“Roosevelt's Plan to Preserve American's Right to the Pursuit of Happiness”

Currently our nation is in the midst of turmoil, fear of another economical crash, the inflation of prices while the value of the American Dollar decreases, and many of the younger generations fear that by the time they get to retirement age their Social Security income will be non-existent. President Roosevelt believed that by adding a second Bill of Rights, that would help Americans in the economical aspect of living, would help ensure that every American's right to the pursuit of happiness would be protected for in his own words, “We have come to a clear realization of the fact that true individual freedom cannot exist without economic security and independence. Necessitous men are not free men.' ” Roosevelt went on to explain that after seeing the events that had occurred in his lifetime such as the Roarin' 20's followed by The Great Depression, proved that the current Bill of Rights, had indeed protected our right the life and liberty, but had failed many in protecting our pursuit of happiness, “This Republic had its beginning, and grew to its present strength, under the protection of certain inalienable political rights—among them the right of free speech, free press, free worship, trial by jury, freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures. They were our rights to life and liberty.” however, “As our Nation has grown in size and stature, however—as our industrial economy expanded—these political rights proved inadequate to assure us equality in the pursuit of happiness.”

One of the biggest arguments that we currently have in the United States is about health care, and it was not until recently that the Affordable Care Act was put into action that many American's really had no health insurance at all. Unfortunately it has not been as successful as many would have hoped. Roosevelt believed that every American deserved “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health”. Currently the main issues that we have incurred through our current health care plan, is that it is being done through privatized institutions that are looking for the most profit. Roosevelt did not believe in that, in fact another one of his bills would have protected us from 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;”. These privatized health insurance companies, prior to the new laws passed under The Affordable Care Act, these companies could refuse to provide people with health care insurance, merely on the fact that they had preexisting conditions. Now that they have no choice but to accept everyone, they have increased the prices for their plans as well as the out of pocket expenses and deductibles. Had the Second Bill of Rights been passed, we would not have these issues of extreme prices that under the Affordable Care Act, the government is assisting in paying for a hefty part of it. Therefore our government spending increases, which makes our taxes increase as well. One of the things that makes the blood boil in many Americans is the talk of taxes, especially when they increase. Unfortunately as of right now there are many companies that are able to get away with not paying as much in taxes as they should through unjust exceptions. Roosevelt wanted for congress to adopt “A realistic tax law—which will tax all unreasonable profits, both individual and corporate, and reduce the ultimate cost of the war to our sons and daughters.” This is still currently an issues in our times and is currently known as the 99% against the 1%. American's are barely beginning to see that we truly don't have a realistic tax law in place. What we have is a tax law that allows big corporations to get away with paying less taxes when compared to your average Joe. Our Government could decrease their debt if they taxed big corporations and the 1% as they should. That is after all what Roosevelt wanted, for he knew that in the end it was your average American that was getting stuck with the cost of war. Roosevelt saw this as unfair and believed it to be one of the main issues in preventing the right to the pursuit of happiness for many, he was well aware of the unjust system already in place, and he wanted to correct it, for without having a realistic tax law it would eventually at some point lead to our demise. President Roosevelt also believed that one of our rights was “the right to a good education”, by everyone being able to get a good education of “regardless of station, race, or creed.” would protect our right to the pursuit of happiness by allowing one to truly be the best that could be. It is not an unknown fact that minority races had to fight to be allowed to have a decent education. Yet even in this day and age, there are still many neighborhoods of minorities where the education that they are given is no where up to par with more affluent communities. It is truly a shame that, because under our current system, yes we have been able to remove segregation through the basis or skin color but we are still very much segregated when it comes to social class, and this is especially seen in the educational system. It's a known fact that if one comes from an affluent family, one will have the opportunity to receive a better education, than someone who comes from a poorer family. Not only will one be able to receive a better basic education but the chances of going on to college and receiving a higher education increase dramatically because they are not burdened with the economical struggle of having to choose between going to school or having enough to pay for their basic living expenses. For those who do come from a less affluent background, also face the struggle of having to work while they go to school to achieve a higher education. Therefore they do not have as much time as someone from a more affluent background to studying for their classes and rest. Unfortunately even if one succeeds in finishing college, the majority end up with a lot of debt, causing even greater unhappiness, while someone who's family has money has not to worry about that. Upon reading President Roosevelt's January 11, 1944 radio address “On the state of the Union”, I have come to the conclusion that his idea of adding “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.” to the constitution truly was for the well being of this nation as a whole, not just for the time in which he was president but for the overall future of this Country. Roosevelt wanted the well being for everyone, especially for those of lower social status. Had congress listened to President Roosevelt at that time and accepted his idea to incorporate a second Bill of Rights to the Constitution, as they truly are rights that every citizen of this country deserves to have, in fact many of the issues that our country faces today would not be as big of an issue as they currently are or could even possibly not be an issue at all.