Injustice and helplessness flourish when people forget, or have never been taught, the past

(Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

"...most people in America today live in the moment and the moment alone. If they realized and cared about the past, if they used that realization and care to make the future better, they would not be able to live in the moment so well."

--Lawrence B. Wilkerson, Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired), "Empire's Age-Old Aim: Wealth and Power," Huffington Post, June 30, 2014.

This statement helps explains why there is not a new WPA for the long-term unemployed. Despite deteriorating infrastructure, despite hiring discrimination against the unemployed, and despite the proven track record of the WPA during the New Deal era (success that motivated even Ronald Reagan to praise the WPA), we did not, and will not, create a new similar program. Many American voters, and many of the people they vote for, do not realize or care about the past. Hopefully that will change someday.