Hello, I am Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States. During my presidency, I made a statement that remains profoundly relevant today:
“The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism—ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power... Among us today a concentration of private power without equal in history is growing.”
This idea was rooted in the recognition that, although capitalism is one of the strengths of our democracy, it is up to the government to curb greed and abuse. In my time, unchecked corporate power and reckless financial speculation brought about the Great Depression, devastating millions of hardworking Americans. The balance between private enterprise and public responsibility had been broken, and it was the role of government to restore that balance.
Through policies like the New Deal, we aimed to build safeguards—not against capitalism itself, but against its excesses. We sought to protect the vulnerable from exploitation, ensure fair opportunities for workers, and prevent the concentration of wealth and influence that could undermine the foundations of our democracy.
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