Trump Administration changes to Section 106 will disenfranchise us from our history. See 22 ways that the New Deal connected us to our history.

Trump's Advisory Council for Historic Preservation (it's an independent agency, but let's be real, almost all of the members are Trump appointees) wants to make changes to regulations related to Section 106 of the Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Among the changes are the ability to exclude the public from being able to comment, "with agencies directed to weigh whether providing opportunities for public involvement is worth the associated costs and delays" ("The End of Section 106 as We Know It?" The National Conference of State Historic Preservation Officers, July 20, 2026). This is a blatant disenfranchisement of the people from their nation's history... in favor of authoritarian decision-making. It will facilitate the loss of historic sites, structures, and artwork all across the country when the profit and ego of the rich and powerful come calling.

In contrast, the New Deal sought to preserve and connect us to our history. Here are 22 ways it did that:

1. (above) FDR and the New Deal created the National Archives, which today houses "13.5 billion pieces of paper, 725,000 artifacts... 41 million photographs" and much more. Image scanned from a personal postage stamp collection.

2. (above) In addition to creating the National Archives, there were projects to assist state archives. In this case, we see a brand new state archives building in Springfield, the capital of Illinois, funded by the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA). To get a feel for the enormous size of this building, compare it to the person walking in front of it (under the third window from the left). This building was constructed in 1936-1938 and still serves as the state archives for Illinois. Photo from the National Archives.

3. (above) FDR signed the Historic Sites Act into law on August 21, 1935, making historic preservation a national priority and laying the foundation for much of the nation's subsequent history activities and legislation. Image from an uncredited postcard, scanned from a personal copy.

4. (above) To help preserve America's architectural history, the New Deal created the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). It is still being added-to today, with photographs, architectural drawings, and historical information. As of August 2026, there have been 34,797 surveys carried out. Above, we see a photograph of an Idaho City Schoolhouse, taken for the HABS program. Photo from the Library of Congress.

5. (above) "Gabriel Weather Vane," a watercolor and graphite on paper, by Harriette Gale, created for the WPA's Index of American Design, ca. 1942. The New Deal created the Index--which has over 18,000 artworks / depictions--to preserve designs made in America. Image from the National Gallery of Art.

6. (above) The New Deal had several projects to preserve folk music history, with audio recordings, photographs, technical drawings of instruments, and more. Here, we see "Mary Goshtigian playing the oud [a fretless stringed instrument]... performing Armenian and Armeno-Turkish songs and music on April 17, 1939," Fresno, California (source). This photo was taken as part of Sidney Robertson Cowell's WPA project to record folk music in northern California. The sounds and information gathered by this and other New Deal folk history projects helps us understand the musical background and influences of our elders and ancestors, and thus American music itself. Photo from the Library of Congress.

7. (above) The WPA Graves Registration Project operated across the country and hired veterans to record information from the gravesites of veterans. Above is a WPA worker in Ohio, between 1935 and 1943. This work was important because many of the gravesites, such as the one you see above, were falling apart and wearing away. Mancel Talcott, Chairman of the American Legion, advised all states to take advantage of the program: "If you have no WPA graves registration project in your state get busy at once and request one. It will complete the record of all veterans' graves in your state, enable you to locate and record for future use the name and grave location of every honorably discharged veteran of all wars, and it will put some unemployed veterans to work!" ("Legion Wins 10-Year Fight to Secure Flat Markers for Veterans," Lincoln Veterans' Weekly (Lincoln, Nebraska), May 24, 1940, p. 6). Photo from the National Archives.

8. (above) The New Deal built or improved several national cemeteries. Here is Annapolis National Cemetery, where the WPA carried out several projects, such as "installing utilities, realigning headstones, removing dead trees, and constructing a utility building" (source). Other cemeteries receiving New Deal work included Baltimore National Cemetery (built entirely by the WPA), Antietam National Cemetery, and Arlington National Cemetery. Photo by Brent McKee, 2013.

9. (above) WPA workers organizing and recording birth certificates, Charleston, South Carolina, September 26, 1936. Genealogists have long praised the work of the WPA in preserving family histories by locating and indexing "birth, death, and marriage records... church records... cemetery and burials, military, and naturalization records" (Marjorie Blocher Kinsey, "W.P.A. records could be valuable source for family detective," The Evansville Courier (Evansville, Indiana), January 17, 1993, p. D10). Also see, "Works Progress Administration (WPA)," Ancestry.com (accessed August 21, 2026). Photo from the National Archives.

10. (above) These are members of CCC Company 2303, stationed at Camp NHP-5, next to William & Mary College in Williamsburg, Virginia, ca. 1937. This company was one of several African American units that restored and developed Colonial National Historical Park (Yorktown, Jamestown, and related areas). One of this company's projects was "the archeological investigation of Jamestown Island [one of the many archeology projects carried out by the New Deal]. It consists of research, landscaping, building workshops and tourist conveniences. The C.C.C. boys, under direction of the National Park Service, are digging up the ruins. Every shovel of dirt and sand is sifted for artifacts and fragments. These are taken to a laboratory, cleaned, labeled and filed" (see source at the end of this caption).Thanks to the extensive and years-long work of the CCC, Colonial National Historical Park is now visited by millions of people every year and contributes mightily to the local economy ("Tourism to Colonial National Historical Park creates over $453 million in Economic Benefits," National Park Service, July 17, 2022). Photo and archeology quote from: Con C. McCarthy (ed.), Civilian Conservation Corps, District No. 4, 1933-1937, Third Corps Area, Harrisburg, PA: The Military Service Publishing Company, 1937; used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

11. (above) The New Deal restored many historic buildings, such as the Henry Whitfield House in Guilford, Connecticut. Here we see the house in 1937, after restoration by WPA workers. Today, the house is on the National Register of Historic Places and is also a National Historic Landmark. Photo from the National Archives.

12. (above) The New Deal created many historic markers, with West Virginia's highway marker program, created by FERA and WPA, being one of the most significant examples. Several hundred were installed during the New Deal years and many others have been added since. Above we see a marker in Hillsboro, West Virginia. Photo by Brent McKee, 2015.

13. (above) The New Deal built, improved, and assisted museums all across the country. Here we see a WPA worker creating models of Seneca Indians for the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Rochester, New York, May 1936. Photo from the National Archives.

14. (above) The New Deal created visual aids for schoolchildren, for example, models of famous buildings, transportation history, and people from past cultures. One of the major ways of preserving history, of course, is to pass it down from generation to generation. In the photo group above, we see a WPA worker in Louisville, Kentucky, painting a model of the Audubon Museum (the actual museum is in Henderson, Kentucky, and was also built by the WPA); then the completed model; next, WPA workers packaging the model (and other models) for shipment; and finally, a schoolteacher and her children examining the model (and others) and no doubt learning about the great woodsman, bird naturalist, and painter John James Audubon (like many other famous people in American history though, Audubon was not the greatest person). Photos from the National Archives.

15. (above) The New Deal's Adult Education program was one of its most ambitious. Here, we see a WPA Adult Education program offering courses in "Current History," "U.S. History," and "World History." Again, we see history preserved through education and the transmission of memory. Newspaper article from The Dayton Herald (Dayton, Ohio), November 25, 1939, p. 12, and newspapers.com; used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

16. (above) The New Deal built or helped install statues, monuments, and memorials. Above we see a New Deal project to relocate a statue of George Washington, at the University of Washington in Seattle, to the top of a WPA-built pedestal, between 1935 and 1943. Photo from the National Archives.

17. (above) The WPA's Federal Writers' Project (FWP) wrote many histories - national, territorial, state, local, and on specific topics, such as Indian culture, African Americans in different regions of the country, oral histories with former slaves, maritime history, stories from the old west, and much more. The FWP's most well-known books are the guidebooks written for all 48 states, Washington, DC, and the territories of Alaska and Puerto Rico (a manuscript was mostly completed for a Hawaii Guide, but seems to have been lost or perhaps even thrown away by someone who didn't approve of public funds going towards such a project). The guidebooks had history sections, and also photographs, tours, and maps that are now historically valuable themselves (for example, showing roads and points of interest as they were in the 1930s and 40s). The WPA guide for Puerto Rico (shown above) was sponsored by the Puerto Rico Department of Education and published in 1940 by The University Society, Inc. (New York). Image scanned from a personal copy.

18. (above) Among the many plays of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project (FTP) were historical dramas, and the most remarkable of these dramas was Paul Green's The Lost Colony. The play, which had a high degree of community management, is still performed annually on Roanoke Island, North Carolina. For just about 90 years now, endless thousands of people have been able to see one of the most famous stories in American history played out on stage. Photo by Brent McKee, from a performance during the 2016 season.

19. (above) Some New Deal artworks preserved history too, such as this WPA mural at George Washington High School, in San Francisco, depicting the life of Washington, even the non-flattering moments, such as slaveholding (the image above is only a small section of the mural). Photo from the National Archives.

20. (above) The WPA's Historical Records Survey located and inventoried government, church, and other records all across the nation. This helped scholars, independent researchers, and genealogists, and also promoted an interest in American history more generally. Above, we see some materials listed in American Imprints Inventory Number 31: A Check List of California Non-Documentary Imprints 1833-1855, from the Northern California Historical Records Survey (WPA, April 1942). These items would be of interest to those looking into California's early development into an American state. Item 83, for example, is a broadside (a flyer or other printed notice) announcing a treaty between the United States and Mexico - a treaty that ceded California to the U.S. after two years of war. The letters "CSmH" showed that the broadside was held at the Henry E. Huntington Library and Art Gallery in San Marino, California (and perhaps still is today). Image scanned from a personal copy.

21. (above) The Lee Cabin at Lost River State Park in West Virginia. The house was built by Charles Carter Lee, older brother of Robert E. Lee, ca. 1820, on land that Virginia had deeded to their father Henry Lee III in 1796. Lee III had been an officer in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. The cabin, which is now on the National Register of Historic Places, is a good example of how land preservation can protect history: natural history (think about the giant sequoia trees in Sequoia National Park); human events (e.g., Civil War battlefields); and structures. West Virginia bought the land that now makes up Lost River State Park in 1933-1934, and the Civilian Conservation Corps then came in and developed it into a location for campers, hikers, horseback riders, and other visitors. Through its various land preservation activities--such as the creation or improvement of national parks, national monuments, national wildlife refuges, and assistance to state and local parks and forests--the New Deal helped preserve a tremendous amount of history. Photo by Brent McKee, 2011.

22. (above) The photography section of the New Deal's Farm Security Administration (FSA) was not primarily a history project, but it has certainly aged into one of the greatest history collections of the U.S., especially in relation to rural America, but also for urban areas and, interestingly, events that have ultimately reflected badly on FDR and America more broadly, such as this photo of a Japanese child waiting to be transported (with family) to the Manzanar War Relocation Center in Owens Valley, California, April 1942, as part of the forced removal and confinement of Japanese people on the west coast--including U.S. citizens--during World War II. Photo by Russell Lee, Farm Security Administration, provided courtesy of the Library of Congress.

"To bring together the records of the past and to house them in buildings where they will be preserved for the use of men and women in the future, a Nation must believe in three things. It must believe in the past. It must believe in the future. It must, above all, believe in the capacity of its own people so to learn from the past that they can gain in judgment in creating their own future."

--President Franklin Roosevelt, "Remarks at the Dedication of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Library at Hyde Park, New York." June 30, 1941.

Thanks to Republicans and Corporate Democrats, tax revenue from working-class Americans is now increasingly given to the super-rich

Above: "The Middle Class," a lithograph by Elizabeth Olds (1896-1991), created ca. 1939. Olds did several artworks for the WPA, but it's not clear if this is one of them. In any event, it's a great piece that seems to depict the timeless strategy of the wealthy to distract, divide, and get the working-class riled up into a frenzy over this or that issue, while they make off with more and more of the working-class's money. Image from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

The rich are stealing our tax dollars to feed their insatiable appetite for money and luxury

Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich has been making a point lately that is worth repeating - indeed, worth repeating over and over and over again. And that is this: The wealthy used to pay much higher taxes to help fund the government. But in the past few decades, after purchasing politicians and bamboozling the public, they've had their tax responsibility greatly reduced and now increasingly fund the government by lending to the government. This has ballooned the national debt to over $40 trillion!

(Robert Reich, "Who’s Raking it in as the National Debt Explodes? What the wealthy and powerful--and Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent--don’t want you to know," Substack, August 20, 2026.)

And so now, a significant portion of our tax dollars go towards interest payments to the rich, when that money could be going towards infrastructure improvements; increased Medicaid funding (so that, for example, the elderly aren't neglected and abused in nursing homes as much); expanding Social Security (so that maybe, just maybe, we can retire and not have to work for billionaires until we're 95); and so on.

The social safety net has been shredded; our infrastructure has been substandard for decades; the rich have received several rounds of massive tax cuts (Reagan, Bush Jr., Trump I, and Trump II); the working-class has been burdened with more and more regressive revenue systems (taxes, tolls, fees, fines, etc., at the state and local level); the national debt has surpassed $40 trillion; and now we're paying taxes--or should we call them tithes?--to our rich Gods, in order to pay the interest on their lending to the government - a government that was supposed to be We the People but has now been converted into We the Suckers.

As if all this were not bad enough, the rich didn't even fulfill their end of the trickle-down economics bargain: to create so many great jobs, through their magical investments, that it would be like manna falling from Heaven. Instead, they've created a nation filled to the brim with low-paid b.s. jobs, gig work, and jobs with no pension plans (most 401(k)s are not pension plans - they're tools of distraction that most people can't significantly contribute to, because wages have been stagnant since the 1970s).

Republicans are mostly to blame for this economic and social catastrophe, because of their decades-long obsession with tax cuts for the rich. But Corporate Democrats share some of the blame too, for (a) failing to properly message what's going on, (b) failing to aggressively and consistently push for more progressive taxation (as well as other progressive policies), and (c) abandoning their New Deal heritage.

Will the voters ever learn? Or, are we in a continuous downward spiral where the voters will forever have their money siphoned off to the rich, as they're being distracted by one manufactured outrage after another?

Rich Americans are killing working-class Americans--by the millions--but it's been so normalized and systematized that we just don't fight it very much

Above: "Done In," an aquatint etching by Frank Ominsky (1898-1991), created while he was in the WPA, between 1935 and 1943. Image from the Art Institute of Chicago.

How the rich are killing the working-class and poor

In America, being working-class, and especially being poor, means an early death. U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders explains, "Being poor or working class in America is a death sentence... For example, if you live in McDowell County, West Virginia, where the median household income is just $27,682 a year, you can expect to live 69 years. Meanwhile, just 350 miles away in Loudoun County, Virginia, where the median income is $142,299, life expectancy is 84 years - a 15-year gap. Why? It’s simple. Day after day, the struggle just to survive takes a horrific toll on a person’s body and mind. Financial stress kills" ("Why Do Working People Die Younger Than the Wealthy?" Bernie Sanders, U.S. Senator for Vermont, April 2, 2025).

There are some wealthy Americans who want to improve the lives of the working-class and poor (for example, the Patriotic Millionaires). But a much higher percentage of the wealthy couldn't care less - they just want to avoid taxation at all costs, even if it means that an awful lot of people are going to die. In the research study, "Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans" (Perspective on Politics, Vol. 11, No. 1, March 2013), we see that "a solid majority of the public (59 percent), but only a minority of the wealthy (41 percent), said they would be “willing to pay more taxes in order to provide health coverage for everyone" (p. 58) and further, the "wealthy are much more favorable toward cutting social welfare programs, especially Social Security and health care" (p. 67).

(I'm skeptical of the 41 percent of rich Americans who say they'd be willing to pay more in taxes "to provide health coverage for everyone." First of all, how many responded that way just to appear like a good person to the survey-taker - i.e., not wanting to look like Ebenezer Scrooge. And second, how much more are they willing to pay - 20% more, or just 2%?)   

These findings mesh with other things we know about wealthy Americans, such as their tendency to have less empathy and give less to charity. So, if it comes down to your life vs. their sustainable luxury and dynastic wealth, well, you might want to get your affairs in order.

So, how are the rich killing us? Here are six major ways:

1. Withholding healthcare: A 2019 study by Gallup and West Health found that "More than 13% of American adults--or about 34 million people--report knowing of at least one friend or family member in the past five years who died after not receiving needed medical treatment because they were unable to pay for it." The Patriotic Millionaires have noted, "some in America’s healthcare system are earning millions a day and becoming billionaires by denying care to certain patients..." This is reminiscent of the Nazi's Aktion T4 program, where those who were considered "life unworthy of life" were killed off for economic (and other) reasons. And it's important to remember that the Nazi's didn't always use violence to kill, they also killed by withholding food and medical care. Yep, we're doing the exact same thing here... in good ol' "Christian" U.S.A.

2. Controlling politicians and ordering them to stop "Medicare for All": Even though "Medicare for All" would save loads of money (in large part because it would stop the flow of money to wealthy investors and executives) and save over 114,000 lives per year, the rich--and their political marionettes--would rather let those 114,000 die (again, every year). Many wealthy Americans want to keep the healthcare cash cow going, lives be damned.

3. Slow-walking renewable energy: Wealthy Americans are also using their political leverage to block, or at least slow-walk the transition from fossil fuels to cleaner forms of energy. This is killing tens of thousands of Americans every year. This is similar to--but not (yet) up to the level of--cigarette sales, where the wealthy know it's killing hundreds of thousands of Americans every year, but they keep the industry going anyway, in order to secure more wealth and luxury for themselves and their children. It's a dynastic wealth industry built upon culturally-accepted homicide.

4. Financial stress and deaths of despair: Through job off-shoring, wage stagnation, usury, medical debt, and other methods, the wealthy are putting lower-income groups through a type of financial persecution - and this persecution has been shown to fuel deaths of despair, such as suicides and opioid overdoses (see, e.g., here, here, here, here, and here). 

5. Killing the elderly in nursing homes by reducing staffing: Private equity firms are taking over nursing homes, reducing staffing to increase profits, and this is causing increased death rates. So complacent are we--or so enamored by wealth and our holy "Job Creators"--that we are letting the rich abuse our parents and grandparents. We should be ashamed of ourselves. (For more on this problem, see here, here, and here.)  

6. Tax cuts, evasion, and avoidance: The rich use all sorts of schemes to reduce their taxes - buying politicians (and thus, public policy); hiding money in foreign accounts; utilizing teams of lawyers to look for any loopholes; and distracting the working-class with culture wars (the Fox News business model). These schemes reduce revenue that could be used to improve public health, and it also shifts the revenue burden on to the working-class and poor (e.g., instead of more progressive income taxes, we get more regressive sales taxes). (See, e.g., "Inequality and poverty: the hidden costs of tax dodging," Oxfam International, accessed August 19, 2026; and also "Who Pays? 7th Edition," Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, accessed August 20, 2026).  

The six items above, and more, are causing premature deaths for the working-class and poor - by the millions. But here's the thing: This mass murder has been normalized, institutionalized, and systematized to such a degree, that the majority of us don't even think about it; or, if we do, we just sorta shrug our shoulders and say, "Well, it's just the way it is." We don't seem to have much fight left in us, like cattle lined up at the slaughterhouse.

We need a New Deal for our lifespan.

"It is shocking and unacceptable that in the United States in 2025, poverty steals almost a decade of older Americans’ lives. Millions of older Americans who worked hard and played by the rules are dying early simply because they don’t have sufficient financial resources."

--Ramsey Alwin, President and CEO, National Council on Aging, in "Analysis Finds Low-Income Older Adults Die Nine Years Earlier than Wealthier Peers," National Council on Aging, October 7, 2025.

MAGA jacked-up prices, strangled public services, and gave tax cuts to millionaires and billionaires. What a fine record.

Above: "Five and Ten," a linoleum engraving by Charles Surendorf (1906-1979), created while he was in the WPA, ca. 1938. "Five and Ten" (or "Five and Dime") stores were places Americans could buy inexpensive goods. Image from the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

MAGA's transfer of wealth from the working-class to the investor-class

I just got my new homeowners insurance policy and, as expected, the monthly premium has gone up, by nearly 10%. Everything has gone up under the MAGA regime, for example, my homeowners insurance, health insurance, gas prices, grocery bills, goods in general (think tariffs), and the large number of regressive state & local revenue systems (e.g., sales tax - we now have a new local one). Fortunately, at least for now, my electric bill is about the same, but for people living near data centers--data centers that Trump loves--the story is not so rosy.

While MAGA has been busy jacking-up prices, it has also been busy strangling and gutting public services that help the working-class and poor, such as Medicaid, food for children, and medical research. It has also, of course, gifted the super-rich with more tax cuts (as if the Reagan, Bush Jr., and Trump I tax cuts were not destructive enough). 

As might be expected, all of the above--and more--has been great for the 1%--who are now richer than ever--but terrible for the working-class, i.e., the majority of Americans. Ultimately, MAGA has just been another vehicle for the rich to vacuum up more of the nation's wealth - the health of the nation and its citizens be damned.

And of course, we must always remember that neoliberal Democrats are just as much to blame. They've abandoned their New Deal heritage and rarely offer policies that have not been first diluted to please their wealthy donors. "May we try, kind sir, to lower the Social Security retirement age back down to 65?" "F' NO!!! Do you want us to turn off the money faucet!?!" "Okay, okay, please forgive me, it was insolent of me to even ask such a silly question. God, I hate myself now."

Thanks MAGA. Thanks neoliberal Democrats. Thanks for making life increasingly unaffordable--and increasingly unpleasant--so that a tiny sliver of the population can live like sultans.

20 ways that West Virginia is a public health, healthcare, and human rights disaster area

Above: The description for this photograph, taken in Milton, West Virginia, July 6, 1938, reads: "Morris Memorial Hospital for Crippled Children. Children are being shown given therapeutic treatment for infantile paralysis. This pool and hospital were built by WPA labor." The New Deal greatly improved public health and healthcare in West Virginia, with more facilities; more nurses; health clinics; immunizations; recreation projects for both physical fitness and mental well-being; better drinking water and better sewage treatment; etc. As you will see below, West Virginia desperately needs another New Deal. Photo from the National Archives.

West Virginia's Public Health and Healthcare Today: Welcome to Hell on Earth

West Virginia's public health is like something out of a nightmare. Here are 20 reasons why:

1. Worst Overall Health in the Nation

"West Virginia ranks dead last in national health study—here’s how Virginia compares," WVVA (Channel 6, Bluefield, West Virginia), January 20, 2026. 

2. Unaffordable Health Insurance

"West Virginia ranks among least affordable states for health insurance," WCHS-TV (ABC and Fox, Charleston, West Virginia), July 16, 2026.

3. Substandard Healthcare

"West Virginia ranked 47th in U.S. for worst healthcare," WTRF-TV (Channel 7 News, Wheeling, West Virginia), July 27, 2026.

4. Too Many Premature Deaths

"West Virginia ranks 49th in the nation for premature deaths, meaning more people die before the age of 75 than in almost every other state" (The Center of Rural Health Development, accessed August 8, 2026, emphasis added).

5. Poor Quality Nursing Homes

"The 2022 Nursing Home Report by Nice Rx has been released and says that less than 3% of West Virginia’s nursing homes are top-rated... West Virginia has 123 total nursing homes, and U.S. News reported that only three... had a five out of five rating. Each of these nursing homes have fewer than 35 beds... U.S. News also reported that 35 of West Virginia’s nursing homes are considered worse than average and seven are being monitored by Medicare due to a history of low quality care" (12 WBOY News (NBC and ABC), August 24, 2022, emphasis added). 

Nursing home violations in West Virginia include: "failure to provide proper medical treatment... untreated bedsores... failure to respond to medical emergencies... multiple instances of elder abuse... missing money and personal belongings from nursing home residents... severe medication mismanagement, understaffing, and unsanitary conditions... dismissive staff responses to safety concerns... residents suffering from severe malnutrition and dehydration... patients left in soiled bedding for extended periods... residents were left without proper mobility assistance, leading to falls and serious injuries... nursing home residents were found suffering from untreated bedsores and infections... lack of proper dementia care" (Nursing Home Law Center LLC, using state and federal reports, March 5, 2025).

6. Little or No Support for Family Caregivers

"... [family] caregivers spend an average of $7,200 out of pocket each year, creating significant financial, emotional and physical strain,” Tom Hunter, associate state director of the AARP-WV, said in an email" (Mountain State Spotlight, January 22, 2026). A bill to give family caregivers a tax credit has stalled in the West Virginia legislature; meanwhile, "In 2026, West Virginia’s richest five percent of households will receive $1.2 billion from tax cuts enacted over the last decade" (West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, December 27, 2025). 

7. Filthy Drinking Water 

"West Virginia was the state with the highest levels of violations and contaminants in its drinking water systems, according to the Afina study, which reviewed data from various EPA sources." (Newsweek, January 27, 2026, emphasis added).

8. Obesity and Diabetes

"New Report: W.Va. Remains Most Overweight State" (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, October 16, 2025). And this, no doubt, contributes mightily to 223,000 West Virginians having diagnosed diabetes, another 45,000 likely having diabetes, and 502,000 having pre-diabetes - in total, a whopping 43% of the population has diabetes or pre-diabetes ("The Burden of Diabetes in West Virginia," American Diabetes Association, March 2023).  

9. The Heart Attack Capital of the U.S.

"According to a recent report by the West Virginia Health Statistics Center (2019), West Virginians rank first in the country for heart attacks, have the second-highest obesity rate and prevalence of mental health problems in the country, along with the fourth-highest rate of diabetes and fifth-highest rate of cancer" (2022 academic study, published on the National Institutes of Health website, emphasis added).

10. An Expensive and Dangerous Place to Have a Baby

"West Virginia ranks #1 in worst states to have a baby" (WTRF-TV (Channel 7 News, Wheeling, West Virginia), June 10, 2026).

11. Bad Teeth

"West Virginia ranks 49th out of 51 states and D.C. for dental health"(West Virginia Dental Association, accessed August 8, 2026, emphasis added); and "West Virginia ranks last in national dental health study" (WVVA (Channel 6, Bluefield, West Virginia), January 20, 2026).

12. Understaffed Hospitals

"West Virginia hospitals continue to struggle to fill thousands of healthcare positions... according to the West Virginia Hospital Association’s 2025 Workforce Report. The report... found more than 4,500 vacant positions across 13 critical hospital occupations at participating hospitals, with nursing continuing to experience the greatest workforce pressures..." (WV News, July 15, 2026, emphasis added). 

13. Healthcare Workers Stealing Narcotics--Sometimes from Patients--in Order to Get High

"WVU Health Systems knew for years that employees were stealing highly addictive drugs... Federal officials found systemwide theft and lax record keeping, and said the state’s biggest hospital system failed to stop nurses and other staff from stealing controlled substances... a patient complained she did not receive her Percocet, a mild painkiller, according to the settlement. Records show the suspected thief, a medical provider, was seen nodding off at the nurse’s station... As to where the drugs went, Kevin McWilliams, a DEA spokesman for the Louisville Field Office, which oversees West Virginia, said that the investigators concluded most were being abused by the medical providers who took them" ("WVU Health leadership failed to address painkiller thefts as opioids devastated West Virginia," Mountain State Spotlight and the Associated Press, July 20, 2026).

I almost hesitate to blame the healthcare workers involved. If you had to work in such a miserable and wretched healthcare system, you might be desperate for escape too!    

14. Shifting Costs to the Poor  

"In 2022, West Virginia spent about $6,000 per capita on hospital care, nearly $2,000 more than the national average, much of which fell on patients to pay" (West Virginia Center on Budget & Policy, October 15, 2025). And that's a problem, because West Virginians are among the poorest in the nation.

15. Low-Income West Virginians Kicked Off Medicaid, In Order to Please the Rich

"West Virginia, Oregon and New Mexico are the three states that will see the most people disenrolled from Medicaid as a result of changes in the One Big Beautiful Bill, according to a new RAND analysis" (Governing, March 31, 2026, emphasis added). And of course, we know that this is being done in order to give tax breaks to millionaires and billionaires, so that they can secure more sustainable luxury, build more dynastic wealth, and purchase more politicians, and thereby keep the U.S. caste system going.

16. Inadequate Wastewater Management 

"The state faces growing challenges, with approximately 500,000 customers, over half the population, lacking access to public sewer systems [and] Many of the 336 regulated sewer utilities are aging or operating beyond capacity..." "2025 Report Card for West Virginia's Infrastructure," American Society of Civil Engineers, p. 204, emphasis added). 

Raw sewage is a big problem because it contains "bacteria, parasites, and viruses that can cause short-term problems like diarrhea, eye infections, respiratory infection, and long-term problems like cancer, Dementia, and Diabetes" (West Virginia Public Broadcasting, January 16, 2015).  

17. Black Lung

"Black lung cases surge in West Virginia, Kentucky and Virginia coal miners, study finds" (WV News, August 7, 2026), while the Trump Administration delays "implementation of new regulations that would protect miners from deadly silica" (Yale Environment 360, April 30, 2026). 

18. Deaths of Despair

"West Virginia has had one of the nation's highest rates of deaths of despair: fatalities attributed to suicide, drug overdoses and alcohol-related disease" (U.S. News & World Report, September 1, 2021, emphasis added). 

19. Not Enough Mental Health Services to Handle the Despair 

"WV’s shortage of psychiatrists worst in the nation, report says" (West Virginia Watch, April 21, 2026).

"WV and VA patients forced out‑of‑network for mental health care amid “catastrophic” shortages" (WVVA (Channel 6, Bluefield, West Virginia), March 10, 2026). 

20. Not a Nice Place to Grow Up 

"West Virginia has the nation’s second-highest level of hardship among children, according to a 2026 WalletHub study examining poverty, health, education and family stability" (WV News, August 6, 2026, emphasis added).

And if you're a child with a disability, the hardship might be compounded by being put on a waitlist for help: "Waitlist for disability services in WV climbs to more than 1,000; mostly children waiting for help" (West Virginia Watch, October 23, 2025). 

Above: A WPA dental clinic, assisted by a worker (at left) from the New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA), in Kanawha County, West Virginia, between 1935 and 1943. The WPA conducted dental clinics all across the country for lower-income folks who couldn't afford dental work. Photo from the National Archives.

My Observations and Experiences

From my own time living in West Virginia, I have experienced the following with respect to myself or, more often, my family: 

1. Patient dumping, in the form of dangerous discharge attempts from the emergency room and constant pressure to remove a patient from the hospital after admittance. 

2. Doctors blocking patients from receiving needed treatment, even when the doctor has no specialty in the treatment area (e.g., an emergency room or floor doctor blocking a patient from seeing an oncologist or receiving radiation therapy). 

3. Extreme medicine mismanagement (for example, failure to give the patient's normal cancer medicine while the patient is in the hospital).

4. Months-long waitlists for community resources--such as the Lighthouse Program, which assists seniors in their homes--due to a lack of funding.

5. Lack of insurance coverage or community assistance for certain types of non-emergency medical transport (NEMT), e.g., a disabled person getting to a PET scan for necessary cancer imaging and analysis.

6. Nursing home bed shortages, in nursing homes that are understaffed, that routinely neglect patients, and that are potentially abusive.

7. Threat of home loss if one is admitted to a nursing home, because of (a) nursing home cost, which immediately takes the patient's Social Security, pension, and assets; thereby leaving little or no money for home upkeep, e.g., property tax, homeowners insurance, and electricity (and this is a problem because... what if the nursing home resident is discharged? Where will they go?), and (b) Medicaid Estate Recovery, where the state will force the sale of a deceased person's house, causing distress to both the nursing home patient (while they are alive and wishing to give something to their children) and to the children or heirs who, while grieving the loss of their loved one, also learn that the house--perhaps the childhood home--will be effectively confiscated to re-pay Medicaid (this would be akin to taking the house of a deceased trucker, to re-pay highway funds). 

And Medicaid Estate Recovery is happening, by the way, after decades of estate tax cuts for the super-rich... to benefit nepo-babies, i.e., less intergenerational wealth for the working-class and poor, and more intergenerational wealth for the super-rich. Welcome to America.

8. Little or no financial aid, even for lower-income elderly patients on hospice (West Virginia University is especially stingy and cruel, as compared to healthcare providers in Maryland and Virginia).

Above: This is part of a financial aid denial letter, from WVU, that one of my family members received while in WVU hospice. The family member makes $38,000 (Social Security and pension), which is lower middle-class. But WVU can't grant one penny of assistance for an earlier hospital stay, even though the person has a very modest income and is in hospice (that's how cruel the WVU healthcare system is). Also, note the threatening tone of the letter regarding any future appointments. Only a sociopathic healthcare system sends a letter like this to a hospice patient (or any patient for that matter). This is what America--a supposedly Christian nation--has devolved into.

9. Lack of telehealth and doctor house calls which, in combination with the lack of NEMT, results in doctors ghosting their patients (because the patient can no longer make it to the doctor's office, and most doctors don't want the hassle of calling or visiting their used-to-be-easy patients).

10. Woefully underfunded hospice services that don't even provide haircuts or nail care (although you might luck out and get a home health aide that will do those things in an unofficial capacity).

To be fair, there are some great healthcare workers in West Virginia--doing their best in an extremely underfunded, understaffed, and psychopathic system--but the West Virginia healthcare system, taken as a whole, is abhorrent and lethal. 

Above: A new tuberculosis hospital in Roneys Point, West Virginia, financed by the New Deal's Public Works Administration (PWA), 1936. This hospital helped fill a desperate need for more facilities and beds for tuberculosis patients in West Virginia. Photo from the National Archives.

Most of West Virginia's Policymakers Couldn't Care Less About the State's Health Problems

It goes without saying that most of West Virginia's policymakers couldn't care less about any of the problems I've highlighted above. They're much more focused on getting tax cuts for their wealthy donors (and themselves)--both at the state and federal level--than with correcting the state's healthcare catastrophe.

Back in February of this year, I wrote to my federal "representatives"--Senator Jim Justice, Senator Shelley Moore Capito, and Congressman Riley Moore--explaining the stress of healthcare and family caregiving, and requested: "I would like to know what legislation you are working on, or are currently supporting, to help family caregivers and those they care for." Justice wrote back on February 23, "Your message has been shared with the appropriate member of my team for review." That was the last thing I heard. Capito and Moore never responded at all. It's been half-a-year, and not one of my federal representatives has answered my simple inquiry. And that, of course, is because they are not really my representatives. They are representatives of the wealthy (and wealthy themselves), and so family caregiving is not an issue for them. If the need arises, they can put their loved ones in the best nursing homes or just hire round-the-clock caregivers.

The real tragedy here, of course, is that middle and low-income West Virginians keep voting for people who don't care about them. They're duped into voting a certain way, usually over some cultural issue that has little impact on their health or daily lives, and then they're pounded into the ground with inadequate healthcare, dirty drinking water, and whole host of regressive taxes, tolls, fees, fines, and other revenue burdens (see, e.g., "West Virginia," Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy, accessed August 8, 2026).

West Virginia is a public health, healthcare, and human rights disaster area. Will it ever change? One would hope so, but I'm not holding my breath. If you value your health, and you're not rich, you would do well to avoid West Virginia as a place of residence. I hate to say that, because there are nice things here too, for example, the natural beauty of the mountains, forests, and parks - but there's nothing more important than your health and the health of your family. To put it another way: scenery, fishing, and hiking are nice, yes... but you can't enjoy those things if you're dead.

Above: Gone are the days when West Virginia had representatives in Congress who cared about the people. Here, we see a newspaper excerpt from 1971 (Beckley Post-Herald (Beckley, WV), Feb. 9, p. 10), reporting on an attempt by Jennings Randolph, Democratic U.S. Senator from West Virginia, to "reactivate" the WPA in order to provide jobs and improve sanitation and healthcare across the country (note that the article gets some of the details about the original WPA wrong, such as the 1962 reference in the third column). The effort ultimately failed when Republican President Richard Nixon vetoed the bill. Randolph was a huge supporter of the New Deal, and West Virginia voters liked his policy positions. They put him in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1933-1947 and the U.S. Senate from 1958 to 1985, a total of 41 years in Congress. Unfortunately, since Randolph's time, Reagan Republicans and neoliberal Democrats have largely abandoned the people and focused more--or even exclusively--on representing their wealthy donors (e.g., tax cuts for the rich, shareholder primacy, financial de-regulation, letting infrastructure crumble, undermining unions, and allowing investors and executives to export good-paying American jobs). The result, especially for West Virginia, has been a public health, healthcare, and human rights catastrophe. Image from newspapers.com, and used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Florence O'Brien and the WPA's Federal Theatre Project

Above: A photo of "Florence O'Brien and the Four Kings of Rhythm." This photo was taken by the WPA in Los Angeles, between 1935 and 1939, and shows them performing in the theatre production of The History of the St. Louis Blues (possibly just called St. Louis Blues). It's unclear whether this was part of a WPA Federal Theatre production, or if the photo was taken for a different reason, for example, a WPA project documenting African America theatre. Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A close-up section of the previous photo. Florence O'Brien was born in 1912, lived her entire life in the Los Angeles area, and passed away in 2006. In this photo she would have been about 25-27 years old. 

Above: A WPA poster, promoting the WPA production of Run, Little Chillun, 1938-1939, a play about a man torn between two religions. Florence O'Brien had her breakout role in this play--playing the character "Sulamai"--which helped her land more theatre work and also start a movie career. Image from the Library of Congress.

Above: Florence O'Brien also performed in some of the other popular Federal Theatre productions, such as Swing Mikado, and here we see an ad for a privately-produced version of that musical play, also starring O'Brien. This ad appeared in the Los Angeles Examiner, November 9, 1939. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: A scene from the movie Mr. Washington Goes to Town (Dixie National Pictures, 1941), with Florence O'Brien on the right. The film was billed as "The First All Colored Cast Feature Comedy Ever Made!" After reviewing her scenes in this film and others (also see, for example, her song and dance routine at the very end of Double Deal, 1939), it is quite clear that O'Brien had the skill, charm, and energy to go far in Hollywood (also see her "Sulamai" reviews below). Unfortunately, opportunities for African Americans in the film industry were severely limited in the 1930s and 40s, and her movie career was fairly brief (see next image and caption). This reminds me of the Negro Baseball Leagues, where many great ball players, such as Josh Gibson, never reached their full potential of audience, fans, and play time because of race restrictions in Major League Baseball. Josh Gibson eventually made it into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame, so perhaps one day Florence O'Brien will be similarly recognized for her pioneering work. The screenshot above was taken from this YouTube video, and is used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Above: This article excerpt is from the California Eagle newspaper, August 22, 1946 edition, and highlights what seems to be O'Brien's last film work, I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now (1947). After her movie career, O'Brien worked in real estate and also helped the less fortunate with non-profit humanitarian work. Her life is chronicled by her great-granddaughter, Beverly Lishey Stelly, in the book Gone, But Not Forgotten (New York: Page Publishing, 2015). Notice that the article also mentions several performances for the famous and long-running Amos and Andy radio program. The Internet Archive has many or all of these episodes--"Amos and Andy - 336 Episodes of the Classic Old Time Radio show" (accessed August 4, 2026)--and so we can assume that Florence O'Brien is in there somewhere, waiting to be rediscovered. Image from newspapers.com, used here for educational and non-commercial purposes.

Florence O'Brien as Sulamai, in the WPA production of Run, Little Chillun

Recall that Florence O'Brien had a standout performance in the WPA's production of Run, Little Chillun (a play by the music composer Hall Johnson). O'Brien starred in the Los Angeles production, which ran from July 22, 1938 to June 19, 1939, and played "Sulamai," a seductive woman leading a man astray from his religion and wife. The play received rave reviews, and Florence O'Brien especially so:

-- "All the principals are first rate, with Florence O'Brien taking honors. As the swaying, sultry, elemental Sulamai she radiates an animal charm that rather mitigates any evil she is supposed to symbolize" (Sara Boynoff, "Run Little Chillun Best of Season," Daily News (Los Angeles, California), July 23, 1938, p. 17).

-- "Then there was Salome, called Sulamai. She was just about the most seductive and enchanting, yet at times tender and sympathetic, in all a most contradictory personality. I may here predict for this youngster [she was about 26 at the time], Florence O'Brien, great things" (Earl Dancer, Drama Editor, The California Eagle, July 28, 1938, p. 2B).

--"Florence O'Brien stepped forth in the role of 'Sulamai'... And Was-She-Good-Say, that girl is an artist to her finger-tips. She possesses the allure of Cleopatra, the insousiance [carefree nature] of Ouida's immortal heroine... and the abandon of Sadie Thompson in 'Rain'... She disgusts you, repels you, attracts you, almost in the same breath. In the end she hypnotizes you and holds you spellbound. A superb artist without doubt, and one who should have a great future before her" ("The Laundryman," California Eagle (Los Angeles, California), July 28, 1938)  

-- "Florence O'Brien, who had the feminine lead and was most convincing as a community Jezebel, is a new find" (Earl J. Morris, "Hall Johnson's Run Little Chillun A Hit," The Pittsburgh Courier, July 30, 1938, p. 21).

--"Especially impressive are the lovely voice and dramatic power of Ruby Elzy... and the singing and acting of Florence O'Brien" (Fay M. Jackson, "Run Little Chillun Praised By Critics," The Chicago Defender, August 6, 1938, p. 19). 

-- "Florence O'Brien strikes fire as Sulamai - both as singer and dancer she evinces an exotic and original talent" ("Negro Unit of FTP Offers Spiritual," Pasadena Star-News, August 24, 1938, p. 15).

Due in no small part to O'Brien's magnetic and mesmerizing performance, the WPA's Los Angeles production of Run, Little Chillun broke attendance records "for federal plays in the west... it will have its 213th performance [on May 17, 1939]... Every night, rain or shine, the house has been packed from floor to balcony, and seats have had to be reserved as much as a week ahead" ("Run Little Chillun Moves to Hollywood," Associated Negro Press, in the Journal and Guide (Norfolk, Virginia), May 6, 1939, p. 16). Other newspaper articles claimed that the play held the all-time attendance record for federal shows, although it's unclear whether they're referring to the Los Angeles production alone, or combined with the San Francisco production (see, e.g., "Chillun Holds Federal Record," Hollywood Citizen News, May 17, 1939, p. 4). 

The Los Angeles production of Run, Little Children was so popular that after its official run ended special engagements were performed (see, e.g., "Run Little Chillun Will Return," Pasadena Star-News, July 14, 1939, p. 9) and a national tour was planned: "That splendid troupe of Negro actors, who have made dramatic history with their Los Angeles Federal Theater productions, are now launched on a new adventure. They are taking Hall Johnson's deep South Negro spiritual-drama-with-music on a nationwide tour" ("Music Is Superb In Negro Show," Pasadena Star-News, June 22, 1939, p. 14).

The development of the national tour (or lack thereof), and Florence O'Brien's involvement in it, needs more research. The play passed into private hands shortly after the national tour plans were reported, and many of the cast members--including perhaps, O'Brien--left for other work. 1939 and 1940 were incredibly busy and successful years for O'Brien, cast in more theatre plays and starting her movie career. It's likely she decided to forego the tour idea and instead focus on the opportunities presenting themselves right there in Los Angeles.

For more information about O'Brien's movie career, check out her Wikipedia page, IMDB page, and Beverly Lishey Stelly's book, Gone, But Not Forgotten (New York: Page Publishing, 2015).

A New Deal for African Americans and Theatre

Above: Under the advice and direction of Rose McClendon, a popular Broadway actress (seen above, second from right), the WPA's Federal Theatre Project set up "Negro Units" in New York City, Seattle, Hartford, Philadelphia, Newark, Los Angeles, Boston, Raleigh, Birmingham, San Francisco, and Chicago (Hallie Flanagan, Arena, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940, pp. 62-63). Above we see McClendon and others at the Lafayette Theatre in New York City, to see a Federal Theatre performance of Macbeth, 1936. Photo from Wikipedia and the Library of Congress.

Above: The description for this photograph--taken in New York City, ca. 1938--reads: "'Macbeth,' adapted by Orson Welles. Negro Theatre Unit - WPA Fed. Theatre Proj. of NYC - Act III, Scene 2." Photo from the National Archives.

The 1938-1939 relationship between the WPA and Florence O'Brien is a wonderful story of mutual aid. Like many actors and artists during the 1930s, O'Brien was probably having trouble finding consistent theatre or film work. Feast or famine has always been a dilemma for actors, but especially so during the Great Depression (early 1930s) and even as the New Deal was stabilizing the economy with stimulus spending, Social Security, FDIC, protections for unions, regulations against stock market fraud, etc. So, O'Brien landed a job in the WPA's Federal Theatre Project and was able to earn a modest income while waiting for a bigger break; and indeed, it appears that her performance in Run, Little Chillun opened up the private sector doors!. 

Again though, the relationship was mutually beneficial, with O'Brien's stunning and crowd-drawing performance aiding the FTP's credentials - and the latter was important because there was no shortage of FTP critics in Congress, in the professional theatre world, and also people who just didn't approve of the New Deal and its efforts to provide employment for actors, artists, and musicians, let alone the racial mixing they saw in some its plays and audiences.

Above: The description for this 1938 photograph reads: "Backstage in a Federal Theatre of the WPA... 800 Negro theatrical workers are employed as actors, directors, scriptmen, stage and lighting technicians... Pictured here are the stagehands and electricians working under the direction of the stage manager at the Lafayette Theatre in New York, New York." Photo from the National Archives.

The WPA's Federal Theatre Project was especially important for African American actors and stage hands because, as noted before, opportunities in the private sector were very limited - and if white actors and theatre workers were having trouble finding employment, one can only imagine the situation for African Americans. But thanks to folks like Harry Hopkins (head of the WPA), Hallie Flanagan (head of the Theatre Project), Orson Welles (who acted and directed in the Federal Theatre), and Helen Tamiris (a gifted dancer and choreographer in the FTP's dance unit), African American actors, dancers, and singers had opportunities in the "Negro Units" of the FTP and also in some integrated productions. (The New Deal's National Youth Administration (NYA) had a small dance unit, which gave the famous African American dancer Pearl Primus her first break in the business.) 

In her book, Furious Improvisation: How the WPA and a Cast of Thousands Made High Art out of Desperate Times (New York: Walker & Company, 2008), author Susan Quinn argues that "Right from the start, Hallie Flanagan had committed the Federal Theatre Project to an enlightened race policy: Black performers would receive equal pay for equal work, and audiences for all Federal Theatre performances would be integrated. This was unusual at the time... In fact, the Federal Theatre Project was probably the least discriminatory of all the WPA programs" (pp. 99-100).  

After the Federal Theatre Project was shut down in 1939--by a Congress fearful of (or just grandstanding about) the three bogeymen communism, race mixing, and wasted taxpayer dollars--Hallie Flanagan wrote: "If this first government theatre in our country had been less alive it might have lived longer. But I do not believe anyone who worked on it regrets that it stood from first to last against reaction, against prejudice, against racial, religious, and political intolerance" (Hallie Flanagan, Arena, New York: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1940 p. 367).

Above: A crowd piles into the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Washington, to see the Negro Theatre Unit perform It Can't Happen Here, on the night of October 27, 1936. Performances of the play were carried out in multiple cities that night (but I'm not sure if any other Negro Units performed the play), including one in Tacoma (see, e.g., "'Can't Happen' Opens Tuesday," The Tacoma Sunday Ledger, October 25, 1936, p. 4-A). Photo from the National Archives.

Above: A scene from the Negro Theatre Unit's production of It Can't Happen Here, Seattle, Washington, 1936. It Can't Happen Here was a play by Sinclair Lewis, about fascism taking hold in America, and was one of the WPA's most popular productions. Photo from the National Archives.

The story of African Americans and the Federal Theatre Project, and perhaps especially its hiring of Florence O'Brien--followed by her jaw-dropping performance and pioneering work in movies--within the context, realities, and limitations of Jim Crow America is an important and inspiring story. Like so many other aspects of the New Deal--for example, the Rural Electrification Administration (a partnership between progressives and rural folk); the Indian New Deal (which facilitated self-government, cultural preservation, and the return of Indian land); and the Civilian Conservation Corps (which hired young men to create or improve many of the state and national parks we enjoy today)--it highlights what we can do when we support one another, instead of using insults, shame, and deprivation as "motivators." It shows what a government can do when it is truly of, by, and for the people, and committed to the General Welfare - all the people's welfare.