Because in the past I have spoken out on issues that at the time and place were combustible, I have often been asked what my politics are. Like many, in this time of increasing political polarization and divisiveness I have come to feel no particular identification with either of today’s major political parties, but support what best advances the issues I have come to consider fundamental.
As a young father with a growing number of children to put together toys and bicycles for into the wee hours of Christmas Eve, it became my personal tradition every year to watch one of the movie versions of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” while I labored as the only elf left in Santa’s workshop. No matter how late it was, Jacob Marley’s plaintive lament never failed to halt me in mid-assembly:
“Mankind was my business! The common welfare was my business! Charity, mercy, forbearance, benevolence, were all my business! The dealings of my trade were but a drop of water in the comprehensive ocean of my business!”
I have come to realize what I am politically: I’m a Marleyite. (This is probably more helpful than saying I’m a Jacobin – although my mother often said I was a Dickens.)
Recently I came across a transcript of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1944 State of the Union address. The backdrop was America’s deep involvement in World War II and its uncertain outcome. The Great Depression was largely in the rear-view mirror, but FDR was speaking to the human suffering and want that had provided the fertile ground for dictators such as Hitler, Mussolini and others to come to power, and the failure of isolationism and me-first-ism to provide lasting peace and prosperity. He admonished America that while we had come far since America’s founding in securing the life and liberty of our citizens, it was now time to focus on the steps needed to ensure every American’s right to the pursuit of happiness.
There is more commonality between what was happening then and what is happening now than most realize, and what I read hits close to the mark of where my core political beliefs lie — what I think makes not just America great, but every nation that seeks these goals:
“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. 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. 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.’ People who are hungry and out of a job are the stuff of which dictatorships are made.
“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 these are: ...
“ • The right to earn enough to provide adequate food and clothing and recreation;
“ • The right of every family to a decent home;
“ • The right to adequate medical care and the opportunity to achieve and enjoy good health;
“ • The right to adequate protection from the economic fears of old age, sickness, accident, and unemployment;
“ • The right to a good education.
“America’s own rightful place in the world depends in large part upon how fully these and similar rights have been carried into practice for our citizens. For unless there is security here at home there cannot be lasting peace in the world.”
Jacob Marley admonished us that mankind is our business. As we seek to better our own personal situations, let us also work at least as hard – harder – to better the lives of every one. That is what truly creates prosperity and peace. So I’ll join with Tiny Tim this Christmas to say “God bless us – every one!”
David Eccles Hardy practices law in Salt Lake City.