Shoveling dirt beats standing in unemployment lines

by David Grand
December 17, 2008

Among today's millions of jobless Americans, I'm sure many would be willing to accept a job in one of Obama's proposed public works construction programs, in order to ward off creditors and from possibly losing their homes and being unable to provide for their families.

Granted, it would be hard on their egos and even harder on their backs, when putting in a day's work with a shovel in their hands or holding on to a heavy, noisy jackhammer, and for a smaller paycheck and in working conditions that range from poor to horrible.

But desperate times require desperate measures. And what with our economy in desperate straits, it's looking more and more like Obama's proposed stimulus plan for resuscitating the reeling economy is the only life preserver that'll be thrown  to us.

And to draw a comparison between Obama's recovery plan and Franklin Roosevelt's jobs program: of the total population in the 1930s of 123 million, 15 million (one-quarter of the workforce) became unemployed vs. today's population of 350 million, with 10. 3 million unemployed, out of a total workforce of 154.6 million.

Under Roosevelt's "New Deal" jobs program, the most successful ones in getting people back to work were: the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC).

Between 1935 and 1943, the WPA provided almost 8 million jobs. It built many public buildings and roads, and distributed food and clothing and provided housing for the homeless. And nearly every community in America had a park, bridge or school constructed by that agency.

And before Congress closed it down in 1943, due to the war's boom to the economy, the WPA was the largest employment base in the country. Anyone who needed a job could have one, with hourly wages in line with prevailing wages in the area.  But they were hardly cushy jobs, what with many projects requiring workers to spend months in the field, and eating and sleeping on work sites.

And while critics of the WPA viewed it as Roosevelt's effort to build a nationwide political machine with millions of workers, most Americans applauded its efforts, and those of us who lived during that time, and who personally benefited in one way or another from their projects, still do.

The CCC, established in 1933, differed from the WPA, in that it was created for the dual purpose of conserving the country's natural resources--timber, soil and water—and providing employment and training of unmarried, young men between the ages of 17 and 23. Its members received a base pay of $30 per month and lived in work camps.

Before it was abolished in 1942, about 3 million men worked on such projects as: reforestation, construction of fire-observation towers and development of state parks. So, as I see it, Obama would do well to follow the same path that Roosevelt traveled down under similar circumstances, with both of them having to clean up the humongous, economic mess dumped into their laps by their predecessors.

And as Roosevelt ignored the advice of conservative economists, who have long derided public works spending as a poor response to tough economic times, Obama should also tune 'em out, even if they're screaming like a peacock in heat.