Reviving the Civilian Conservation Corps would address unemployment & facilitate infrastructure renewal.

In his weekly radio/YouTube address,  Barack Obama declared infrastructure renewal a major priority for his incoming administration.  The President Elect is fully aware that there exists an historic example of a proven mechanism to carry out such a task.  One that could employ millions while performing sorely needed repairs.

The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) was the most popular program of the New Deal.  The federal program was created during FDR’s first hundred days, and was actually his second go-round with the concept.  His first was as Governor of New York.

The legacy of the CCC is quite remarkable.  From 1933 to 1942, “FDR’s ‘Peace’ Army” planted billions of trees, built roads, and other public structures.  In the process of doing their work the Corps also laid the foundations for modern conservation efforts, forest fire fighting & prevention, and flood abatement.

CCC Pillow Cover

The CCC was not without its critics in the 1930s, and Obama will face opposition should he revive the institution or something like it.  Labor organizations did not care for the $30 per month wage, of which $25 was automatically sent home to the workers’ families.  Other critics took issue with the militaristic overtones of the Corps lifestyle.

Both of the above points of contention never amounted to anything, and they are completely beside the point when it comes to our present economic predicament.  There are elements of the historical example that could be kept while others are discarded or improved.  Instead of employing high school dropouts, teaching them to read at the localities where they happened to be stationed, a new CCC could be directed at high school graduates with the promise of a college education as an incentive.

That’s just one example.  However, if Obama is to follow Roosevelt’s example he’ll need to act fast.  FDR acknowledged that the CCC wouldn’t have made it past the Congress if it weren’t for the dire state of the economy combined with a particularly passionate honeymoon period following his election.

Oh, wait…  That sounds about right.  Go for it, Barack.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 29th, 2008 at 9:44 am and is filed under American History, Politics. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.