I recently re-read some of Franklin Roosevelt’s speeches.

His 1936 acceptance speech is powerful — and very relevant for today’s America.

An old English judge once said: “Necessitous men are not free men.” Liberty requires opportunity to make a living—a living decent according to the standard of the time, a living which gives man not only enough to live by, but something to live for.

Link (to FDR 1936 Acceptance Speech)

And his 1944 State of The Union Address includes an “Economic Bill of Rights”:

In our day these economic truths have become accepted as self-evident. We have accepted, so to speak, 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.

Among those rights he mentions are “The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health.”

Yes, healthcare is truly a human right. It would be nice to hear more Americans discussing it in those terms.

Then maybe it would be less about arguing over which way to achieve universal healthcare and more about the underlying purpose of the healthcare system.

How about we start by agreeing that all children in the world’s richest country deserve healthcare?

Link (to FDR 1944 State Of The Union Address)