In Our Hands, Part 4: How to Keep What We Have (1950)

[Music] [Applause] e the United States of America take a good look at the map you remember that for every square mile we have there are 15 more in the rest of the world for every worker we have there are 15 more in the rest of the world the odds against us are about 15 to1 in land and in Workforce only only about one out of five workers in our country is on our 6 million farms in ranches but they produce enough to feed all of us and four out of every five workers are at work in our 4 million other work [Music] centers remember allog together we have about half the productive power of the whole world with an economy of this size naturally we have great problems do you know what our biggest problems are and what you want done about them let's look them over we declared our independence way back in 1776 we said officially that we take our rights from God and that we the people will keep the power of government in our hands the main purpose of our limited government is to secure our rights while we have amended our constitution many times we have not changed that purpose do you think we should do you think we should change the Democracy of our Republic for the dictatorship of a regimented state do you think you'd be better off with unlimited government by fear and force in other words should government be the servant or the master of the people so far you have a free choice but do you care does it make a difference to you of course it does the difference is so big that you have to live it to really appreciate it the people down there aren't so different from other people around the world but they have something that's hard to get and easy to lose and they have it right in their own hands the great gift of Freedom we all want a better world we want all we can get why not that's the number one problem of every living living human being in the world and there are always only three things to work with the first thing is natural resources the land the soil and everything underneath it and on top of it the second thing is Manpower our own brains and muscles the third thing is tools that's all there is nature Manpower and tools how you live depends on how we manage those three things for instance American Indian had the same chance we have at our natural resources same soil and underneath it the same iron ore coal oil gas all the rest of it including all that we've used he had some tools but they weren't very good and and this is the important difference he didn't improve his tools our whole tribe of Indians couldn't produce as much food as this one farmer can today we have improved all three things and we've just started we make a better use of our natural resources we have improved the skills and opportunities of our Manpower and we have steadily improved and increased the productive power of our tools it's easy to see how it works on a farm let's ask a farmer well so far as mana's concerned that's me this is a family farm and I'm the manager and The Hired Hand and everything else I'm the guy that decided to go in for conservation for instance and it pays all well I I suppose that's working with nature as far as tools go well everything from the milk fail to the farm itself I had to save enough to buy them and then take care of them and then save enough to replace them when they wear out and beyond that I have to save enough to carry me through the bad years when it comes to taxes well I'm the guy that pays them too and it all has to come and it does come out of what I can get for what I produce well I got to get back to work it all depends on how we use our natural resources our human energy and on how we get and improve our tools but we're so specialized in this country that it's hard to realize how much we depend on each other it's a problem because we all want all we can get and we all want to give as little as possible for it for instance Tom do you like a good thick steak what' you say do you like a good thick steak sure I like a good steak would you like steaks to be bigger and juicier and thicker and cheaper you can say that again how about it oh wait a minute I raise beef C you want as much as you can get for him don't you don't you how about refrigerators or farm equipment would you like to have better equipment on all the way around and cheaper well now you're speaking my language wait a minute you cut the price of these refrigerators too much and what happens to me well you cut the price of beef too much what happens to me what about me what about all of us as customers you're no different from anybody else when you go to buy something you want as much as you can get for as little as you can give and when you sell something you want to get as much for it as you can and you're free in this country to bargain back and forth and to buy and sell to make a profit or a loss but keeping this Freedom so it's fair both ways that's a real problem the next time you buy something think about this maybe the best way to put it is to remember that progress in human welfare always depends on the better use of Natural Resources human energy and tools but to keep and improve what we have we have to keep our individual freedom to work to make things to produce our freedom to save and invest in the tools that multiply the output of our Manpower if you have some life insurance or have a bank account you've already helped yourself get more and better tools so your work will be easier and much more productive when we talk about tools remember we mean more than hand tools more than power tools we mean the buildings the land they stand on all the equipment all the facilities anything and everything that helps us get more real production and get it more easily we have the best workmen and the best tombs we are the most productive nation and that very fact is a problem in itself it's as big as the world since a 16th of the world produces half the world's Goods in Services we're sure to have a lot of problems problems of getting raw materials like iron ore tin copper lead Zin manganese not to mention coffee tea rubber silk and countless other things this adds up to a big International problem of trading what we have for what we need all the way around the world right here in the United States we have great problems not only of steady employment steady production of food shelter and Comforts but we have great problems of sectional and social inequalities real problems of security and human welfare but don't forget that the answer to these problems depends on what happens to our 10 million workplaces where we're free to make an individual decision to try out a new idea a new product to make a profit or a loss 10 million places with freedom of choice so successful that we double our standard of living every generation we have the problem of keeping what we have and improving it or giving some small group an unlimited power and letting them tell us where and how we can live work speak or worship to protect us we have the secret ballot nobody can look over your shoulder when you vote when you step behind that curtain and write out your own personal choice you're alone with your conscience and your God if you have any doubt about how good all this is think of the rest of the world look back at what we have from over there take Alice Island for example why do you think so many millions and millions of people are trying so desperately to get over here they trade places with us right now we're free to leave but some countries have bars and iron curtains just to keep their citizens where they are that tells us something about this country and other countries we have great problems the problem of War and the problem of Peace the problem of keeping and improving what we have some people would like to change what we have how do you feel about the purpose of our government do you want limited government by law and government with our consent government which preserves our real freedoms or do you want some other kind of government even unlimited total government where no man is free men made what we have men can change or destroy it the way we meet our problems today May in the not too distant future decide between a dictatorship or a democracy it's in our hands we still have a free choice and while we still have a free choice let's talk about it and what it means to you