, have popped up and have been somewhat addressed since 1944. The right to a good education was mostly addressed during the Cold War, during the Cold War President Harry Truman gave huge amounts of money towards Science, and mathematics, in High Schools. He did this though for the wrong reasons, he did it because the government was worried that the Commies will outsmart America and advance in technological power within a very short period of time; for they being Russia, had already created their first nuclear bomb a year after we did, and the Hydrogen Bomb roughly six months later. Truman also gave military Veterans a ,softly paid and in some cases free college education known as GI Bill, he did to prevent protest from veterans. The right of good education also occurred again during Eisenhower’s Presidency, referring to the first first ever desegregated school in 1957, at Central High School, Arkansas. This was an advancement in good education for all, because before desegregated schools, the “black” schools didn’t receive nearly enough money to give their students a proper education. Since 1944, the right for adequate food, and clothing, and recreation, has been addressed through the creation of welfare. In1996 the process of Welfare continued when President Bill Clinton signed the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act. Under the act, the federal government gives annual lump sums to the states to use to assist the poor. In turn the states must adhere to certain criteria to ensure that those receiving aid are being encouraged to move from welfare to work. Though some have criticized the program, many acknowledge it has been successful. This act allows the people to support their families and have receive enough money to keep them floating until they find a job. Although welfare hasn’t found any noticeable advancements since 1996, the many donation stations and stores such as Salvation Army have stepped up when it comes giving the people adequate food and clothing, but recreation has always been the issue here.

    2. Which of these 8 rights should be the one that is immediately addressed or fixed by our Congress and President? Why?

    The right of every family to a decent home should be immediately addressed and fixed by our Congress/President, because so many families become separated because they can not afford the money to purchase a good home, that follows the safety/health guidelines for children suitable housing. Causing them to be sent to their relatives or in extreme cases foster homes. When this terrible action occurs, both the kids and the parents are negatively affected. The children usually become rebellious, and grow strong anger against their parents for not being able to take care of them, or in some cases they becomes “runners”, which means that they are always trying to escape the Foster Care System and reunite with their parents, this is not any better for they find themselves constantly lost and alone with no food or shelter. As for the parents, they always go through a dark time in their life when this happens, whether it’s drugs or alcohol or anything else of that matter, they feel hopeless; but there are people who become motivated to change their life for the better and get their kids back. At the end of the day, every family deserves to live in a good, safe home, and most importantly to live together not separated. Think about the Michigan cold, and the winter, now imagine a family outside or in some cheap home with no installation; now imagine that family being yours, how would you feel. The need for decent homes should be the highest importance, it comes to a point that people all around the world will break into a store or commit some other petty crime, and wait for the cops so they can have a warm place to stay (jail) for the night. H R Haweis once said, “All good government, must begin at home.” Haweis is absolutely correct when he says this, for everything good as well as evil starts at the home. And the quality of the home can affect the quality of the man, for poverty either makes the man or destroys them, and sadly it usually destroys them. Every family should have the right to a decent home, for having a house, a good house, surrounded by people who love you, makes you feel like you can overcome anything, the love of a family and a home gives hope, and the Country needs more of that.

    3. Which one of these seems the least likely to be enforceable / possible to make an economic right (please don’t pick the farming right – it doesn’t affect too many people)? Why?

    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; seems to be the least likely to be enforceable, because of the fact that this right would change the world of business. Although both small and large businesses would thrive, the trade suppliers will rot, which will eventually affect the all businesses. Next thing you know the stock markets will crash, causing millions of people to lose their money causing an uproar of chaos. Trying to control the monopolies will cause more bad than good, for the larger companies will begin to lose their trading opportunities to lower monopolies, causing a cut in employment. Although the employment rates would increase for the smaller businesses. Then the small businesses will rise, then fall, then rise, then fall again, because of this an infinite loop will take place for all the years to come. If this right is past every supplier business will thrive but also fall after every half a decade or so, but more importantly the businesses in need of said supplier will be highly affected. For if their production while decrease at a staggering speed, due to lack of supplies. Due to the lack of production employment cuts will occur and the businesses will be going bankrupt. This then affecting the stores that sell said goods, leading to no longer sell said item and lose valuable customers, which means a loss of money. So, if the right of trade in the atmosphere free of unfair competition and domination of monopolies may seem like a good idea and would positively affect the world of trade and business, it would ultimately ruin the economy use a domino effect. It would be amazing if the world of trade and business was fair and free of domination, it can never happen. The large businesses thrive because their dominance over all the other smaller businesses, it’s like the rules of the wild, to rule over others you must make them your prey. In order to become the Alpha you must first be the Omega, meaning you must work your way up not just be placed there, for it makes all the difference in experience and skill, the success you earn will feel ten times greater than just have it be given to you.

    Sam G.

  5. Nicole Bastian

    1. I believe that our country has formerly addressed the right to a home and the right to a good education. In the past, not all races were eligible to purchase a home. When Levittown was built, African Americans weren’t allowed to purchase a home. Now, any race can buy a home, the opportunities are equal. Before, schools were segregated and different races weren’t able to receive the same education. Now, schools are no longer segregated, allowing more of an equal education. The Civil Rights movement played a large part in this change. In the 1950s-60s, there were nonviolent protests in efforts to create equal rights for the African Americans. Furthermore, the leadership of Martin Luther King helped the cause for equal rights.
    2. I think that the right to a good education is one that should be immediately addressed or fixed by our Congress and President. Education is a very big factor in someone’s success. With a good education comes a good job. With a good job comes good pay. With good pay you can support your family. It is not fair that some families struggle just because their parents/they didn’t have the right to a fair education. Some families will do all that they can but still aren’t able to be as successful because they didn’t get as good of an education to start out. By giving everyone a fair education, you are giving everyone the same chance to be successful and help their family.
    3. The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment seems the least likely to be enforceable/possible to make an economic right. It seems difficult to protect people from their fears. That seems to me as more of a job of a therapist. The fear of old age is common and you can’t make people stop being afraid just like that. Also, sickness is inevitable, even the healthiest person is bound to get sick on occasion. As for accidents, they are called accidents for a reason, you cannot control them. Lastly, for unemployment, there are likely going to be times where you are unemployed and I feel that you can’t force the government/employers to give everyone a job because not all people are suitable for work. They may be sick or just not a good employee and I don’t think anyone should have to hire somebody that is a terrible employee just because of a right. That would teach people that they don’t need to try because they will get a job anyway. Although, I do feel that your race/gender should affect your ability to get a job. Therefore, I don’t think these fears are unreasonable and there are ways to help subside some of them (like the fear of unemployment). It’s difficult to make it someone else’s duty to make sure economic fears of the people are minimal.

  6. Jana Dinkeloo

    I think numbers 6&8 have been addressed the most since 1944. Things like affordable health care especially has been back and forth in our government and public discussions for a long time, with people arguing constantly about whether affordable healthcare is something that would be good for the American people or not. Some say that yes, affordable healthcare should be implemented because of the extremely high medical fees for treatment that cause some low income or even well off middle class families either debt or a tricky financial situation. Some people even refuse or decline treatment because they know that it would put them in a tough financial situation. Others say that we don’t need affordable healthcare, and that people should just suck it up and pay for their own treatment no matter the cost. This is not good nor fair for low income families who struggle to pay for intense treatment fees. Rights to a good education have also been talked about, in that all areas no matter the types of families should be able to get a decent education in a decent environment. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always happen. Some areas, like poorer cities or reservations have poor quality schools and teachers, and it’s hard for students to succeed even if they try hard and deserve it.

    2.) I think the right to adequate health care is something that should be addressed and fixed by congress and the President, but not particularly this President for obvious reasons. Everyone deserves the opportunity to be healthy and live as long a life as they can, and it shouldn’t depend on if they can pay for a crazy expensive hospital and treatment bill or not. I’m not saying that healthcare needs to be 100% free, I just believe that our government should look into ways to make sure that our healthcare is more affordable and accessible for everyone, no matter the income.

    3.) I think the right that is the hardest or least likely to be enforced would be the right to good education. For that to apply to everyone and every district, the government would have to care enough to send good funding to lower tier districts or places like reservations, which are virtually ignored by the government in favor of spending money on other things. As unfortunate as it is, unless the priorities of the government change, it is unlikely that the right for good education for everyone will be heavily talked about or enforced.

    -Jana Dinkeloo

  7. James Laport

    1. Since Roosevelt’s Second Bill of Rights, the right to a good education has been addressed through the GI Bill. This bill allowed many veterans to go back to school after returning from WWII for a lower price. When many men came back from the war, they were in need of jobs. A good way for them to obtain these jobs were to go college and get an education. Through the bill, the men who originally couldn’t afford an education were now able to pay for it at a discounted price. Another aspect of the bill that has had important steps taken to achieve it’s goal would be “the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation”. This has been taken care of through the creation of minimum wage in many states across the US. But, just because we have laws and restrictions on how to keep wages somewhat in line, does not mean that there aren’t problems with it.

    2. The right needed to be most immediately addressed is “The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation”. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are currently working under minimum wage. Take Georgia for example, the state minimum wage here is $5.15, not nearly enough to make a living off of, especially with the growing inflation rates in the US.

    3. In FDR’s new deal, there is one right in particular that stood out to me as one that would be hard to enforce. That is “The right of every family to a decent home”. This new right would be difficult to take care of due to the number of people living without homes. Finding a home for every person out there does not necessarily mean they can live in it or pay for it. They would have to pay rent, which many people would not be able to afford because having a stable home does not give them a job. Another reason it would be difficult to enforce the rule is because the word “decent” can be manipulated into other ways they may mean a family has shelter, but not a comfortable living space.

  8. Wyatt Heaton

    1. I would have to say that the rights FDR listed in his 1944 speech that have been most addressed are the right to a living wage (#2) and the right to healthcare (#6.) For the living wage, a federal act called the Fair Labor Standings Act requires all federal workers to be paid at least $7.25/hour regardless of what state they live in. Also, every state but Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Wyoming have a state minimum wage of at least $7.25, which, while this is below the poverty level for a yearly salary, is certainly enough for a single person to have their basic needs, and most of the states raise their minimum wage on an almost yearly basis to fit the increasing cost to living. In regards to healthcare, while no system put in place has completely fixed the problems with our nation’s healthcare system, many systems have been proposed, and a good few passed into law, including the 1965 passing of Medicare and Medicaid to begin providing support for the elderly and impoverished, the HIPAA act of 1996, which protected the healthcare policies of workers and their families when they change or lose jobs as well as forcing healthcare companies to cover pre-existing conditions, and the ACA of 2010 which provided people with lower incomes subsidies to allow them to afford their own healthcare.
    2. I believe the right that needs to be most immediately addressed is the right to a quality education. Our current system is incredibly difficult for the highly mobile society we now live in, and also the funding is far too focused on the local level. As for the mobile society argument, nowadays people are moving more than ever, and children are far less likely to stay in one school system their entire lives. This could potentially force the children to go to schools in a different state than where they originally came from, where curriculums could be wildly different. For instance, when I first came back to Michigan after my years living in Illinois, I was already much farther ahead than other students in some subjects of study, while I was far behind in others that they had already covered. This is even more drastic in changes from states such as Alabama to New York. Funding is also a major issue. Currently, schools rely far too much on local funding to stay at an equal level. A perfect example of this is seen in the Detroit Public Schools system where hundreds of teachers quit their jobs in the past years due to a lack of funding, while in Birmingham we enjoy luxuries such as all new computers, iPads, and redesigned rooms, along with other massive expenditures due to our surplus budget. It would make much more sense to place the brunt of the school funding on state or federal budgets so that each school in a state, or even the nation could receive the same amount of money to operate in a much more similar way.
    3. I feel that the easiest of these rights to pass into law and enforce would, once again, be the right to a quality education. Bills would still have to be passed, but most people in our nation agree that education needs to be reformed in some way and if a singular good idea is proposed with backing from a large portion of congress it’s not too farfetched to assume the remaining needed votes would cave. Also, the ability for every American to get a job or a home, much correlation with the private sector is required, while public schools are almost purely government so if a bill or law was passed there is little or no way to go against it, unless the bill isn’t worded strongly enough or school staff members go against alone.

  9. Dylan Cohen

    1. 2) Federal and local governments have set minimum wage requirements for businesses in 1938 at $0.25 an hour. This is an effort to ensure that workers are being paid enough to support themselves and their families. The Minimum wage has since gone up with inflation and as cost of living increases. The Minimum wage as of 2017 is $7.25 an hour and has been that since 2009. Now, workers are trying to increase minimum wage to $15 an hour and some states and cities already plan on doing so, such as New York and Seattle, and plan on doing so as early as 2020.

    8) Since 1944, an American’s right to a good education has increased considerably. In 1954, schools became desegregated and black students were offered a more quality education at “white schools” who had better funding and better trained teachers. In most areas of the U.S. (at least I hope), it has become immoral to deny someone of an education based on their race, religion, nation of origin, status, sexuality, or etc further supporting the claim that it is your right as an American (or at least living in America) to receive a quality education.Creationism is being taught way less in schools and even in some religious schools, it is being taught alongside evolution which is a big step for the support of science and reason. In 1958, Ike issued the National Defense Education Act to keep the U.S. on par with The Soviet Union in STEM and language fields. This helped keep the U.S. on the global stage of innovation, industrialism, and commerce. More recently, government programs have been helping American students with financial aid for college and higher education, which is becoming increasingly important as employers are more willing to hire someone with a college degree.

    2. I think #1 should be addressed first and foremost, because if an adult is able to supply for themselves and also their family, then their family life is more stable allowing their kids to do better in school, increase their chances of going to college and qualifying for financial support and if their kids are able to get degrees, then they are more likely to succeed in life, and therefore be more active in the community, make more educated decisions, bolster the U.S. economy which would help Americans compete against foreign markets and help to improve the quality of life of Americans and in turn the rest of the world and help fulfill some of the other goals set in the second bill of rights.

    3. #6 because one thing that America has prided itself on is it’s private business. Don’t get me wrong, national healthcare would be awesome because a lot of people can’t afford and don’t qualify for privately owned healthcare. But who’s to say that national healthcare wont make more problems than it’s solved? It could get very expensive and corrupt politicians might try to find a way to break the system and profit off of it and i know it’s a bad reason but the wait times in Canadian clinics and such are apparently really bad so people who need urgent care will probably receive the help they need but others who are in a clinic for less urgent reasons have reportedly waited for hours upon hours to see a doctor. But, they all walk out without directly paying a cent. So unless we really get national healthcare right, which I don’t think will be anytime soon (especially with our current “situation”), I’m not sure it will benefit the American people in the way it could and we should focus on some other things.

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States#20th_century
    https://www.ed.gov/k-12reforms

    I’m sorry this is late. I forgot to do it over the weekend. My bad.

  10. geoffwickersham (Post author)

    Two of the eight rights stated in Franklin Delenor Roosevelt’s second bill of rights I’ve heard lately from our former president, Barack Obama, candidates, and members of our government. One would be the right to medical care. Even after 73 years, the right to medical care doesn’t meet every American, even though that was FDR’s wish. We have neighboring countries, allies such as Canada, whose socialist government makes sure everyone gets medical care. The fact people are angered at the thought that everyone should have medical care is rather a strange reason to be upset, at least in opinion. Overtime people have very much tried to reach out to every American citizen through medical health benefits such as the Affordable Health Care Plan which had the hope of providing everyone with health care, yet health care is a big business in America and is very expensive, even though it could be much more affordable. And when the Government becomes involved, taxes go up.
    The second right would be the right to a proper education for all over the years has been met much more efficiently. Racial segregation from education has now mixed races together and provided better education with less segregation. Women now have more support for education and learning what was previously thought only meant for men. It’s illegal for children to not be publically educated and now less common for college degrees to be rare, not to mention that is used to be only white men. Despite the fact that people are against socialism, the fact every child has the right to an education is a socialist act but an important one. For children to be educated helps them have a chance in succeeding in life and a job is a great opportunity. A lack of education would neither benefit the child or the government. Children who may come from a very poor home yet are very intelligent can help improve living for plenty of people or improve the function of the government. But what is odd is that if you mention to people the fact that the right for every child to be educated is socialist, could result in people being upset. Children in private schools also are educated but with an expensive price to go against socialism of public schools. Hey, it’s your wallet’s funeral. Maybe that is a reason why the government doesn’t spend much money on public school education. In conclusion, Healthcare and Public Education have been addressed since 1944.

    One of the second bill of right out of these eight rights that should be addressed and fixed by our congress and President should be healthcare. Why? I’m more than happy to state my claim. Health care is way too expensive and leave families poor or without the ability to help their struggling family member or friend. One of my close friend’s mother was discovered to be in stage four breast cancer several years ago. Although her mother miraculously survived, they are left with little funds. Health care should be free and most importantly, provided to every American. Without being healthy, providing for one’s family would be a terrible struggle and nearly impossible to obtain. Mental, emotional, and physical health are all important to have. To be mentally healthy helps you make right decisions, control emotions, and be independent. To be emotionally healthy will help you regulate emotions have proper responses, and allow your body to have the correct chemical reactions to keep you healthy. To be physically healthy will allow you to be able to move easily and also your body inside to be able to maintain homeostasis. If someone can’t get the treatment they need, then their family, friends, and their own life is at risk. It’s not fair to those who truly need help to not be able to get it because of taxes and expensive procedures cause it to be out of their reach. Just because those in powers don’t need it, doesn’t mean the people they are meant to protect also don’t need it. People will die without healthcare because healthcare is the help to gain the wellbeing of your body. To cost desperate people thousands because they are in risk of death or are injured in a way that needs to be helped or their future is at stake, is a corrupt. Although it may be a smart way to earn money, it’s sick to use the necessity of health against people. No one should ever have to struggle with the choice between thousands of dollars and the high risk of dept for their family, or dept. In conclusion, and also to be brief, without health care there is no chance you can make it in this world.

    All of the eight rights stated in Franklin Delenor Roosevelt’s second bill of rights are rather hard to meet for the benefit of the people, but one right that would be hard to uphold would be an adequate wage and decent paying to provide for one’s family. It may not be hard to enforce, but for it to be successful, that’s very hard. By helping to increase a wage for someone would increase taxes, and many Americans loath taxes. Also, businesses will struggle with this idea. In order to have a better pay, business owners will have to pay with more money and hire fewer employees. The cheapskates won’t like this plan. Is the idea of being a little more of a “socialist” country that horrifying? If it was easier for people to earn more money from many jobs would be a good way to help people. Yet sadly, from the rich’s perspective, the 1% that could easily be overthrown by the other 99% of the country, see this as a threat. It’s seen as a threat to all the powerful people, which leaves those who need this opportunity with nothing more than the wish that they could have the opportunity. Despite the job, to have a decent living environment is very important. Living in a unsafe home with mold, faulty piping, and unsafe structure isn’t a go to place, unless you can’t afford it. A home that is safe, clean, and warm for any American is a great idea. Yet an issue would be what if there is someone who just doesn’t put in effort to afford anything, or those who are hard workers but don’t have such great luck with their outcomes? The bill states that the government should help to make sure all Americans can get what they need to provide for themselves and others, and that the government would have contributed to those in need. In conclusion, although the idea of an adequate wage and decent living is a great idea, and should be enforced by the law, but the outcome may not exactly be as successful as hoped to be.

    Autumn R-N

  11. Gabriel Gamlin

    Question One answer: I believe that medical care and economic protection for sickness, old age, and etc. have been the most addressed. This is because these facets of rights and protection are seen almost everywhere in discussion, action, and the media. Whether or not the actions taken to ensure these rights have been successful or recognized are not relevant to the reality that things such as Healthcare and Insurance are a part of the economic agenda today more than many other things, for better or for worse.
    In March of 2010, former President Barack Obama initiated his healthcare and patient protection act, nicknamed Obamacare, and made an attempt to provide every US citizen with suitable healthcare that is affordable, and with the ability to keep assets from any hospital through it for the user. So we already see our Government taking action toward this problem in modern day, but healthcare is something that the Nation has been trying to tackle for decades even before Obama. For example, HAP, or Health Alliance Plan, is a health insurance plan for Michigan residents that ensure protection and service in a financial sense to the said residents for a price affordable by most middle class standards. Other States have Health Insurance private businesses that can ensure customers coverage and protection, and there are many national ones such as Blue Cross, and things such as AARP have provided service and protection to Elder’s wellbeing and cash for years. With these existing health care and other economic plans we can see that America has been concerned with the access of Healthcare to everyone. The availability of all of these health plans also have sprung the conversation about “free” health care and its place as a right or a luxury in society, and is reflective of societies focus on it. For things like accidents, insurance companies like Allstate and Farmers have ensured to provide assistance to the American people in their potential time of need in events like car accidents or house fires. Welfare service is an opportunity for any and all Americans, impoverished or not, to sustain life as long as they are not convicts or felons, and have been an option for people in need.
    Question Two answer: Hospitals have been available in most developed cities in America since the Bill’s inception, and have been advanced and supported to accommodate the needs of every American citizen. In Detroit, any person in need or has a health issue can access the DMC for help and wellness, and cannot be refused due to any sort of prejudice or class by law. Other cities follow this principal as well, like Beaumont in Royal Oak. People in America have been granted access to many medical facilities across the nation, and things like CVS and Walgreens are in numerous locations to provide medicinal service to everyone. But this is not enough for everyone. People need to be able to pay for medical treatment from places like Hospitals through a system of Medicaid/care or Healthcare, and not every American citizen can afford these services through normal means, and Medicaid is very limited in utility for many Americans, so the availability of Healthcare, which essentially is the service of allowing people to affordably maintain their life through a means of cost coverage, is a topic that must be approached under the belief that every person has the right to it, as everyone has the right to life, and it is integral they can maintain it through this service. The United States government has been too focused on instating their own methods of healthcare access by trying to force it on everybody without allowing them to choose which brand they want, or not even giving many Americans the option of it in the first place. The American government should focus on providing an optimal, universal, and affordable health care to all of its citizens. This can be achieved by neutralizing ties with nations we protect and helping the armies of those other nations by either creating or boosting them to stabile independence so we can eventually cut military spending and invest more into Healthcare, or by providing free healthcare like Canada and other nations to our people. For too long the Government has tossed around a bunch of ideas of how healthcare should work in the country, and it is about time the Country put it’s heads together and optimized the system for everyone in the Nation.
    Question 3 Answer: Sadly, I believe that though the Nation should provide just as much, if not even more, observation on this issue like with the other two issues, I believe the Housing situation of the United States will not improve that much over the years, and that progress in not entirely inevitable. We can see in the rural parts of America there is a lot of dry, uninhabited plain available for house construction and development, like in Montana or Arizona. However, many of these places are used as farmland or are labeled as “National Parks”, and cannot be torn down legally for housing development. So what else… Well, corporations have begun investing land in places people already live called reservations, that were meant to house and exist as nation states for Native American people, for drilling and mining installations to gain profit, and they could potentially build enough profit to have a city or towns built around it, and communities could grow outwards through urban sprawl. Though, they would be displacing people to then place ironically less people due to the nature of the operation and cycle, so that wouldn’t work. This act is already seen in gentrification of low income neighborhoods in large cities, where housing projects and city houses are torn down by contractors and corporate buildings and shops are built in their place, stimulating the economy of the city but making people mostly homeless as a cost. This activity has virtually touched every large city in America, and most commonly negatively affects Minorities who disproportionately live in areas where over 30% of all citizens live below the poverty line, unironically. The United States has different states with large, vast patches of land like Alaska and Texas, but does not build upon their foundations as many of those areas are either unsuitable for living, like the Pacific coastal Tundra of the Artic Alaskan region or the scorching, arid and desolate deserts of Arizona, or because the budget of either the state, the federal government, or the reserve simply cannot pay for completely new development in new areas of the given continental and island areas of the country. Things could be done to increase the potential budget to enlarge development’s piece of the pie, but ultimately it could cut into important things America needs to advance more urgently, like healthcare.

  12. Jacob Ellenbogen

    One of the rights in President Roosevelt’s second bill of rights that has been attempted to be addressed since 1944 is the right to a useful and remunerative job. One of the common themes in American politics today, and since the end of World War II, has been american jobs. Politicians often try to pass legislation that directly or indirectly affects employment; directly when increasing the number of employees that work for the government, indirectly when making it attractive to businesses to stay in the US with tax breaks or threats of sanctions. As well, being able to say a product was made in america can be a major selling point in the modern economy. Another one of the rights President Roosevelt mentioned in the second bill of rights that has been addressed is the right to the protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment. This has been combatted in a few ways. One of those ways is social security, which provides money to the unemployed who are actively looking for a job and those affected by sickness who cannot work. It also provides money for people of old age who are retired and need financial assistance if their retirement fund isn’t sufficient. Regarding accidents, insurance availability, both in health and property, has gotten better since 1944.
    I believe that the right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation should be addressed immediately by congress and the president. There is no reason why any person in America, one of the wealthiest countries in the world, shouldn’t have access to a comfortable life. There are areas in government where we may be spending unnecessary amounts of money, money that could be used for the good of the people rather than the good of congress. This issue should not be partisan and should be addressed immediately.
    I would say that 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 is the least likely right in FDR’s second bill of rights to enforce or make a law. This is for two main reasons. The first is that in this country, wall street and the big companies have a lot of power, and often can weed out smaller competitors just by outspending them or buying them out. So it is almost impossible systematically for a smaller business to have an equal playing field with a giant enterprise. The second reason is wall street’s power in congress. Wall street has major lobbying power in congress, and can often get politicians to play to their interests for the right price. Therefore, any regulations against wall street face an uphill battle, making it even harder for unfair competition to be avoided.

  13. Samantha Smith

    1. Out of the eight recorded rights pf the Second Bill of Rights, the right to have an “adequate wage & decent living” and to have a “decent home” have each been addressed since 1944. In the 1950s, the agricultural workforce was rapidly declining and was being replaced by “mechanized” jobs. While this was happening, Walter Reuther (president of the United Automobile Workers) campaigned for higher wages for those who worked in the factories. Eventually General Motors responded to this by proposing a their “escalator clause,” and this gradually influenced wages in all factories in the US to rise significantly. And what do you do with all of this money? Buy a house! Decent living in decent homes was ensured for, at least, white people in the development of suburbs. William Levitt was the most famous of postwar suburban developers; he organized the mass production of houses in “Levittowns” that were cheap and comfortable, and perfect for all of the frequent newly wed war veterans and their wives looking for a home.

    2. “An adequate wage and decent living” is one of the eight rights of the Second Bill of Rights that should be the one to be addressed as soon as possible by our Congress and President. According to government statistics, poverty is the main perpetrator of crime in the United States. As it is well known, black people cause relatively half of all of the nation’s crimes despite the fact that they make up only about 13% of the population. The types of African-Americans committing these crimes are overwhelmingly young black men that are in constant conflict with each other. Since the development of suburbs, in which black people were systematically kept from living in them, black communities in the inner cities seemed to have developed certain habits, a sort of sub-culture, that appear to be in direct correlation with these young men’s actions: being born out of wedlock, single motherhood, the general absence of a father, etc, but even if you take all of these factors into account, it appears that the stress and discomfort that takes place in a poor household is in almost direct cause of negative or violent adolescent behavior, and of them leaning towards negative solutions for a sense of inclusions, intimidation, and acceptance. I think that if our current Congress and President made an effort to improve the quality of life in the inner cities (especially for children’s sake) and the amount of the minimum wage, I predict that they would see more “traditional” and safe families in the next generation than ever before. And then, not only will the future children have a better environment to grow up in, but the country will become safer.
    3. The recorded right in the Second Bill of Rights that seems to be the least enforceable is the right to have a job. In the government, you can launch programs for the development of health care, good education in public schools, and decent home construction, but you can never directly guarantee an American a job. The only thing the government can do to make more jobs appear is to open up more room for the start of new businesses to create more jobs, but other than that there’s nothing the government can do to guarantee jobs.

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