19 September 2012

FDR: Welfare..."A Narcotic, A Subtle Destroyer of the Human Spirit."




M2RB:  Red Hot Chili Peppers







I don't ever want to feel
Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all that way

Under the bridge downtown
Is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge downtown
I could not get enough
Under the bridge downtown
Forgot about my love
Under the bridge downtown
I gave my life away 






"A large proportion of these unemployed and their dependents have been forced on the relief rolls. The burden on the Federal Government has grown with great rapidity. We have here a human as well as an economic problem. When humane considerations are concerned, Americans give them precedence. The lessons of history, confirmed by the evidence immediately before me, show conclusively that continued dependence upon relief induces a spiritual disintegration fundamentally destructive to the national fiber. TO DOLE OUT RELIEF IN THIS WAY IS TO ADMINISTER A NARCOTIC, A SUBTLE DESTROYER OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT.  IT IS INIMICAL TO THE DICTATES OF A SOUND POLICY.  IT IS IN VIOLATION OF THE TRADITIONS OF AMERICA  WORK MUST BE FOUND FOR ABLE-BODIED, BUT DESTITUTE WORKERS.

THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT MUST AND SHALL QUIT THIS BUSINESS OF RELIEF.

I am not willing that the vitality of our people be further sapped by the giving of cash, of market baskets, of a few hours of weekly work cutting grass, raking leaves, or picking up papers in the public parks. We must preserve not only the bodies of the unemployed from destitution, but also their self-respect, their self-reliance, and courage and determination."


- President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, State of the Union speech, 1935






Under The Bridge - Red Hot Chili Peppers

Sometimes I feel
Like I don't have a partner
Sometimes I feel
Like my only friend
Is the city I live in
The city of angels
Lonely as I am
Together we cry

I drive on her streets

'Cause she's my companion
I walk through her hills
'Cause she knows who I am
She sees my good deeds
And she kisses me windy
I never worry
Now that is a lie

I don't ever want to feel

Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all the way

It's hard to believe

That there's nobody out there
It's hard to believe
That I'm all alone
At least I have her love
The city she loves me
Lonely as I am
Together we cry

I don't ever want to feel

Like I did that day
Take me to the place I love
Take me all that way

Under the bridge downtown

Is where I drew some blood
Under the bridge downtown
I could not get enough
Under the bridge downtown
Forgot about my love
Under the bridge downtown
I gave my life away 
 
 

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