070101 The Four Freedoms
The Four Freedoms
Franklin D. Roosevelt: The Four Freedoms
Just as our national policy in internal affairs has been based upon a decent respect for the rights and dignity of all our fellowmen within our gates, so our national policy in foreign affairs has been based on a decent respect for the rights and dignity of all nations, large and small. And the justice of morality must and will win in the end.
Our national policy is this:
First, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to all-inclusive national defense.
Second, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to full support of all those resolute peoples, everywhere, who are resisting aggression and are thereby keeping war away from our Hemisphere. By this support, we express our determination that the democratic cause shall prevail, and we strengthen the defense and security of our own nation.
Third, by an impressive expression of the public will and without regard to partisanship, we are committed to the proposition that principles of morality and considerations for our own security will never permit us to acquiesce in a peace dictated by aggressors and sponsored by appeasers. We know that enduring peace cannot be bought at the cost of other people\’s freedom.
In the recent national election there was no substantial difference between the two great parties in respect to that national policy. No issue was fought out on this line before the American electorate. Today it is abundantly evident that American citizens everywhere are demanding and supporting speedy and complete action in recognition of obvious danger. Therefore, the immediate need is a swift and driving increase in our armament production.
Leaders of industry and labor have responded to our summons. Goals of speed have been set. In some cases these goals are being reached ahead of time; in some cases we are on schedule; in other cases there are slight but not serious delays; and in some cases–and I am sorry to say very important cases–we are all concerned by the slowness of the accomplishment of our plans. The Army and Navy, however, have made substantial progress during the past year. Actual experience is improving and speeding up our methods of production with every passing day. And today\’s best is not good enough for tomorrow.
I am not satisfied with the progress thus far made. The men in charge of the program represent the best in training, ability, and patriotism. They are not satisfied with the progress thus far made. None of us will be satisfied until the job is done.
No matter whether the original goal was set too high or too low, our objective is quicker and better results.
To give two illustrations:
We are behind schedule in turning out finished airplanes; we are working day and night to solve the innumerable problems and to catch up.
We are ahead of schedule in building warships; but we are working to get even further ahead of schedule.
To change a whole nation from a basis of peacetime production of implements of peace to a basis of wartime production of implements of war is no small task. And the greatest difficulty comes at the beginning of the program, when new tools and plant facilities and new assembly lines and shipways must first be constructed before the actual matériel begins to flow steadily and speedily from them.
The Congress, of course, must rightly keep itself informed at all times of the progress of the program. However, there is certain information, as the Congress itself will readily recognize, which, in the interests of our own security and those of the nations we are supporting, must of needs be kept in confidence.
New circumstances are constantly begetting new needs for our safety. I shall ask this Congress for greatly increased new appropriations and authorizations to carry on what we have begun. I also ask this Congress for authority and for funds sufficient to manufacture additional munitions and war supplies of many kinds to be turned over to those nations which are now in actual war with aggressor nations.
Our most useful and immediate role is to act as an arsenal for them as well as for ourselves. They do not need manpower. They do need billions of dollars\’ worth of the weapons of defense.
The time is near when they will not be able to pay for them in ready cash. We cannot, and will not, tell them they must surrender merely because of present inability to pay for the weapons which we know they must have. I do not recommend that we make them a loan of dollars with which to pay for these weapons–a loan to be repaid in dollars. I recommend that we make it possible for those nations to continue to obtain war materials in the United States, fitting their orders into our own program. Nearly all of their matériel would, if the time ever came, be useful for our own defense.
Taking counsel of expert military and naval authorities, considering what is best for our own security, we are free to decide how much should be kept here and how much should be sent abroad to our friends who, by their determined and heroic resistance, are giving us time in which to make ready our own defense. For what we send abroad we shall be repaid, within a reasonable time following the close of hostilities, in similar materials or, at our option, in other goods of many kinds which they can produce and which we need.
Let us say to the democracies, "We Americans are vitally concerned in your defense of freedom. We are putting forth our energies, our resources, and our organizing powers to give you the strength to regain and maintain a free world. We shall send you, in ever increasing numbers, ships, planes, tanks, guns. This is our purpose and our pledge."
In fulfillment of this purpose we will not be intimidated by the threats of dictators that they will regard as a breach of international law and as an act of war our aid to the democracies which dare to resist their aggression. Such aid is not an act of war, even if a dictator should unilaterally proclaim it so to be. When the dictators are ready to make war upon us, they will not wait for an act of war on our part. They did not wait for Norway or Belgium or the Netherlands to commit an act of war. Their only interest is in a new one-way international law, which lacks mutuality in its observance and, therefore, becomes an instrument of oppression.
The happiness of future generations of Americans may well depend upon how effective and how immediate we can make our aid felt. No one can tell the exact character of the emergency situations that we may be called upon to meet. The nation\’s hands must not be tied when the nation\’s life is in danger. We must all prepare to make the sacrifices that the emergency–as serious as war itself–demands. Whatever stands in the way of speed and efficiency in defense preparations must give way to the national need.
A free nation has the right to expect full cooperation from all groups. A free nation has the right to look to the leaders of business, of labor, and of agriculture to take the lead in stimulating effort, not among other groups but within their own groups.
The best way of dealing with the few slackers or troublemakers in our midst is, first, to shame them by patriotic example; and if that fails, to use the sovereignty of government to save government.
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 courage which come from an unshakable belief in the manner of life which they are defending. The mighty action which 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 fiber of our people, have renewed their faith and strengthened their devotion to the institutions we make ready to protect.
Certainly this is no time 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. 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 and 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 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 worldwide 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 quicklime 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 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 in our unity of purpose. To that high concept there can be no end save victory.
富兰克林．德拉诺．罗斯福
(FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT)
四大自由
The Four Freedoms
我们盼望有一个建立在四项人类基本自由之上的世界。第一是言论和发表意见的自由——在世界每一个地方。第二是每个人以自己的方式崇拜上帝的自由——在世界每一个地方。第三是不虞匮乏的自由……——在世界每一个地方。第四是免受恐惧的自由……——在世界每一个地方。
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罗斯福在他1941年1月6日致国会的年度咨文中陈述了美国对正在不断扩大的国际冲突的反应。仅在几个月之前，法国落入希特勒之手；就在罗斯福发表演讲的同时，英国正坚决抵抗纳粹的空袭。在那几个扣人心弦的月份中，英国一直存在着现实而可怕的军事崩溃的可能性。在这篇演说中，罗斯福为积极援助美国的盟国作了舆论准备。到1941年3月，国会便通过了租借法，使美国得以向危难中的盟国提供坦克、卡车、飞机和食品。虽然颁布此法案主要是为了帮助英国，但大多数租借法援助物资却输往英联邦国家和苏联，
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…我想，每一个现实主义者都明白，民主生活方式此刻正在世界各地遭受直接攻击——或因武装侵略，或因一些人秘密散布恶毒宣传，竭力在仍处于和平状态的国家中破坏团结，制造分裂。
在十六个月的时间内，这种攻击已在数目惊人的大大小小独立国家里摧毁了民主生活的整个模式。这些攻击者还在进军，威胁着其它大大小小的国家。…… 我们的国家政策是：
第一，根据公众意志的感人表述而不去考虑党派之争，我们保证加强国防，寸土不让。
第二，根据公众意志的感人表述而不去考虑党派之争，我们保证全力支持抵抗侵略从而使本半球免遭战祸的世界各地一切不屈不挠的民族。通过这种支持，我们表达民主事业必胜的决心，同时加强我国自身的防务和安全。
第三，根据公众意志的感人表述而不去考虑党派之争，我们保证贯彻这一主张，即道德原则和对我们自身安全的考虑决不允许我们默认由侵略者支配、由绥靖主义者倡议的和平。我们知道，持久和平是不能以他国人民的自由为代价买到的。……
因此，立即需要迅猛增加我们的军械生产。……
让我们对所有的民主国家说：“我们美国人对你们捍卫自由的斗争极为关切。我们正在付出我们的精力、资源和组织能力，以给予你们恢复和维护自由世界的力量。我们将向你们运送越来越多的舰艇、飞机、坦克和枪炮。这是我们的宗旨，也是我们的保证。”……
正如人不能光靠面包生存，人也不能光靠武器战斗。守卫在我们的防御工事的人以及在他们身后建设我们的防务的人必须具有毅力和勇气，这种毅力和勇气来源于对自己正在捍卫的生活方式的坚定信念。我们现在所需要的强有力的行动不能建筑在对值得为之战斗的一切漠不关心的态度上。
为了使我国人民意识到维护美国民主生活同他们的个人利害休戚相关，已做了很多工作，国家对此十分满意并从中汲取巨大的力量。这些工作使我们的人民性格更为坚强，信念得以恢复，更加忠于我们准备保卫的制度。
当然，现在并不是我们任何人可以不再考虑作为社会革命根本原因的社会和经济问题的时候，而社会革命乃是今日世界的要素。因为一个健全而强大的民主国家的基础没有什麽神秘之处。
我们的人民期待于他们的政治和经济体制的基本东西很简单，是：
青年人和其它人的机会均等。
凡能工作者皆有工作。
需要安全的人得到安全。
结束少数人的特权。
享受科学进步的果实以更广泛地不断提高生活水平。
这些简单、基本的东西是在我们这个混乱和极端复杂的现代世界里须臾不可忽视的。我们经济和政治体制的内在和持久的力量取决于它们满足人们期望的程度。……
在我们力求安宁的未来岁月中，我们盼望有一个建立在四项人类基本自由之上的世界。
第一是言论和发表意见的自由——在世界每一个地方。
第二是每个人以自己的方式崇拜上帝的自由——在世界每一个地方。
第三是不虞匮乏的自由——从全球的角度说，意味着保证使每个国家的居民过上健康的和平时期生活的经济共识——在世界每一个地方。
第四是免受恐惧的自由——从全球的角度说，意味着世界范围的裁军，它是如此全面彻底，以致任何国家都无法对他国发动武装侵略——在世界每一个地方。
这并不是对遥远将来的幻想。它是我们自己的时代、我们这一代人就能实现的一个世界的确切基础。这一世界恰恰是专制主义所谓“新秩序”的对立面，独裁者们企图用炸弹的威力来创造那种秩序。
与那种“新秩序”针锋相对，我们提出一更大的概念——精神秩序。一个良好的社会能够面对世界职权的阴谋或外国革命而无所畏惧。
自英国有史以来，我们一直在从事变革，即不间断的和平革命，这场革命平静稳步地发展，不断适应变化中的情况而无须使用集中营或万人家。我们拜求的世界秩序是自由国家的合作，在一个友好文明的社会中一同工作。
这个国家把它的命运托付给千百万自由的男女公民的双手、头脑和心灵，把它的信念建立在上帝所引导的自由上。自由意味着任何地方人权至上。我们支持为争取和捍卫人权而斗争的人们。我们的力量在于我们目标一致。
这一崇高观念除胜利无其它结局。
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