I knew one of these people decades ago; she was a professor at Armstrong (now part of Georgia Southern). Even then she’d built her career as a historian around apologist efforts for her grandfather’s work in Roosevelt’s cabinet.
Our government is so ossified in its bureaucracy now that it probably can’t learn any new tricks anyway. It won’t help to bring in people literally trying to restore failed policies that haven’t been new ideas for a century.
"The Descendants"?
ReplyDeleteThey mis-spelled "decadents"
Interesting coincidence that Steve Hayward and Lucretia's 3WHH this weekend includes a discussion of FDR's first Inaugural. Skip forward about 10 minutes over the chat about scotch, and the FDR discussion goes for about 20 minutes
ReplyDeletehttps://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2021/07/podcast-the-3whh-with-a-fight-club-sequel-and-sidecar-of-fdr.php
“decadents”
ReplyDeleteIn fairness, she’s a really nice lady who was just a little girl who grew up loving her granddaddy, and later found she could make a career out of honoring his memory. If she were just tucked away in academia instead of potentially influencing policy, it’d be no issue.
There is now a real need for something vaguely resembling FDR's "labor camps". Might also resemble the French "Foreign Legion". A place for diverse people who don't yet quite fit in to the systems and structures established for citizens as FDR might have envisioned. A place where people learn to tolerate each other in getting a difficult task accomplished whether that is cutting a road down a steep mountain; building an irrigation canal across a sandy wasteland; or simply replacing culverts under city streets.
ReplyDeleteSuch people might hone literacy skills, gain experience operating large vehicles and equipment, or just get accustomed to showing up on site, on time, in duty uniform with requisite safety gear, to complete the paperwork inevitably associated with task management.
When compulsory military service was a thing, these sorts of opportunities were a side-effect of the process. We don't have, need, or want that anymore. But we haven't replaced the process. Time to re-think.
There is now a real need for something vaguely resembling FDR's "labor camps".
ReplyDeleteNever fear. The Progressive-Democratic Party is pushing for a Civilian Climate Corps. Just don't look for literacy, experience of any sort, or even time responsibility. Those would be racist.
Eric Hines