Question

what did Dr. Hutchins mean when he said if we would change the face of the earth we must first change our own hearts ?

Answer 1

President Roosevelt lauched his well-known "Four Freedoms Speech", in order to ask for support to get in the World War II. Dr. Hutchins, the president of the Univeristy of Chicago, in response to the speech said that "if we would change the face of the earth, we must first change our own hearts". In fact, Dr. Hutchins believed that America had a well-prepared army to go to war, but was not intellectually and morally capable to execute the moral mission behind it. In order to help humanity, human dignity should have a meaning within the country primarily. At that time, America itself struggled with human exploitation, oppression and discrimination against the Oakies, the sharecroppers, the black population, and slumdwellers. These groups did not have freedom from want nor freedom from fear, they couldn't understand the meaning of democracy, justice or human rights. What Dr. Hutchin meant was "How would America go to war to implement the Four Freedom principles overseas when they couldn't even implement them in their own country?"