Higher Order Thinking: Welcome to Humanities 15 Points
Hoover Assails federal Intervention
1. In paragraph one, Hoover states: “….you cannot extend the mastery of government over the daily life of a people without somewhere making it master of people’s souls and thoughts.”
Explain Hoover’s concern of big government and its relationship to the political spectrum.
2. Use content from Hoover’s speech to explain his philosophy of the correlation of political and economic freedom.
3. According to Hoover what is happening to true “classic” liberalism?
To help you with this, here is the brief historical development from classic liberalism (19th century) to 2oth and 21st liberalism:
Basically, classical liberalism is the belief in liberty. Even today, one of the clearest statementsof this philosophy is found in Jefferson's Declaration of Independence. At that time, as is thecase today, most people believed that rights came from government. People thought they onlyhad such rights as government elected to give them. But following the British philosopher JohnLocke, Jefferson argued that it's the other way around. People have rights apart fromgovernment, as part of their nature. Further, people can form governments and dissolve them.The only legitimate purpose of government is to protect these rights. People who call themselves classical liberals today tend to have the basic view of rights and roleof government that Jefferson and his contemporaries had. Moreover, they do not tend to makeany important distinction between economic liberties and civil liberties. On the left of the political spectrum, things are more complicated. The major difference between19th century liberals and 20th century liberals is that the former believed in economic libertiesand the latter did not. Twentieth century liberals believed that it is not a violation of anyfundamental right for government to regulate where people work, when they work, the wagesthey work for, what they can buy, what they can sell, the price they can sell it for, etc. In theeconomic sphere, then, almost anything goes.
4. According to Hoover, “Men who are going about this country announcing that they are liberals because of their promises to extend the Government in business are not liberals; they are reactionaries of the United States.”
What is meant by “…reactionaries of the United States.”?—Look at our Political Science Unit.
Roosevelt Attacks Business in Government
1. Roosevelt points out Hoover and the Republicans’ “hypocritical argument”. Explain this hypocrisy”. Remember the Reconstruction Finance Corporation.
2. According to FDR, who is the government trying to protect? And at who’s expense?
3. Is there a Current Event in 2008-2009 which both FDR and Hoover would conflict relating to question 1?