To achieve this or any other great result, straight thinking and strong
action are necessary, and the straight thinking comes first. To make
this country what we need to have it, we must think clearly and directly
about our problems, and above all we must understand what the real
problems are. The great things are few and simple, but they are too
often hidden by false issues, and conventional, unreal thinking. The
easiest way to hide a real issue always has been, and always will be, to
replace it with a false one.
The first thing we need in this country, as President Roosevelt so well
set forth in a great message which told what he had been trying to do
for the American people, is equality of opportunity for every citizen.
No man should have less, and no man ought to ask for any more. Equality
of opportunity is the real object of our laws and institutions. Our
institutions and our laws are not valuable in themselves. They are
valuable only because they secure equality of opportunity for happiness
and welfare to our citizens. An institution or a law is a means, not an
end, a means to be used for the public good, to be modified for the
public good, and to be interpreted for the public good.
Pages:
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29