THE FOUR FREEDOMS OF AMERICANS
By Martin James December 27, 2023
Norman Rockwell, one of the greatest American artists of the 20th Century, was famous for his illustrations of American people pursuing their daily activities – which many would describe as “living the American Dream”! For almost 50 years his illustrations were published on the front cover of The Saturday Evening Post – one of the most widely circulated and influential weekly magazines of that era. Rockwell’s most famous works include his paintings entitled The Four Freedoms
*Freedom of Speech,
*Freedom from Want,
*Freedom from Fear and
*Freedom of Worship.
Rockwell produced these paintings in 1943 and were based on a portion of President Franklin Roosevelt’s January 1941 State of the Union Address. Given that stormy time in our nation’s history, it’s not surprising that Roosevelt warned that these fundamental freedoms were in great jeopardy, and that the American people needed to stay united, to continue to support our European allies, and to stand ready to fight should our country decide to enter World War II. Those certainly were turbulent times, but now eighty years later, the citizens of the United States face an even greater threat to these freedoms!
FOUR FREEDOMS
FREEDOM OF SPEECH
As most civically minded American citizens know, Freedom of Speech is a fundamental right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech features a blue-collar worker speaking to a room filled with more finely dressed Americans, all listening intently to the Lincolnesque figure’s words.
FREEDOM FROM WANT
As most civically minded American citizens know, Freedom of Speech is a fundamental right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech features a blue-collar worker speaking to a room filled with more finely dressed Americans, all listening intently to the Lincolnesque figure’s words.
FREEDOM FROM FEAR
As most civically minded American citizens know, Freedom of Speech is a fundamental right guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Rockwell’s Freedom of Speech features a blue-collar worker speaking to a room filled with more finely dressed Americans, all listening intently to the Lincolnesque figure’s words.
FREEDOM OF WORSHIP
FREEDOM OF WORSHIP
Freedom of Worship is another civic right guaranteed by the First Amendment. Rockwell’s
Freedom of Worship depicts several individuals of different religious backgrounds in a moment of prayer. A man wearing a fez holds a Bible or Koran, and a woman fingers a rosary. Rockwell worked for two months on this painting, which carries an inscription: “Each according to the dictates of his own conscience.”
IS A FIFTH FREEDOM NEEDED NOW?
As the year 2001 began, Americans never imagined that the American Dream would evolve into what now seems to be the American Nightmare. The erosion of our fundamental freedoms started with the enactment of the ironically titled AMERICAN PATRIOT ACT, a law that has slowly chipped away at our freedoms, leading to a Big Government surveillance state and a highly questionable electoral system!
In this author’s opinion, what is most needed now is FREEDOM FROM BIG GOVERNMENT. With an ever-escalating federal debt now over $34 Trillion, and most of our 50 states also running huge deficits, burdensome laws and regulations have enslaved the American citizens and mortgaged our future generations!
What can each of us do to restore the American Dream and our fundamental freedoms? Fellow Citizens – take back your government! Learn your civic rights and responsibilities and teach them to your children!
The first three words of the Constitution are “We The People” which affirm that the government of the United States exists to serve its citizens, and not that the citizens exist to serve the government!!