×

Choose freedoms over fears

To the editor:

Jan. 6 marks the 79th anniversary of the address to Congress by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in which he articulated four goals, known as the “Four Freedoms.” The four freedoms he outlined were freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear. In 1943, a series of illustrations by Norman Rockwell of the Saturday Evening Post and the national tour that followed made the four freedoms well known to most Americans. FDR’s statement of the four goals came eight years after his first inaugural address in which he proposed, “the only thing we have to fear is … fear itself — nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into advance.” We now stand at the beginning of a new decade, and it is our responsibility as citizens to reflect upon those forces which are driving our culture, our politics, and our future.

We are in the midst of seeing the freedoms of 1943 being replaced by the fears of 2020: Fear of involvement, fear of commitment, fear of missing out, fear of freedom. In an era of bitter partisan squabbling, why do we see historic levels of disengagement in local civic matters and processes? When there is universal acknowledgment of the power of a loving family to nurture both children and society, why do we experience the pain of more than 50 percent of marriages ending in divorce? With increased levels of depression and isolation, why have we collectively allowed social media tools to keep us occupied by everything except the most important things? At a time of economic prosperity and technological innovation, why do policies continue to exist that actively represent a fear of extending respect, dignity and freedom to the marginalized, the immigrant, the convicted and the helpless?

Make 2020 the year you stood for freedom and rejected the motivations of fear. Stand up for someone when they are being misjudged, disrespected, or hated. Stand up to someone when their actions reflect an application of fear, discrimination and hatred. Stand up with someone so they will know loneliness, prejudice and bigotry are curable diseases. Stand with your voice, your actions and your votes.

The year 2020 is an opportunity for all of us to embrace that vision formed by our pursuit of freedoms and reject a retreat based on fears. In the hope-filled words of FDR, “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.”

Jim Mello

Steubenville

NEWSLETTER

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.73/week.

Subscribe Today