An Explanation of my Adoration of the New Deal
In the early 1930s, as you probably know, America was choking in the wretched grip of a depression. For the first few years, the situation got steadily worse, as Herbert Hoover was convinced that the government either had no responsibility to act or would only make things worse. Then, F.D.R. (my favorite president) was elected in 1933. The first New Deal repealed prohibition (which I approve of as a social liberal, but that’s not really relevant now), and tried to use government intervention to help the failing banks. All of this was an admirable effort, but it didn’t, to be honest, accomplish too much in the long term. The Second New Deal is the main part that I approve of. Roosevelt tried to increase the number of people employed by the government through public programs, doing services which normally would have been done by private industries. It didn’t solve the depression entirely, but it created a number of jobs without having to lavish benefits on the rich and hope that they “trickle down” to the lower and middle class. Enough jobs, in fact, to be classified as a notable success of government intervention in times of need. This is among the greatest of such cases in U.S. history (though that’s an overly narrow superlative, given that since the 40s and 50s or so, our economy has been built on nationalistic anti-communism, what with the Cold War.) And so does the New Deal earn my approval.
Do you think it is time for another New Deal? You have a strong voice in your writing.
A full-on second New Deal would help create jobs and boost the economy, but the deficit now is significantly larger. I support government spending to boost the economy, but on the level of a New Deal, it could be massively expensive. I’m not totally sure how much was spent on the New Deal, though, so I may get back to you on that. Additionally, I’m not sure it could get passed in this day and age.