A New, New Deal part 2
Adam Krause
Contributing columnist
While many young, college-educated men and women will be ushered into the workforce each year, there remains a large number of people are not cut out for college. American society today tends to put an emphasis on getting a degree and ‘getting a good job’. This is not sound for all people, and many folks are either very skilled at, or just simply enjoy working at a labor job.
Much of our country’s glory and prosperity is owed to laborers, and these men and women should also be helped as much as possible in finding or keeping their jobs. Sometimes laborers need help from another source; that is where Roosevelt’s New Deal succeeded greatly in opening new jobs for the unemployed.
In the manufacturing realm of the job market, laborers are finding themselves out of work. It’s cheaper for big business to employ Third World workers, and you can believe that they’ll do anything to cut costs and increase profits. It is strange that those who are so eager to get into the business world may in the future be responsible for either restoring or further depleting the market for labor jobs. But that isn’t the only problem, because our great President has thus far refused to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. As F.D.R. said in speech regarding the New Deal, "We need enthusiasm, imagination and the ability to face facts, even unpleasant ones, bravely."(http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1932d.htm#23) Well, Dubya?
A person goes to receive unemployment benefits, but since labor jobs are being continually shipped around, that person can’t find a job where they can utilize their experience or receive similar pay. After the unemployment benefits run out, that person is no longer considered unemployed, because they ‘failed’ in finding a job and can no longer claim unemployment.
The unemployment rates in this country are based on how many people claim unemployment; for all the folks who don’t or can’t claim unemployment, they are ignored. So 5.8% unemployment is a pretty liberal estimate. Does the government seriously expect high-paid laborers with families to get a new job at McDonald’s without offering better alternatives?
For those out of work with labor jobs, where getting an education would either be too costly or unnecessary, there should be government-sponsored work programs. Surely if our economy in on the rebound like George. W. Bush claims, then why is it that the government would rather dole out money to the unemployed, instead of trying to make more jobs for them?
During the Great Depression, our country had an over-abundance of resources, and they initiated government work programs to put the unemployed to work. This not only helped strengthen America’s economy and modernize the infrastructure, but it also put numbers of the unemployed to work. Many of our highways, bridges, dams, national parks, and other great resources are a result of New Deal work programs. There is little or no harm in initiating new, similar programs, if not only to employ those out of work, but to help modernize and expand our ever-aging national infrastructure as well. We must strive for perfection, knowing that it may never be achieved.
Perhaps the Bush Administration should make similar proposals and reforms, instead of merely making empty claims that our job market is getting better and better. Government-sponsored work programs could even include jobs relating to preserving national security, since the Bush Administration seems so keen on the concept.
If they were able to implement such programs in the middle of the Great Depression, then it should be very possible to do so nowadays. That is, unless our economy is in worse shape than they are letting on.
As F.D.R. said, "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. The millions who are in want will not stand by silently forever while the things to satisfy their needs are within easy reach."(http://newdeal.feri.org/speeches/1932d.htm#23)