PRESIDENT ROOSEVELT AND THE “TANZANIA TOWARDS THE NEW GENERATION OF AN INCLUSIVE SOCIETY” STRUGGLES:
Franklin D.
Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the 32nd President of the United States and the only chief
executive to be elected to more than two terms in office. Roosevelt held the
presidency from 1934-1945, leading the United States through the Great
Depression and World War II. His legislative program, the New Deal, greatly
expanded the role of the federal government in American society.
In his four
terms in office, Roosevelt virtually
reinvented the presidency, transforming the office into something much more
powerful than it had ever been before. Roosevelt 's
New Deal dramatically expanded the federal government's role in shaping
American society, permanently altering the relationship between the economy,
the people, and the government.
Snellgrove
(1988:123) in his book titled “The Modern World Since 1870” narrates the causes
of FDR disability as resulting from polio. In 1921 Franklin Delano Roosevelt
went swimming with his family at a holiday resort, and that it was warm so he
did not bother to get dressed immediately. It is reported that suddenly he
began to sneeze and ache all over. Next morning he was feverish and the
following day he lost the use of his legs.
This was his
letter which Franklin Delano Roosevelt wrote Dr. William Egleston in a 1924
narrating how he got paralyzed:
“First
symptoms of the illness appeared in August, 1921 when I was thoroughly tired
from overwork. I first had a chill in the evening which lasted practically all
night. The following morning the muscles of the right knee appeared weak and by
afternoon I was unable to support my weight on my right leg. That evening the
left knee began to weaken also and by the following morning I was unable to
stand up. This was accompanied by a continuing temperature of about 102 and I
felt thoroughly achy all over. By the end of the third day practically all
muscles from the chest down were involved. Above the chest the only symptom was
a weakening of the two large thumb muscles making it impossible to write. There
was no special pain along the spine and no rigidity of the neck.”
Polio is a virus
that invades the body through the mouth and nose. It then multiplies in the
digestive system. From there, it spreads through the blood and lymph nodes to
the nervous system. There are three different types of polio. The first, called
non-paralytic polio, causes symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever, and
muscle spasms. Patients usually recover their full health after having this
type of the virus. The second type of polio, paralytic polio, struck FDR. After
going to bed with a fever and general weakness, he found himself paralyzed.
Paralytic polio attacks the spinal column and most often causes paralysis in
the legs. Some patients recover; others remain paralyzed for life. The third
type of polio can cause death. It is called bulbar polio. This type of polio
attacks the brain stem. This disrupts the signals for breathing and swallowing.
Many of those who survive this type of polio spend their life in an iron lung
or on a respirator to help them breathe.
Although polio
had left FDR paralyzed from the waist down, he would not allow it to stop him.
He worked energetically to regain the use of his body. He built himself a
wheelchair to gain mobility. He was a very ambitious man with high political
aspirations. The polio was a minor setback to him. Although his mother wanted
him to put aside his political ambitions, Eleanor encouraged him to get better
and continue. FDR did not let his paralysis stop him from achieving his dreams.
In 1929, he became governor of New
York . He also had his eye on the presidency. This
achievement was reached on March 4, 1933, when he took office as America's
thirty-second president.
UNIQUENESS OF FRANKLIN DELANO AS THE US
PRESIDENT
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| Roosevelt being supported by brace to stand |
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt entered the White House in 1932 at the darkest hour of the Great
Depression, promising "the New Deal
for the American people." The package of legislative reforms that came
to be known as the New Deal permanently and dramatically transformed the
politics and economy of the United
States . Shortly after taking office, Roosevelt explained to the American people that his New
Deal program would seek to deliver relief, recovery, and reform.
In the field of
relief, the New Deal proved to be highly successful. Millions of Americans,
unable to find work in an economy that was still badly broken four years into
the Great Depression, might have literally starved to death if not for the
government checks they earned by working for new agencies like the Civilian
Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration.
In terms of
reform, the New Deal legacy may have been unmatched in American history. For
better or worse, Roosevelt 's program
drastically altered the relationship between the capitalist market, the people,
and their government, creating for the first time in this country's history an
activist state committed to providing individual citizens with a measure of
security against the unpredictable turns of the market. Whether this vast
enlargement of the government's role in American society helped or hurt the
country's long-run prospects remains a question of great political controversy
to this day, but there can be no denying the magnitude of change wrought by
FDR's presidency.
When it came to
recovery, however, the New Deal's performance lagged. It was certainly
successful in both short-term relief, and in implementing long-term structural
reform. However, the New Deal failed to end the Great Depression. Throughout
the decade of the 1930s, unemployment remained brutally high, while economic
growth remained painfully slow. Recovery only came about, at last, in Roosevelt 's third term, when the heavy demands of
mobilization for World War II finally restored the country to full employment.
HIS STRONG SLOGANS
“The only thing
we have to fear is fear itself”.
“I pledge you, I
pledge myself, to a New Deal for the American people”.
His Extra Ordinary Creativeness
Snellgrove
(1988:124) shows how a man was creative in convincing the Congress to pass
different laws that could combat problems. It reached a point where FDR set 100
days to evaluate his speed and efficient in tasks accomplishment. The Congress
allowed him to be a “democratic dictator” by passing laws at breakneck speed,
and that what followed the world astonished to witness the American progress.
About inclusive setting for all people
Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, the man, said: “We are trying
to construct a more inclusive society. We are going to make a country in which
no one is left out”.
In this
statement, the dream came true when almost all people who were able and ready
to participate in all activities were benefited.
EIGHT FACTS TANZANIANS NEED TO LEARN FROM FDR
Optimism
This is the
strong belief in success for the future betterment of people. People must be
assisted to see the hope desired for ahead. Franklin Delano Roosevelt used different words for the purpose of
optimizing his fellow citizens. “The only limit to our realization of tomorrow
will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith”.
The same way, we, people of Tanzania -of
all abilities, must encourage each other to fulfill our needs. People with
disabilities here in Tanzania
are of great concern. They should, in jointly efforts be encouraged to revive
their lost life dreams of success.
Personal powers of excellence
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| Mark of his idea, 'the New Deal' |
This is the
ability of person’s being creative and is goal oriented in solving problems
related to individuals and their nation. Although FDR had all his presidential
post spend in wheel chair but he did extremely memorial events throughout the
American history. Here a lesson to Tanzanians is met on assessing the people
with disabilities who are performing their daily duties extraordinarily. The
few educated personnels who have disabilities have varieties of unutilized
talents. FDR used the words "Happiness lies in the joy of achievement and
the thrill of creative effort" to mean that in every success there must be
personal efforts conducted creatively which is in turn is the results of “personal
powers of excellence”.
Nationalhood
This is the
notion which stands for to explain how people are well united within their
given country. It shows how people perform their daily activities
cooperatively. They jointly decide and implement those decided mutual
agreements. In a nation like Tanzania ,
which is composed of many races, many religions and varying abilities and
personalities-that is, those with and without disabilities are within the same
country; they must be bounded together by a single unity, the unity of freedom
and equality. Whoever seeks to set one personality against another, seeks to
degrade the national civilization. FDR, the man, used these words: "If
civilization is to survive, we must cultivate the science of human relationships-
the ability of all peoples, of all kinds, to live together, in the same world
at peace.
Dare
To dare is to
decide to do something. To overcome the worrying obstacles and take steps
towards something.
When FDR entered
White House, the US
was already badly affected by the Great Depression, and it was on its way to
even worst conditions. FDR dared to enter presidential candidate, and the
Americans also dared to vote for him. At the first time the Americans had doubt
about the man who had already suffering from the polio effects. When he tried
to use different words accompanied with promissive moments, it is when he was
eventually elected the US
president. FDR was the only and the last solution to the problems. The man
served White House for three terms. He used the words…"it is common sense to take
a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above
all, try something" to encourage his fellow Americans that he knew
he was standing for. Let us, as a nation of Tanzania , keep trying something.
People with
disabilities have to dare to every opportunity that comes on their way,
government and NGOs have the task to trust people with disabilities in daily
activities.
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| One of the posters showing how people needed FDR |
Disability not necessarily being inability
Disability can
be defined as the limitations that an individual shows in functioning within a
social context or setting resulted from the luck/absence and/or malfunctioning
of body organ. Handicap on the other hand, is the disadvantage an individual
encountered which is the result of disability or social-emotional constructed
phenomenon. FDR used powerful words precisely like, "Physical strength can
never permanently withstand the impact of spiritual force"…and that,
"It means people on crutches and in a wheelchairs can do anything",
thus, "We must scrupulously guard the civil rights and civil liberties of
all citizens, whatever their background”. The history of FDR must enable the
present and the future generations of Tanzania to understand the whole
man and the events and experiences that help to shape the human personalities.
The process of creating an inclusive society in Tanzania cannot be accomplished
without a commitment to a permanent, meaningful portrayal and the practical-oriented
involvement of people with disabilities and educate other people on how the
process of adjusting to living along together with their fellows with
disabilities.
Words as powerful tools
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| Wheel chair support |
FDR used strong
and powerful words which were practically implemented in actions. He frequently
used aspiratory words to American people. Words like: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself” and “I pledge you, I pledge myself, to a New
Deal for the American people”.
He also promised
to create happiness and fertile grounds under which every individual could
commemorate prosperity as he said; “I
tell the American people solemnly that the United States will never survive as
a happy and fertile oasis of liberty surrounded by a cruel desert of
dictatorship”.
Persistent
This is the
state of action done vehemently. This in turn, tells the people with
disabilities and other national and international activists that are found in Tanzania and
around the global that, apart from forming several strategies to help and
include people with disabilities, there should also be consistence in those
plans and stated strategies. There should be the endless efforts until a man is
liberated holistically. It is like the failure of today is the set bomb of
tomorrow. This concept is well understood when FDR said: “We must remember that any oppression, any injustice, any hatred, is a
wedge designed to attack our civilization’ and that…“the only limit to our
realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today”.
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| FDR in wheel chair support moments |
Power of communication
A nation is a
large group of people with strong bonds of identity. Its members share common
interests that make them appear as single person. A nation, like a person, has
a mind--a mind that must be kept informed and alert, that must know itself,
that understands the hopes and needs of its neighbors--all the other nations
that live within the narrowing circle of the world. In Tanzania, there should
be the communication subject to facilitate the dissemination of different
information to all people- the “Human Diversities”, specifically for visually
impaired persons, Hearing impaired ones, deaf-blind and other communities
inhabited by people with different disabilities.
Conclusion
To me and many of the followers of INCLUSIVE NATION regard FDR as the important figure in liberating people with disabilities and the marginalized ones. How many individuals of FDR type are killed, stigmatized, oppressed, left out of the system, seen unfit to the contemporary society, being ignored and many other evil deeds acted over them? By this concept then, our presidents, ministers, governors, members of parliaments and many important figures are being vanished through our own wicked hands. Let us stop from harming them so that they can serve and bring us the desired developments in our countries.
Conclusion
To me and many of the followers of INCLUSIVE NATION regard FDR as the important figure in liberating people with disabilities and the marginalized ones. How many individuals of FDR type are killed, stigmatized, oppressed, left out of the system, seen unfit to the contemporary society, being ignored and many other evil deeds acted over them? By this concept then, our presidents, ministers, governors, members of parliaments and many important figures are being vanished through our own wicked hands. Let us stop from harming them so that they can serve and bring us the desired developments in our countries.
sokime2012@gmail.com
"THINK INCLUSIVELY~~~ ACT INCLUSIVELY ~~~ CREATE AN INCLUSIVE NATION"
