FDR and the legacy of his malignant "Second Bill of Rights"

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was one of the most successful presidents in our history. This is unfortunate.

His vision of a government that could provide bounty to all is fanciful. Far worse, it is malignant. And it lives on today as strong as ever.

One may assume FDR had good intentions. But we all know what paves the road to hell, or, in our case, the road to serfdom.

FDR's version of utopia was laid out in his State of the Union address on January 11, 1944.

In this speech, he lays out a "Second Bill of Rights," which include:

The right to a useful and remunerative job in the industries or shops or farms or mines of the nation;

The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;

The right of every farmer to raise and sell his products at a return which will give him and his family a decent living;

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;

The right of every family to a decent home;

The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;

The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;

The right to a good education.

All of these rights, no matter how well-intentioned, have disastrous results.

Let us look at just one: "The right of every family to a decent home."

If such a right were to exist, then every family would have the right to demand it.

If they have the right to demand it, then someone has the obligation to provide it.

If someone has the obligation to provide it, that person MUST provide it. What if they don't? Then the government must use force to make the person provide it.

The result is not freedom. It is the opposite.

And this is perfectly acceptable to FDR and the "progressives" he has spawned.