Would a WPA really work today? (pic heavy)

[Snake Alchemist]

I was arguing with a friend this weekend that I thought a WPA-type program was something that could be useful in today's job climate. It would offer the unemployed work and training at the same time and would mend out ailing infrastructure. My friend laughed at me and said that he could be a supervisor since he was in no shape to do that sort of work. He was right. He was about 30lb overweight and probably hadn't climbed a flight of stairs in 10 years. I myself have a chronic condition, but could probably medicate myself enough to do heavy labor (long-term that may have some pretty awful effects though).

It got me wondering whether Americans could really perform at WPA work sites these days. I'd like to think that they could adjust, but who really knows. I look around the streets and the waistlines I see would definitely be an issue.

[Brickbat]

1. People do that work now.

[Snake Alchemist]

2. True. I was just thinking of all the people who are now unemployed.

I have no idea if more or less people are capable of doing this work now compared to 80 years ago.

[alcibiades_mystery]

28. ROFL...the thread should have stopped here

[Fumesucker]

3. I know people in their fifties that still do that sort of work every day..

And more that would if the work was available, the construction industry has been hit really hard by the popping of the housing bubble.

Much more power equipment these day than there was then, some things have to still be done by hand but not as many.

[Snake Alchemist]

5. I know a few, but not many. nt

[madokie]

13. I finished concrete until a few years ago and I'm 64 now

If I could I'd be behind a concrete truck placing concrete and finishing it today

[Snake Alchemist]

15. That's exactly what I used to do with my summers.

That was when you could make a decent living doing it though.

[madokie]

29. The pay is what attracted me to it to begin with

I made good money finishing.

[Dreamer Tatum]

4. Um, no.

Too many web developers, bloggers, "editors," and other overeducated types who would sooner die than do a day of manual labor.

[Snake Alchemist]

6. I see a lot of this in my workplace.

Expanding waistlines, sitting in front of the TV is "family time", etc.

[liberal N proud]

7. Today everything must be privatized

Of course the private organizations don't seem interested in hiring people which is why the WPA was implemented in the first place.

WHEN and only WHEN projects get approved, we would throw a ridiculously large sum of money (maybe even endless supply) at a private company that would then give a fraction of that money to smaller companies who would even sub-divide that further to give just a tiny fraction to the workers.

It won't work only because the current attitudes in the country require someone to get rich.

[Snake Alchemist]

8. That may be so, but I was asking about a WPA in the original style. nt

[liberal N proud]

9. Someone will expect to get rich training the unemployed.

Greed is all that drives America today.

As far as the workers willingness to work, if you make it compulsory to the benefits, most would.

[Snake Alchemist]

12. And that may be why it won't work, but let's just say for the sake of discussion that the government

will handle all training.

[RT Atlanta]

10. I think so

And am surprised this type of action hasn't been considered by enterprising governors at the state level too.

Here in the South, there are a number of home builders and related contractors that are still out of work - their skills could be put to use rebuilding our country!

[Snake Alchemist]

11. I used to work construction as a kid during the summer to make a few a good amount of money.

Now illegal immigrants have driven down those wages so far that I wonder why anyone would want to work those jobs.

[hunter]

22. The undocumented workers haven't "driven down those wages..."

... the people who hire them have.

Desperate hungry people can be paid less. The undocumented workers are the most desperate workers of all.

Our ruling class wants us all to be desperate and hungry, citizen or not.

[Snake Alchemist]

30. Makes sense. Like H1B Visas. People just coming here to make a better life. nt

[RC]

14. Think of the workforce we'd have if we would reduce our military to something reasonable.

All those discharged ex military people would have a government funded WPA type job to fall back on. The money for this would come from not attacking or occupying foreign countries, plus not paying for unneeded soldiers, who spend their money overseas. This WPA Pay would be similar to military pay. Being in this country, they would spend it here in this country, thereby helping the local economy.
Being government financed jobs, they would have health insurance. Maybe even Single Payer if the health insurance companies continue to gouge their customers.
We could not only rebuild our infrastructure, but upgrade it to true 21 Century technology. Everything from high speed trains criss crossing this country, having actual high speed internet, 10 gig, instead of what we now call high speed of 3 megs. (on a dry, calm day)
The spin off jobs would kick start the economy again. Social Security would no longer "be in trouble" because all working people pay into it and unemployment would be low.

The only problem with this is the wrong people would be benefiting. The 99%, instead of the 1%. It would be like fighting up the face of a cliff to even start something like this.
As the economy picks up in a few years, this WPA would wind down. With any luck, this could replace military service.

I know I'm hallucinating, but someone has to come up with ideas before anything can even be started to get anything done.

[Locrian]

17. my thinking exactly

>>Think of the workforce we'd have if we would reduce our military to something reasonable.

I remember watching this series on PBS and thinking how amazing this program was.

My dad always goes on how WWII turned the economy around - which to me is a sick excuse for war.

From what I remember of the series, the WPA was really gaining steam as a powerfully successful and appreciated program after a lot of initial hate. It's sad to think where we could have been if WWII etc had not forced a change in direction.


In the end war is a TERRIBLE investment for the 'common people' and a GREAT investment for the rich. WPA could have turned that on it's head.



I dont think it would work today, because of the fully entrenched power of 'privatization'. As someone said, it would now just be a way to rip off (think the Katrina spectacle, etc).

[jwirr]

16. Good question. Wonderful pics. Many of the ones helped in the original WPA and CCCamps were

younger. Today we have many older Ameiricans who are unemployed. But that is not the reason I think that this would not work today. Back then the wage they were paid was mostly in-kind (living quarters, food, health care, etc.). What actual money they got was very little. I cannot see that happening today. Nor can I see the congress passing enough money so that living wages could be paid. Hell they will not even pass a stimulus bill that does pay desent wages.

[doc03]

18. Back in that day you could propose a project like building a dam or

a road and in a few weeks maybe you could have men on the ground working. Today you want to build a road or dam by the time you get all the studies and permits in place to start the job it takes 5 or more years. We found that out with the stimulus program there are few really "shovel ready projects". There was a company that announced they were going to build a large amusement park in this area about 5 or 6 years ago last I heard they are still waiting for permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the EPA. I figure they will just drop the idea all together.

[Snake Alchemist]

19. A lot of those dams were ecological disasters. I'm glad those take a long time to review. nt

[doc03]

31. Back in that era they built the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District

in Ohio. That project consists of 14 dams that have prevented hundreds of millions of dollars of damage from floods
and an untold number of lives. It has also given generations thousands of acres of land and water for recreation. I doubt we could ever complete such a project today. Rachel Maddow does her promo in front of the Hoover Dam promoting public infrastructure, there is no way in hell we could ever build that dam today. I drove the Skyline Drive last summer in Virginia, it was built by the CCC, I had relatives that worked on the project. Same there you couldn't built it today, some salamander or something's habitat would be disturbed.

http://www.mwcd.org/

[Snake Alchemist]

32. The ecological cost was way too high. I'm sorry, people were never meant to live or play

in those areas to begin with.

[doc03]

33. There you go I proved my point. If the Shenandoah National Park and the Skyline Drive weren't

built they would have leveled it by mountain top mining by now. Wouldn't that have been a higher
ecological cost.

[Snake Alchemist]

34. Neither is acceptable. nt

[Zalatix]

24. Plus they outsource the work to China. See: the Oakland bridge.

[LiberalFighter]

20. Not if Republicans ran it.

[Snake Alchemist]

21. This is referring to today, right now, at this moment. nt

[FSogol]

23. Probably not, but why not triple the number of US Park Service and Forest Service employees instead?

It would have the same result.

[Zalatix]

25. How about a digital infrastructure?

Projects to physically and electronically upgrade all of our schools would be large-scale enough to hire MILLIONS of chair-bound techies.

[Romulox]

26. In a country based on "free trade", what is the theoretical underpinning of a WPA program?

What's the point in brutalizing our entire way of life with "free trade" if the government then just steps in and directs us to build stuff after we've been spit out by the multinational corporations?

If the government were ultimately going to step in, shouldn't we have just protected existing jobs?

[4th law of robotics]

27. Probably not . . .

But you could gradually increase the money available for government construction projects to get some of the construction industry (one of the hardest hit) back on its feet.

Also you could do the same thing for other government employers: park rangers, cops, teachers, firefighters etc. You likely won't find enough qualified/interested unemployed people for a modern hoover dam project to have much of an economic project.

But steady expansions of many kinds of jobs over the entire nation might put enough people back to work to have an impact.