76-04-A4
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Hoover's America Plan[edit]
Transcript[edit]The French have a saying that translates to, "The more things change, the more they stay the same," You know something? They're right. His political opponents succeeded in blaming Herbert Hoover for America's Great Depression. It was a "bum rap", as they say, but it stuck. Despite this, he saw the nation's future as involving a choice between two very different courses. The other day, I came across a speech he gave in June, 1931, when he was President. I'd like to share some of it with you. Hoover said, "We have many citizens insisting that we produce an advance "plan" for the future development of the United States. They demand that we produce it right now. I presume the "plan" idea is an infection from "the five-year-plan", through which Russia is struggling to save itself from 10 years of starvation and misery. Some groups believe this plan can only be carried out by a fundamental, a revolutionary change of method. Other groups believe that any system must be the outgrowth of our character and traditions. They believe that we have established certain ideals over 150 years, upon which we must build rather than destroy. If we analyze the ideas which have been put forward... they fall into two main types. The first holds that the major purpose of a nation is to protect the people and to give them equality of opportunity. It holds that the basis of all happiness is in the development of the individual, and that we should steadily build up cooperation among the people themselves to this end. The other idea is that we shall, directly or indirectly, regiment the population into a bureaucracy to serve the state. It holds that we should use force instead of cooperation in planning, and thereby direct every person as to what may or may not be done. Shall we abandon the philosophy and beliefs of our people for 150 years by turning to a belief that is foreign to our people? Shall we establish a giveaway from the federal treasury? Shall we undertake federal ownership and operation of public utilities instead of regulating them? Shall the government, except in temporary national emergencies, enter into competition with its citizens? Shall we regiment our people by extending the arm of bureaucracy into a great many affairs? Our immediate task as a people is to defeat the forces of economic disruption that have swept over us. The duty of government in these times is to use its agencies and influence to strengthen our economic institutions; to inspire cooperation in the community so as to keep up good will and keep our country free from disorder and conflict; to cooperate with the people so that the deserving shall not suffer; and to strengthen the foundations of a better and stronger national life." -unquote from the late President Hoover. In his day, the utopians, who thought that mankind could be perfected if only they could run things, looked across the ocean for experiments in central planning, such as the Soviet Union's five-year-plans. Today, their successors ignore the failures of such planning in countries all over the globe and trot out something called the Humphrey-Hawkins Bill which would have the net effect of one day regulating every American's life from birth to death . I guess they've never heard that French saying, or the remark of the 19th Century English historian, Thomas Carlyle, who said, "Those who do not learn from the mistakes of history are doomed to repeat them." This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for Listening. |
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