Ronald Reagan on Oatmeal Meat
-
0:03 - 0:05(tape fast forwarding)
-
0:05 - 0:09("Another Version of
You" by Chris Zabriskie) -
0:13 - 0:14- Do you think materialism is the source
-
0:14 - 0:16of our strength and
greatness as a country? -
0:16 - 0:19- Sure, because it's
the kind of materialism -
0:19 - 0:23that is based on individuals
wanting better things, -
0:23 - 0:25more comfort,
-
0:25 - 0:28and there being people
with ideas who are free -
0:28 - 0:31to say, "Hey, I'll bet the
people would like this. -
0:31 - 0:32"I'm going to make it."
-
0:32 - 0:35Just recently I saw an example of one.
-
0:35 - 0:37Now, you know, if you
open a can of soft drink, -
0:37 - 0:39hold it in your hand,
-
0:39 - 0:42it gets warm very fast
while you're drinking it. -
0:42 - 0:45There's a fella that has invented
an aluminum stein handle. -
0:45 - 0:48You're serving people
cold drinks in the can, -
0:48 - 0:50you just clamp that handle onto it,
-
0:50 - 0:51and people hold it by the handle
-
0:51 - 0:53and the drink doesn't warm up.
-
0:53 - 0:56And he's going to make a million dollars.
-
1:00 - 1:02- [Moyers] Tell me something
about your mother and father. -
1:02 - 1:03- [Reagan] He was a shoe salesman,
-
1:03 - 1:06he was a Democrat, he was Irish.
-
1:06 - 1:07It was a divided family.
-
1:07 - 1:11My father was Catholic,
my mother was Protestant, -
1:11 - 1:13and while we were poor,
-
1:13 - 1:15I don't think we were
really conscious of it -
1:15 - 1:16because the government didn't
come around and tell you -
1:16 - 1:18you were poor like they do today.
-
1:17 - 1:18- [Moyers] This is when
you were in Illinois? -
1:19 - 1:20- Yes.
-
1:20 - 1:22We lived in a small town.
-
1:21 - 1:24It was from payday to payday with us,
-
1:25 - 1:30and I can remember one dish
that I thought was delicious -
1:30 - 1:32and it was only later that
I realized why we had it. -
1:33 - 1:34Have you ever heard of oatmeal meat?
-
1:34 - 1:34- [Moyers] No.
-
1:35 - 1:36- [Reagan] Well you make oatmeal,
-
1:36 - 1:38and you mix ground meat with it.
-
1:38 - 1:40Then you make a gravy just out of that,
-
1:40 - 1:43and then you serve that in
a big pancake-like thing. -
1:43 - 1:45Well, that was because we couldn't afford
-
1:45 - 1:46to have that pancake made of all meat.
-
1:46 - 1:51("Wild Ones" by Jahzzar)
-
1:50 - 1:51- [Moyers] When you first came to Hollywood,
-
1:52 - 1:55as I am told, you were
a fairly liberal fellow, -
1:55 - 1:57almost a one-world liberal.
-
1:57 - 1:59- [Reagan] Well, I was
a New Deal Democrat. -
1:59 - 2:01Yes, had grown up that way.
-
2:01 - 2:04My first vote was cast for
Franklin Delano Roosevelt -
2:04 - 2:06the first time he ran.
-
2:06 - 2:09Differing from today,
in the Great Depression -
2:09 - 2:11there was a warmth among people,
-
2:11 - 2:13there was a desire to help each other.
-
2:13 - 2:16Status symbols did not exist.
-
2:16 - 2:18I went to school and
worked my way through, -
2:18 - 2:20a small school in Illinois.
-
2:20 - 2:21First job was waiting tables,
-
2:21 - 2:24second job was one of the
better jobs I've ever had, -
2:24 - 2:27washing dishes in the girls' dormitory.
-
2:27 - 2:28But...
-
2:28 - 2:30(Moyers laughs)
-
2:30 - 2:32Now, granted, at that time
I thought all of the efforts -
2:32 - 2:35by the government to resolve the problems
-
2:34 - 2:37of the Great Depression were,
you know, the way to go. -
2:38 - 2:42I look back now and realize
they didn't help at all. -
2:42 - 2:43They didn't cure the Depression.
-
2:43 - 2:45In many ways they set it back.
-
2:45 - 2:47It's tragic, but the
cure of the Depression -
2:48 - 2:51was a very high price, World War II.
-
2:51 - 2:53But I have often thought the party changed
-
2:53 - 2:55much more than I did.
-
2:55 - 2:58How many people remember that in 1932
-
2:58 - 3:01Franklin Delano Roosevelt
ran on a program, -
3:01 - 3:02the Democratic platform,
-
3:02 - 3:06of cutting federal spending by 25%,
-
3:06 - 3:09eliminating useless bureaus and agencies,
-
3:09 - 3:12returning to states and
local governments authorities -
3:12 - 3:15and autonomy that he said
had unjustly been seized -
3:14 - 3:16by the federal government?
-
3:17 - 3:18Now, there's only one
party today in America -
3:18 - 3:21that I know that would be
happy with that platform, -
3:21 - 3:23and it's the party
(chuckles) I now belong to. -
3:23 - 3:24("Chunk of Lawn" by Jahzzar)
-
3:24 - 3:25- [Moyers] You still think
business is the goose -
3:25 - 3:27that laid the golden egg?
-
3:27 - 3:28- [Reagan] You have to believe that.
-
3:28 - 3:30For the first time in man's history,
-
3:30 - 3:34we unleashed the individual
genius of every man -
3:34 - 3:36to climb as high and as far
-
3:36 - 3:39as his own strength and
ability will take him. -
3:39 - 3:42We live in the future
in America, always have. -
3:41 - 3:43And the better days are yet to come.
-
3:44 - 3:45- [Moyers] Do you think those better days
-
3:46 - 3:48mean more consumption of goods?
-
3:48 - 3:50More consumption of things?
-
3:50 - 3:53- [Reagan] Certainly,
and a wider distribution -
3:53 - 3:56of the ability to consume those things.
-
3:56 - 3:58That's the dream of America.
-
3:58 - 3:59The problem isn't being poor,
-
3:59 - 4:03the problem, the answer
is to get over being poor. -
4:03 - 4:05And people want more and want better,
-
4:05 - 4:06and they--
-
4:06 - 4:08- [Moyers] How do you think
people get over being poor? -
4:08 - 4:11- By this, well, (chuckles)
-
4:12 - 4:13by this same way,
-
4:13 - 4:18of the ability and the freedom
to rise as far as you can. -
4:18 - 4:19- [Moyers] But what about the people--
-
4:19 - 4:20- [Reagan] How did I get over being poor?
-
4:20 - 4:21I got a job as a sports announcer
-
4:21 - 4:23and it led to everything else.
-
4:23 - 4:24- There's going to be a
stampede to the radio stations -
4:25 - 4:26right away, I'm sure.
(laughing) -
4:26 - 4:30("Another Version of
You" by Chris Zabriskie) -
4:37 - 4:39- [Moyers] Somebody described Reagan country
-
4:39 - 4:42as "a land of well-kept lawns
and chambers of commerce, -
4:42 - 4:45"dull and square, a
nice place to raise kids -
4:45 - 4:46"and have a barbecue."
-
4:46 - 4:48Do you think Reagan country,
that part of America, -
4:48 - 4:52can see and understand the
America of dirty streets, -
4:52 - 4:54crime, and poor people?
-
4:54 - 4:56- [Reagan] Yeah, because
most of them came from there. -
4:56 - 4:58I have said that maybe
the difference between -
4:58 - 5:00some of those people and myself is,
-
5:00 - 5:03and people like myself is
that they can have compassion -
5:03 - 5:05for someone who's needy.
-
5:04 - 5:07Oh yes, let's have a government
program to help that person. -
5:08 - 5:11We all have compassion for
those people and the needy. -
5:11 - 5:14But I also have compassion
-
5:14 - 5:16for those families out there in America
-
5:16 - 5:19today where the husband
and wife is both working, -
5:19 - 5:21not because she wants to have a career,
-
5:22 - 5:23but because if they're
gonna pay the mortgage -
5:23 - 5:26on the house in this
inflationary age she has to. -
5:26 - 5:28If they're gonna send
the kids on to school -
5:28 - 5:29they both have to work.
-
5:29 - 5:3150% of the wives now working,
-
5:31 - 5:34and all they ask of
freedom is freedom itself, -
5:34 - 5:37and they're getting worse
off, not better off, -
5:37 - 5:39and I think that there ought
to be enough compassion -
5:39 - 5:42for these people that are
making this system of ours work. -
5:42 - 5:43They're the backbone of America
-
5:44 - 5:48and who the devil is
passing programs for them? -
5:56 - 5:57(tape fast forwarding)
- Title:
- Ronald Reagan on Oatmeal Meat
- Description:
-
"We live in the future in America, always have, and the better days are yet to come.“ - Ronald Reagan, as told to Bill Moyers on April 30, 1979.
Originally aired on WNET's Bill Moyers Journal on PBS
We loved hearing Ronald Reagan open up about his vision for America in the months before he'd even announced he was running again for President. He welcomed Moyers to his ranch in California and we share some gems from the conversation including a story about oatmeal meat and his humble upbringing, his roots in the Democratic party, his keys to getting out of poverty, and what truly separates America from the rest of the world. Enjoy.
Learn more about Ronald Reagan, the 40th President of the United States:
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EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
David GerlachANIMATOR
Patrick SmithPRODUCER
Amy DrozdowskaCOLORIST
Jennifer YooMusic via APM
“Another Version Of You” Chris Zabriskie“Wild Ones” Jahzzar
“Chunk of Lawn” Jahzzar
- Video Language:
- English
- Duration:
- 05:58
Alexandre Clemente edited English subtitles for Ronald Reagan on Oatmeal Meat | ||
Alexandre Clemente edited English subtitles for Ronald Reagan on Oatmeal Meat |