February 4

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.

Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32^nd President, 1933-1945

-From his Address to the Governing Board of the Pan American Union, Washington, D. C., April 14, 1939, also known as "Hands Off the Western Hemisphere" speech.This is a great great quote taken in any context. It could apply personally to Roosevelt who fell victim to polio in 1921 at the age of 39. He became paralyzed form the waist down and was unable to walk except after great effort and with braces. Nonetheless, he continued his political career and created and maintained a normal image of himself, always pictured standing up and rarely allowing himself to be pictured in his wheelchair. He even drove a modified car, which could be driven solely with hand controls. "In context", however, here Roosevelt speaks to the members of the Pan American Union, which evolved into the Organization of American States (OAS). April 14 is the anniversary of the day when the organization was formed in 1890 had been designated as Pan American Day. Two main purposes of the organization are: 1)To strengthen the peace and security of the continent;and 2)To promote and consolidate representative democracy, with due respect for the principle of nonintervention. http://www.oas.org/en/about/purpose.asp On that day, Roosevelt addressed the board in light of approaching and escalating conflicts in Europe as Hitler and Germany would invade Poland in September, 1939 and begin "The Battle of Britain" in 1940. Roosevelt states, "... For upwards of half a century the Republics of the Western World have been working together to promote their common civilization under a system of peace. That venture, launched so hopefully fifty years ago, has succeeded. The American family is today a great cooperative group facing a troubled world in serenity and calm...'The madness of a great war in another part of the world would affect us and threaten our good in a hundred ways. And the economic collapse of any Nation or nations must of necessity harm our own prosperity. Can we, the Republics of the New World, help the Old World to avert the catastrophe which impends? Yes, I am confident that we can. I still have that confidence. There is no fatality which forces the Old World towards new catastrophe. Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.' They have within themselves the power to become free at any moment...The issue is really whether our civilization is to be dragged into the tragic vortex of unending militarism punctuated by periodic wars, or whether we shall be able to maintain the ideal of peace, individuality and civilization as the fabric of our lives...Our will to peace can be as powerful as our will to mutual defense; it can command greater loyalty, greater devotion, greater discipline than that enlisted elsewhere for temporary conquest or equally futile glory. It will have its voice in determining the order of world affairs in the days to come. This, gentlemen, is the living message which the New World can and does send to the Old. It can be light opening on dark waters. It shows the path of peace. http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/dept/polsciwb/brianl/docs/1939Roosevelthandsoff.pdf. Unfortunately, the United States was "dragged into the vortex" as World War II ensued with many world conflicts still unresolved.