- May 2023
-
www.americanrhetoric.com www.americanrhetoric.com
-
I think the best example one can give of this basic difference of the use of terms is “the right to work.” The Soviet Union insists that this is a basic right which it alone can guarantee because it alone provides full employment by the government. But the right to work in the Soviet Union means the assignment of workers to do whatever task is given to them by the government without an opportunity for the people to participate in the decision that the government should do this. A society in which everyone works is not necessarily a free society and may indeed be a slave society; on the other hand, a society in which there is widespread economic insecurity can turn freedom into a barren and vapid right for millions of people.
Roosevelt gives a specific example here in contrasting definitions of terms held by the soviet union and the United States. She proceeds to critique the Soviets understanding of the right to work, noting that it the soviet unions understanding of the right to work does not include individual freedom, because they understand the right to work as being given by the government. Roosevelt points out such control is not freedom, but is akin to a slave society. Interestingly she does not use assertive language when saying this, but only states that a totalitarian society with control of the right to work may be a slave society. It is however interesting that the U.N's declaration of human rights does not initially include social rights, as social rights are something that Roosevelt was very focused on in her career.
-
-
www.americanrhetoric.com www.americanrhetoric.com
-
I think the best example one can give of this basic difference of the use of terms is “the rightto work.” The Soviet Union insists that this is a basic right which it alone can guaranteebecause it alone provides full employment by the government. But the right to work in theSoviet Union means the assignment of workers to do whatever task is given to them by thegovernment without an opportunity for the people to participate in the decision that thegovernment should do this. A society in which everyone works is not necessarily a free societyand may indeed be a slave society; on the other hand, a society in which there is widespreadeconomic insecurity can turn freedom into a barren and vapid right for millions of people.
Roosevelt gives a specific example here in contrasting definitions of terms held by the soviet union and the United States. She proceeds to critique the Soviets understanding of the right to work, noting that it the soviet unions understanding of the right to work does not include individual freedom, because they understand the right to work as being given by the government. Roosevelt points out such control is not freedom, but is akin to a slave society. Interestingly she does not use assertive language when saying this, but only states that a totalitarian society with control of the right to work may be a slave society. It is however interesting that the U.N's declaration of human rights does not initially include social rights, as social rights are something that Roosevelt was very focused on in her career.
-