Ed Markey is calling for a ‘new Four Freedoms’
As a Green New Deal co-author, it's not the first time Markey has invoked FDR.
Sen. Ed Markey called for a “new Four Freedoms” on Sunday, riffing on the values first laid out by President Franklin Roosevelt nearly eight decades ago.
In his 1941 State of the Union address, Roosevelt called for a world in which all people enjoyed four “essential” freedoms: freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom from want, and freedom from fear.
During a rally Sunday afternoon in Pittsfield hosted by the Four Freedoms Coalition, Markey proposed applying those original freedoms to “a new vision that will address today’s challenges and move our country from peril to progress.” And in doing so, the Massachusetts senator — facing a formidable primary challenge this year from fellow Democrat Rep. Joe Kennedy III — highlighted several of his core issues, from foreign relations to addressing climate change.
“We must have a new Four Freedoms, to guide us now and in the years ahead,” he wrote Sunday on social media.
Compared to Roosevelt’s four freedoms, Markey’s goals translated more directly into a policy agenda: freedom from war, freedom from the “climate crisis,” freedom from gun violence, and freedom from social injustice and inequality.
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Markey also expounded upon each of the four items.
In the wake of the United States drone strike killing Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, he said the country should avoid further escalating tensions in the Middle East, “certainly not without Congressional approval.” The call also comes amid criticism from Kennedy of Markey’s vote in 2002 authorizing military force in Iraq (as Politico reported, Markey blames President George W. Bush’s administration for misleading Congress).
Markey said that freedom from the climate crisis means addressing the “economic, national security, health, and moral issue of our time.” He noted that the Green New Deal — an ambitious resolution he co-wrote to reduce carbon emissions and invest in clean energy — was also a rhetorical callback to Roosevelt’s landmark slate of New Deal policies.
“We must have jobs and justice and avert global disaster,” Markey wrote.
Having introduced legislation to incentivize other states to adopt tighter gun laws like Massachusetts, the Malden native called for a federal ban on assault weapons, universal background checks, and closing the gun show loophole.
And his call for freedom from social injustice and inequality primarily referred to varying forms of discrimination; according to a recent FBI report, hate crimes hit a 16-year high in 2018.
“There is an assault on our shared values of justice and equality,” Markey said. “That assault is led by forces fueled by lies, racism, sexism, xenophobia, and fear. We must stand together, reject hate, and demand equality and justice for all.”
As the Berkshire Eagle reported, the annual rally Sunday featured a diverse coalition of groups calling for a reaffirmation of Roosevelt’s goals, which they said were under pressure from forces from structural inequality to climate change.
Markey added that the upcoming election was a time to “recommit ourselves to the freedoms that truly matter in Massachusetts,” again invoking Roosevelt’s words.
“The freedoms that we fought for in the past and that are being challenged today,” he said. “Now is our time to strive for ‘a better life, a better world, beyond the horizon.'”
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