The recollections, and the wise & spirited words of Harry Hopkins - part 2: Work vs. the Dole

(In this 1938 photograph, Harry Hopkins, head of the WPA, is urging Congress to increase the volume of federal work programs. Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.)

During the New Deal, federal work programs for the unemployed (e.g., the CCC, CWA, and WPA) cost more money than direct cash relief; but Harry Hopkins, in 1936, highlighted one of the major advantages of these work programs over the so-called "dole":

"What would America have to show today for the millions it has spent on relief if that relief had been in the form of a non-productive dole? Nothing except an army of disheartened, disillusioned, and resentful unemployed people nursing their sense of frustration and despair" (June Hopkins, Harry Hopkins: Sudden Hero, Brash Reformer, New York: St. Martin's Press, 1999, p. 193).

Indeed, America still has much to show--over three-quarters of a century later--from the New Deal's federal work programs, e.g., bridges, parks, athletic fields, public pools, tennis courts, water lines, artwork, schools, and airports (see the Living New Deal for a sampling of what we still use & enjoy today). 

In modern times, unfortunately, we have chosen the dole over work programs. We offer the jobless unemployment benefits for a certain period of time (along with insults to their work ethic, and constant threats to terminate those benefits) and then we throw them to the wolves (a.k.a. the "job creators"). Meanwhile, our infrastructure falls apart. We could offer them public jobs after their unemployment benefits expire, but the super-wealthy don't like that idea too much (they prefer to have a large pool of desperate, unemployed, and financially devastated workers who are willing to work for peanuts). And, since the super-wealthy are the ones calling the shots these days, thanks to their out-of-control & democracy-destroying political spending (lobbyists, campaign contributions, and Lord knows what else), well, there ya go. 

So, let's summarize the difference: New Deal = jobs for the unemployed and massive infrastructure work, but modern policy = insults for the unemployed and crumbling infrastructure. And millions of voters are perfectly fine with this. Isn't that amazing? 

The recollections, and the wise & spirited words of Harry Hopkins - part 1: The CWA Fraternity

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

In his book Spending to Save (1936), New Deal administrator Harry Hopkins recalled the Civil Works Administration (CWA, one of the early New Deal programs to offer jobs to the unemployed):

"The speed and volume of the work done that winter [1933-1934] produced a momentum which jolted the community. I believe CWA will stand out even when WPA has become past history, like a precocious child in a family of slower-going but more substantial children. For its special quality of having come and gone so quickly, yet having let loose great forces, both economic and spiritual, it shares certain of the memorable qualities of special events. A fraternity grew up among those who had worked in it, like the fraternity of a dramatic recruiting period...its old officers often recall those few months in which the people of the United States were galvanized to an unprecedented task and accomplished it. American communities had had a taste of what could be accomplished under a government program for the unemployed" (pp. 123-124).

In less than half-a-year, millions of CWA workers built, repaired, or improved 250,000 miles of roads, 40,000 schools, 2,200 miles of sewer lines, 3,700 playgrounds, and much more (see, e.g., Hopkins' book, pp. 120-122).

New Deal Art: Poughkeepsie Mural

Above: "Scene near Poughkeepsie, 1690," an oil painting by Gerald Sargent Foster (1900-1987), created while he participated in the New Deal's Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, ca. 1939. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Art: "Flop House"

Above: "Flop House," a tempera on fiberboard by Edward Millman (1907-1964), created while he participated in the WPA's Federal Art Project, 1937. Flophouses provided cheap living accommodations for transients, low-wage workers, and the homeless. A recent article on Alternet highlights the persistent problem of homelessness in America today, in places like New York, San Francisco, and Portland, Oregon. Unfortunately, as long as millions of voters continue to vote for trickle-down economics (or don't vote at all) homelessness will never be solved. A few temporary improvements here and there, sure, but never a wide-scale, permanent solution. Corporate America has perfected the art of paying workers as little as possible, giving all the profits to owners, executives, and investors, and then describing the resulting mass income & wealth inequality as "freedom" and "entrepreneurship." And, by and large, the public has bought it. (See, "Number of Homeless Children in America Surges To All-Time High," Associated Press, Huffington Post, November 17, 2014). Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Art: "Indian Hunters and Rice Gatherers"

(Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.) 

Above: "Indian Hunters and Rice Gatherers," an oil painting by Margaret Martin, created while she participated in the New Deal's Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, 1939. According to the Smithsonian's Luce Center, "Martin’s image reflects the sympathies of many WPA muralists, who openly expressed the need for images of Native Americans in their New Deal murals."

New Deal policymakers also had an interest in American Indians, using the CCC & WPA to offer them jobs, and passing the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934 to halt the loss of their land, promote self-governance, and facilitate business opportunities. Compare that to today, where federal policymakers are doing very little to address the poverty, unemployment, and suicide occurring on reservations. As a former congressman said in 2014, "there is no sense of urgency by our country to do anything about it." During the New Deal, there was real action. Today, there are "hearings," "task force" investigations, and White House "challenges." In other words, hollow and low-cost gobbledygook that won't impinge on the tax breaks, tax loopholes, tax deductions, tax exemptions, tax shelters, tax havens, tax avoidance, tax evasion, tax gimmicks, and historically low tax rates enjoyed by our millionaires, billionaires, and multi-national corporations.

(See, "How Tax Evasion Is Fueling Inequality," New York Magazine, October 1, 2015, and "U.S. Missing Out to Corporate Tax Havens," CNN, November 10, 2015)

New Deal Art: "Low Tide"

Above: "Low Tide," a watercolor painting by Avery F. Johnson (1906-1990), created while he participated in the New Deal's Treasury Section of Painting and Sculpture, ca. 1938. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

New Deal Art: "Fish Cannery"

Above: "Fish Cannery," a water color and pencil on paper, by Carlus Dyer, created while he participated in the New Deal's Treasury Relief Art Project, 1937. Mr. Dyer was born in Springfield, Missouri, in 1917, and may still be alive today (see, e.g., here and here). If so, wouldn't it be great if someone did an oral history interview with him, focusing on his recollections of the New Deal art programs. Image courtesy of the Smithsonian American Art Museum.