WPA Ski Jumps

(A WPA-built ski jump in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Across the nation, WPA workers built 65 ski jumps, and reconstructed or improved 15 others. Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network).

A new WPA and a new CCC would help reduce the rate of Native American suicide

(A Navajo Indian learns how to use heavy equipment on a CCC project. Photo from the Office of Indian Affairs publication, "Indians at Work," December 1941 edition.)

The suicide rate for Native American youth is much higher than the national average. The unemployment and poverty rates for Native Americans are also much higher than the national averages. Unemployment and poverty are risk factors for suicide (see, e.g., here and here).

With respect to Native American youth suicide, it was recently reported that "In an area where the poverty rate is more than 50 percent and unemployment is above 70 percent...'children carry the outlook that things may not get better for them.'" In response to the suicide epidemic, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) said, "We will not turn away from this issue until it is resolved"... which, of course, is a clear sign that Congress will turn away from this issue before it is resolved. U.S. Senator Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) said, "We’ve got to find a solution, we've got to find best practices, and then we have to fund those best practices." ("Native leaders tell senators how to help stop youth suicide," Huffington Post, June 25, 2015)

But we already know what the solution and the best practices are, there's no need to search for them: We need several public job programs for Native Americans who cannot find work in the private sector. We need a new WPA and a new CCC. These and other New Deal policies helped reduce suicide rates in the 1930s and they can do the same today.

(In the 3-minute video above, we see Indians working in the CCC. This film clip is from a longer film created by the U.S. Department of the Interior, and is provided courtesy of the National Archives.)

Legislation introduced in Congress this year shows just how little help Native Americans can expect: "The legislation would create an 11-member commission to study the programs, grants and services for Native children that are already provided by agencies and tribes. The commission would then produce a report and work to advance the longer-term goal of increasing coordination between service providers, making better use of resources and strengthening partnerships with the private sector to measurably improve outcomes for Native children...The proposed commission makes no promises regarding broken treaties and makes no legislative commitments" ("Native Children Are Facing A 'National Emergency.' Now Congress Is Pushing To Address It." Huffington Post, June 27, 2015, emphasis added).

Though perhaps created by well-intentioned people, this legislative approach is little more than gobbledygook. Studies? Reports? Longer-term goals? Increasing coordination? Strengthening partnerships with the private sector? Please. If people need jobs, then jobs should be created directly, and not wished for through the mysticism of the "market." 

During the New Deal over 85,000 Indians worked in the CCC--on 200 reservations in 23 states--and the employment improved their financial situation and their morale (Perry H. Merrill, Roosevelt's Forest Army: A History of the Civilian Conservation Corps, 1933-1942, 1981, pp. 31, 44-45). For example, in 1933 the following was reported: "The work furnished us for the eradication of Johnson grass, combined with that provided for road improvement, practically ends unemployment on the Yuma Reservation. The only Yuma Indians now to whom rations are issued are the old and the infirm" (U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, "Indians at Work," October 1933 edition, p. 26).

(In the two-minute video above, we see Native Americans working in WPA programs. At the one-minute mark, note the letters "WPA" in the beadwork art. This film clip is from a longer film created by the U.S. Department of the Interior, and is provided courtesy of the National Archives.)

Many Native Americans were also employed or assisted by the WPA. For example, the following was highlighted in 1938: "Through cooperation with state, county and WPA road units, a number of Indians trained in Road Division work are taking their places with white men in outside jobs. There is generally a local market for experienced road workers, and it is becoming evident, through specific cases, our men can compete in their local labor markets with the best in their field" (U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Indian Affairs, "Indians at Work," June 1938 edition, p. 17).

So, why doesn't Congress create a new WPA and a new CCC? The answer is fairly simple: Because many of the wealthy Americans who are controlling Congress's puppet strings with bribes campaign contributions don't want them to. In a survey conducted by researchers from Northwestern and Vanderbilt universities, wealthy Americans were asked whether they agreed with the proposition that "The federal government should provide jobs for everyone able and willing to work who cannot find a job in private employment." Only 8% did. (Benjamin I. Page, Larry M. Bartels, and Jason Seawright, "Democracy and the Policy Preferences of Wealthy Americans," Perspectives on Politics, March 2013, Vol. 11 No. 1, p. 57, Table 5).

There is no doubt that a new WPA and a new CCC would help reduce the suicide rate for Native Americans (as they would for any group of people struggling with unemployment and poverty). Unfortunately, there is also no doubt that American plutocrats, and the politicians who serve them, will make sure that a public job program never happens. Instead, the problems facing Native Americans will be buried under commissions, studies, reports, and longer-term goals.

WPA Theatre: "Will Shakespeare"

 

Above: A WPA poster (put together from two separate images), promoting the WPA Theatre production of Clemence Dane's "Will Shakespeare." Clemence Dane was a popular British author and playwright during the early twentieth century. Images courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

 

Above: Clemence Dane, whose real name was Winifred Ashton, was born in 1888 and died in 1965. Dane won an Oscar in 1947 for her screenplay "Vacation from Marriage" and, according to the writers' agency Pollinger Limited, she was "Colourful, eccentric, clever and kind." Photo courtesy of Wikipedia.

Infrastructure madness in America...and the better, New Deal way

(A WPA work crew constructing a sidewalk in Wicomico County, Maryland, in November of 1937. Across the nation, WPA workers created or repaired thousands of sidewalks. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

About a week and a half ago, a water main that was installed shortly after the Civil War (yes, the American Civil War) burst in Philadelphia, sending about 8-10 million gallons of water rushing through a neighborhood. A resident who couldn't get to work because of the resulting flood said that the federal government has "their priorities all out of whack. You know how many jobs there could be fixing the American infrastructure? Instead, I'm sitting here with no way to get to work" ("A deluge of frustration," Philly.com, June 16, 2015).

Indeed, all across the country, conservative politicians have their priorities out of whack. Consider the strangeness, the madness of it all...

Isn't it strange that "Michigan Republicans want to raise taxes on the poor to pay for road repairs"... while the Forbes 400 keeps adding billions of dollars to their already-bloated fortunes? 

Isn't it madness that, after Republicans in Kansas gave huge tax cuts to their richest citizens... they had to steal money from their highway fund to make ends meet?

Isn't it strange that funding is uncertain for 38 damaged dams in Oklahoma... while Walmart is allegedly using foreign tax havens to avoid paying billions to the IRS?

Isn't it madness that Republicans can't find a "funding mechanism" for our nation's infrastructure... while they're simultaneously working to eliminate the estate tax for millionaires & billionaires?

Isn't it strange that Republicans keep saying, "We can’t spend all this money" on America's infrastructure... yet they're eager to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on the war in Iraq - a war based on lies and misinformation?  And eager to start wars in many other mid-east countries too?

Isn't it madness that we have a quarter of a million water main breaks across the United States, every single year... but the Republican Party is more focused on making it easier for super-wealthy Americans to engage in illegal tax evasion?

(A man stands proudly over a WPA culvert project in Frederick County, Maryland, in May of 1936. Across the nation, WPA workers installed or improved over 1.1 million culverts. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

What we're witnessing today, is our country descending so far into plutocracy that domestic issues--issues that affect the common good--are becoming increasingly irrelevant. The super-rich are calling the shots with their millions of dollars in campaign contributions, and many (not all) of the super-rich are unconcerned about infrastructure issues. Super-wealthy Americans can avoid most infrastructure problems with a private jet, a private landing field, trucks delivering sparkling fresh drinking water, or a $14,000 Generac. And heck, even if their $100,000 SUV gets swallowed by a sinkhole, created by an old & broken water main, they can just buy another $100,000 SUV. After all, it's only money.

New Deal policymakers had a better philosophy on domestic matters than today's Republicans and Plutocrats. Indeed, New Deal policymakers invested in infrastructure in ways that most Americans can't even comprehend today. Why did they make these investments? Because they cared more about the strength of the nation than the luxury & comfort of a few hundred super-wealthy families. They thought that bridges for thousands of motorists were more important than 24-karat gold bathtubs for the children of the super-wealthy to soak & gloat in. They thought that a modern & safe water supply system for millions of people was more important than a $20,000 evening gown or a $20,000 bottle of wine.

(A WPA road project in Baltimore County, Maryland, in September of 1936. Across the nation, WPA workers created, repaired, or improved 650,000 miles of roads - enough roadwork to go around the planet 26 times. Photo courtesy of the University of Maryland College Park Archives.)

If we want to strengthen America's infrastructure, we need to reinvigorate the policies & principles of the New Deal, and we need to fight back against the "selfish stupidity of a few citizens."

The National Youth Administration and Hospitals

(WPA poster, courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

In 1941 and 1942, young Americans employed in the National Youth Administration assisted 1,733 hospitals. Their duties included assistance with communication, housekeeping, mending garments, nutrition services, patient admissions, transporting patients, and aid to nurses. Though some NYA men worked in the hospitals, it was primarily NYA women who received this type of employment.

As a result of their work experience in hospitals, NYA enrollees experienced a high rate of employment in the private sector: "Hospitals themselves, took youth on as nurses' aides, office workers, and assistants in housekeeping departments. Other institutions such as orphanages or day care centers found this work experience made desirable employees. Doctors and dentists employed NYA hospital trained youth as office assistants."

(Source: Federal Security Agency, War Manpower Commission, Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943, Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1944, pp. 165-167)  

Art for the Public

(A WPA poster, advertising one of the thousands of New Deal art programs & events that took place between 1933 and 1943. Image courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

The National Youth Administration and Museums

(This WPA worker is cataloging shell specimens at the San Diego Natural History Museum in February of 1937. Photo courtesy of the National Archives and the New Deal Network.)

Like its initial supervising agency, the WPA, the National Youth Administration (NYA) assisted many museums across the country. For example, "NYA youth cataloged 1,123,000 museum articles in the fiscal years 1937 through 1942, and prepared or renovated 361,000 museum articles" (Federal Security Agency, War Manpower Commission, Final Report of the National Youth Administration, Fiscal Years 1936-1943, 1944, p. 175).

I wonder if some museums could use that kind of help today. And wouldn't a new NYA be great for many young men and women too, especially since "A substantial share of America’s youth remains economically disconnected, even as the economy continues to recover. More than one in eight—13.8 percent—of young Americans ages 16 to 24 are neither working nor in school..." (link). (The NYA provided employment to millions of Americans between the ages of 16 and 25).