Freedom from Want

The Four Freedoms

Freedom From Want

Third in a series

When imagining an iconic Thanksgiving feast, many Americans picture either the Pilgrims in 1620 or Norman Rockwell’s illustration of “Freedom from Want.” Both images celebrate abundance. Rockwell’s painting was a reflection of one of Franklin D. Roosevelt’s “Four Freedoms” speech of January 1941. In Rockwell’s painting, a woman places a large turkey on the table in front of her family. 

Roosevelt made his speech when many Americans feared being drawn into the war raging in Europe. His first freedom was Freedom of Speech, the second was Freedom of Worship. “The third is Freedom from Want — which, translated into world terms, means economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants-everywhere in the world.”

Less famous than Rockwell’s paintings are the essays which accompanied them. Carlos Bulosan, a Filipino novelist and labor organizer in the U.S., wrote the essay for “Freedom from Want.” He raised several questions for the nation. 

Bulosan wrote that the history of the United States was one of labor and freedom. He wrote that the “march toward security is the march of freedom,” and that everyone “should like to become a living part of it. It is the dignity of the individual to live in a society of free men, where the spirit of understanding and belief exist; of understanding that all men are equal; that all men, whatever their color, race, religion, or estate, should be given equal opportunity to serve themselves and each other according to their needs and abilities.” 

Freedom from want was out of reach for many: “It is only when we have plenty to eat — plenty of everything — that we begin to understand what freedom means.” When people are hungry, they cannot be healthy, creative, or useful. People in want are people living in fear. People living in fear are targets for “the powers of darkness.”

Bulosan wrote this essay while the darker powers of fascism and imperialism threatened the world. What powers of darkness threaten our world today? Are people still hungry? Are people still fearful? Are all people given equal opportunity? Is a spirit of understanding cultivated? Are all people awarded the dignity they deserve? If we want to secure freedom, can we deny any people, as Roosevelt stated, freedom from want? Can any nation be free when some are not?

The Pilgrims celebrated surviving a cruel winter of starvation and death. Rockwell’s Thanksgiving table shows a large turkey but spare offerings of side dishes and only water to drink. Each Thanksgiving was only a step away from want. 

Bulosan wrote, “It is a great honor to walk on the American earth… We are the living dream of dead men [the founders]. We are the living spirit of free men… We are the sufferers who suffer for natural love of man for another man, who commemorate the humanities of every man. We are the creators of abundance.” 

When we celebrate abundance, we must never forget our obligation to relieve the sufferings of others. 

(FDR’s full speech (voicesofdemocracy.umd.edu),Rockwell’s paintings, and Bulosan’s essay (www.saturdayeveningpost.com) are available online. I encourage you to find them.)