Security and Freedom (1955)

[Music] when our founding fathers established this Republic they created a political and economic system unique among nations a system which has led the United States to the very Pinnacle in wealth and in world leadership this series of programs is being presented to help all of us understand better our advantages under our American way of life for today's topic let's join now a group of young people at the National Education Program Workshop in Cersei Arkansas at the classroom Lector is Dr Clifton El gayus Jr noted young historian today we're going to discuss freedom and security and their inter relationship we all know what freedom is but many of us do not realize how Priceless it is Security on the other hand is quite frequently a misunderstood term all mankind seek security both Economic Security and peace of mind it is a quest growing out of the fundamental substance of human nature psychologists tell us that the desire for Economic Security is one of the most basic urges of mankind it stems from their survival Instinct we want shelter to make us secure against the elements we want food to make us secure against hunger and starvation we want clothing to keep our bodies warm these fundamental wants we can see stem directly from man's great powerful desire to live to survive and building upon these fundamental wants are the modern day desires of mankind not merely for food to sustain one but for good food and enough to satisfy the appetite and not merely for a shelter to protect us against the elements but for a nice home comfortably furnished and so forth and we want these things not only for our immediate use but we want to have the assurance that we will have them tomorrow next week and in fact for a lifetime John who is the most secure person in America well how about uh someone with a lot of money like a millionaire well maybe a millionaire isn't so well off if something happens to his fortune what do you think Jane I think Frank St is well founded a stock market crash could wipe out a Millionaire's Fortune overnight or a depression a runaway inflation yes and what if the millionaire didn't have genuine ability what if he hadn't earned his millions but had received them as a gift from his parents without ability and broke he'd be a pretty miserable person what you're saying then is that the possession of a considerable amount of money doesn't necessarily guarantee genuine Economic Security but let's pursue our question who is the most secure person in America Professor ganis I have an answer the man who's serving a life centers in jail he'd certainly have Economic Security would you wish to achieve Economic Security in this direction this brings us to the question of freedom in its relation to Economic Security to be sure the life termer living in the penitentiary hasn't any worries about the problems of shelter clothing and food if his appetite isn't too discriminating but for his Economic Security he has forfeited his freedom and that's significant in the days of the slave trade primitive people who found the struggle for survival difficult quite willingly gave themselves into servitude in exchange for food clothing and shelter the history of civilized society is full of accounts of political tyrants who offered economic gifts in exchange for political control over the lives of the people some political leaders in certain areas of the world today are playing heavily upon man's powerful fundamental desire for Economic Security and upon Mankind's great weakness for the age-old illusion of something for nothing all kinds of schemes are being proposed which seem to produce magically Economic Security with little or no effort on the part of the individual himself communism proposes to take over the world and divide its riches evenly but who would preside at the dividing ceremony and what would you and I have to give in return for their favors socialism tells us listeners that Economic Security for its citizens is the chief function of government but its economic blueprint would take over not only the economic system but ultimately the rights and freedoms of the People Too history seems to show that no group of political leaders or government can give a people Economic Security for a very long without taking away personal Liberty in the beginning of our discussion we spoke of Peace of Mind the late Dr Henry C link one of America's foremost psychologists wrote a book entitled the way to Security in it he said perhaps the chief weakness in our thinking about security is its emphasis on Social Security and its neglect of personal security we place the emphasis on security from without rather than on security from within the weakness in our thinking is the belief that our families or our government can give us security instead of our having the realization that the individual must win his own security yes genuine security comes from within from a feeling of confidence in one's ability from a capacity for self reliance from faith in God and from the other elements that cannot be supplied from without suppose we make a list of the elements that go into the creation of genuine security but let's all contribute to this list I would say faith in God would come high on the list indeed it would and the Bible tells us that faith without works is dead so I would add to Faith the capacity for selfreliance Professor gayes I think that security depends upon self-preparation for instance education education and practical experience very good self-preparation does develop self-reliance doesn't it economic freedom yes freedom to succeed to do the things for which we are best fitted this freedom is important in the exercising of our self-reliance isn't it this is the first of the elements we have listed which come from without Professor gayus on that list would come the opportunity to save yes if we have the freedom to do things and have the ability our feeling of Security will be enhanced if we save a part of our earnings that brings up another element which helps to create inner security thriftiness yes indeed no one is going to save our money for us we must develop this attribute within ourselves another capacity each individual should develop is the ability to adjust oneself we must all learn to adjust to disappointments and as well as to successes to adversity as well as good fortune the ability to adjust to hardships is a vital element in our inner security now can we have a few more elements that come from without sound government very good a person is never really secure unless his government is sound thus it's important that each one of us participate in government and see that it's kept sound National economic health that's correct our personal Prosperity depends upon the good health of our economy planning ahead yes that would go over in our personal development list wouldn't it a person ought to be industrious to have Enterprise yes definitely if he is to have the economic success that helps to develop an inner feeling of security there are other elements of course but let's build another list what are some of the elements destructive to Economic Security bad government all right depression yes economic depression could possibly destroy Economic Security but Professor gayus if a person can adjust to Temporary unemployment and if he has been Thrifty a depression wouldn't destroy is inner feelings of security would it that's an excellent observation there is another element or condition that may destroy any security that does not have its source within the person war war changes the whole plan of living the way of life it can destroy all material values another important destroyer of material security is inflation here is a 10,000 Yen note which a generation ago could have built a beautiful home in China but which today could not even buy a loaf of bread just a few slices we could cite many other incidents of Destruction by inflation in fact we have had some recent experience in America since 1939 our dollar has lost approximately 45% of its purchasing power so we see that many factors influence our economic well-being and our Economic Security and that many elements both from without and from within one's own person may be listed as requirements of security the important lesson is that a feeling of genuine security or Peace of Mind cannot be achieved by filling out an order blank by taking a magic pill or by turning over our economic responsibility to a government or to someone else we have learned that the Quest for inner security can best be served by an active faith in God by development of self-reliance by personal Thrift and Industry and by dedicating a portion of our time to participation in government so that we can erect every possible Safeguard against these destroyers of our material security next week we will discuss the responsibilities of American citizenship but for now class dismissed the American Adventure series is a production of the National Education Program Cersei Arkansas Dr George S Benson director Dr Clinton Al ganus Jr was our instructor this is a continuing series based on the unique political and economic system which has made America great watch for the next presentation of the American Adventure [Music]