In Our Hands, Part 1: How We Got What We Have (1950, sound)

e let's talk about what we have here in the United States what makes it tick and what we want to do with it let's start with you and what you want what does anybody want do you think you're different from other people Millions have worshiped the strong man the leader Millions let somebody else decide what they want they worked fought died for government by strong men by fear by force [Applause] it yeah the dictator no not everybody agrees over here we don't like dictators we don't worship the strong man we worship as we please our government represents us the people our government is our servant not our Master we can work we can fight too that government of the People by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth that's what Lincoln's said not that everybody agreed even then Lincoln was shot remember any government has a lot of power but keep in mind that the power can come from the top down or from the bottom up and it makes a lot of difference to you what you can do and what you can't do where and how you live and work let's start from there where we live and work what we have in the United States one worker out of five lives close to the land on our 6 million farms and ranches look them over big ones little ones all kinds four workers out of five work away from the land in almost 4 million other places big plants small plants peanut stands offices altogether that makes about 10 million places where we can work and make a living how we work and how we live makes all the difference in what we have in the United States but how did we get what we have suppose just for a moment that we didn't have our 6 million farms in ranches let's get rid of them all of them okay no more Farms or ranches now let's get rid of Industry too then we won't have to worry about that fine no more industry no more places to work while we're at it let's go all way let's wipe out all cities towns homes everything now what well now we're starting the hard way close to Old Mother Nature you and everybody else on earth have some things in common you want to stay alive to stay alive you have to have food you have to have some shelter against the elements you want to be as comfortable as you can so let's start with this common problem and see what it takes what are we going to do better find somewhere to go going to be a storm any minute give me the baby come [Music] [Music] on that's better than nothing I guess I'll take it easy honey it's so cold could you build a fire to Sure GE I don't seem to have any matches don't worry we'll work out something looks like this might blow over you stay here I'll go out and see what I can find don't go far [Music] Tom there there darling I know you're hungry how long do you think she can feed that baby unless she gets some food or yourself not long how long could you stay alive dumped into a real Wilderness most people would starve to death and yet it's funny isn't it it's all there Sun air soil water minerals Metals it's all right there but how to get at [Music] it let's say you're lucky to start with you find find some water so you won't die of thirst no but I need food food shelter and comfort food yeah I'm all right on that other stuff you are now but where are you going to get another shirt when that one wears out well like I don't know but I'm not going to worry about that now when the snow starts to fly you'll worry about it plenty I'm going to have a look around Tom has what any man has to work with his brains and his muscles so he goes to work with what he has put yourself in his place let's say you're lucky you find some Roots You Can Eat you find some berries a couple of days go by and you're still alive but it's a full-time job let's say you're very lucky you find some fish just when they're spawning they're helpless now this probably wouldn't happen to you but let's make it easy let's say you get a couple of fish the way a bear [Music] does man look what I got I just flipped them out I'm so hungry I could almost eat them raw I don't know want to try I can't I can't she if we just had a [Music] knife hey isn't that smoke oh Tom sure it's smoke there must be somebody over there wait here I'll go and see where'd you come from I don't know neither do I you got a fire I wanted a fire but I didn't have any matches how'd you do it it took me long enough to get going I've been trying to do this ever since I found myself here I started like this see then I took my shoelace and did it this way je that's wonderful yeah and that knife where'd you get it I found the antler I made it by rubbing it against the Rocks say how about let me use it ah wait a minute what do you want it for you got some food my wife and baby are just down the valley we've been living on roots and things but I got a couple fish you have how big oh but like that nice one man I'm so hungry I can hardly stand it I've been working against time I got a weak stomach and I I figured I can't eat stuff raw look let me buy one of those fish what with what do you think oh well I I guess I haven't got any money what would I do with money around here well nothing I guess look let's put it this way you give me a fish I'll let you use my knife and cook on my fire how's that wait a minute maybe I'll ever find another fish listen I got to get something to eat I'm so hungry I'm sick I've been working where are they back with your wife don't get any ideas I offered you a fair swap give me that knife I'll give it to you right in the [Music] [Applause] belly stop it you'll kill each other what's come over you Tom wrong men acting like Savage Tom's fighting for his life so is the other man let's go back and see what this is all about if you were thrown into a Wilderness without a match or a knife or any tool you'll be right smack up against nature you'll be just the same the same muscles the same brains and without tools you might stay alive for a while you might find some kind of shelter you'd have to have food in shelter and you'd want some Comforts to improve your situation you'd have to take time out to make some tools you can't be looking for food and make a knife at the same time it takes work and time to get fire or any other tool incidentally from now on when we talk about tools we mean anything that helps you get more food or shelter or Comforts and helps you get them more easily getting food or shelter is a matter of life and death and once you get something and somebody else has something you come up again against the idea of swapping of barter why can't we swap one face for the for the use of my knife and my fire what's wrong with that I'd like to keep both face I need that knife and the fire okay it's a deal life depends on food and to fill your stomach to put a shirt on your back or some kind of a roof over your head there are only three three things to work with natural resources your human energy and tools that's true anywhere any place anytime let's bring this out in another way everything in nature was here long ago all the coal the iron the forest the oil the water the land why didn't the Indians do more with it the Indians had to have food shelter Comforts why didn't they raise better food Better Homes why didn't the Indians do more with all this they had some tools they knew how to make fire they used fire to clear land when the growth was burnt off the Indian women planted corn like this with a clam shell and a hole made from the shoulder blade of a deer yes they had tools Stone AG tools but they never improved their tools and as a result they couldn't improve their production of food shelter and Comforts compare this with the Pioneer Farmers crude as the early wooden plows were they worked better than animal bones or clamshells yes they had tools but the important thing is they improved their tools they shod them with iron and now we make them from steel powerful tractors pull them down the fields if this farmer had lived when the country was young it would have taken nine Farmers like him to free one man from the land with a better use of brains and muscles better use of Nature and above all with more and better tools the modern farmer can free 15 or 20 men from the land that's a pretty good example of what we have something happened in this country to produce a Titanic upsurge in human energy and spirit to produce more and better tools to produce more and better food shelter and Comforts what was it what helped us get what we have let's start at the beginning the founders of the country didn't have tractors or television sets or automobiles but they did have a mighty faith in God and a big revolutionary idea about people they thought governments ought to be the servant not the master of ordinary people like you and me have you ever read the Declaration of Independence men risk their lives for the principle that in this country at least we the people take our rights from God and set up a government to preserve and protect our individual rights think that over the signers of the Declaration of Independence declared their belief that we are endowed by our cre creator with rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness which nobody no person no group no political party not even our government can take away from us this farmer has certain unalienable rights responsibilities and obligations which are his Birthright under the law this worker has the same rights responsibilities and obligations which are his Birthright under the law these workers can challenge their government which is ordered to protect their rights and these aren't Idle Words on July 4th 1776 we declared our independence in 1788 we ratified our Constitution and to this day every officer law and division of American government has existed solely for the purpose of protecting our unalienable right rights to life liberty and the pursuit of happiness when you read the Constitution of the United States notice it starts off with we the people and it's the oldest instrument of government in continuous use our government is divided into two parts state and federal and each part is subdivided into legislative executive and Judiciary each branch independent but a limitation on the others this was not done for efficiency it was done deliberately to keep anybody or anything from taking away our individual Freedom now let's look at the map the federal government was to handle the national problems the United but individual states were to handle their own problems just as each County City town and Village was to handle its local problems problems like fire protection po police protection protection of the streets and highways protection and development of citizenship through public education things like this are the concern of state and local government we the people have given our federal state and local governments a limited power but we have ordered them remember to use that power to protect our individual freedoms our rights are are only limited when it's for the public good like when you're driving along a public Street traffic changes you stop you don't even think about it but you stopped because we gave government represented by the police officer the right to make a stop to let the other people go through then when you get the signal it's your turn to go ahead limitations of our rights sure but for the public good and that's the way our country has gone ahead just what does liberty or individual freedom mean to you freedom to do what there's New York just what freedoms do the people down there have and what difference does it make how about San Francisco Chicago is life in Chicago any different from life in Moscow Shanghai Paris or any other city is this any different from a town of the same size in some other part of the world there's a great difference and it starts with a great gift of Freedom here's a farm two out of three Farms like this are run by their owners in other words here's what we mean by Freedom farmers are free to save free to invest their savings to buy and own their own Farm their own tools their own stock free to produce to make a profit or a loss it takes time takes work takes management takes saving takes careful buying and selling it took this farmer 20 years to build up this herd but it was worth the effort nobody can fool this man about what it means to own your own Farm or to build your own herd he knows where his tools came from and what a difference they make he started out milking by hand now he does it this way and doesn't have to work so hard and he produces more and better milk and cream he gets more out of it and so do all the rest of us don't sell Freedom short freedom to work to grow things to make things things freedom to buy and sell freedom to save and invest we have these great freedoms in this country you have them in the United States today as you may know we live on about 16th of the land area of the world for every square mile we have others have 15 for every worker we have others have about 15 as far as nature and Manpower go the odds against us are about 15 to1 let's get this straight all around the world men want the same things food shelter and Comforts and naturally selfishly want all they can get you do I do everybody has this in common all of us must use what we can find in nature our own Manpower and the tremendously productive power of tools yet in our 10 million workplaces with odds of 15 to1 against us we have half the productive power on Earth that didn't just happen there's a good reason why we have the best workers the best tools on Earth why we're about 8 to1 better off than the rest of the whole world how do you think this came to be what makes us tick let's talk about about how we got what we have in these United States and what it means to use