Friday, November 06, 2009

Let's make a new deal.

I have been truly amazed by comments made by the younger generation of adults. My son-in-laws friends recently made this comment, "America has gone downhill since they elected Franklin Roosevelt."

I was not only stunned, but surprised at how uninformed this young man was about history. Sure there are always going to be a number of citizens that thought that the government should have let the economy self-destruct.

I can also sympathize with someone so ill informed.

The new conservatives of the South have bought in to this "big government is bad" philosophy without the advantages of an educational system that teaches contemporary history. Facts are difficult for them to get the heads around. Most of these new conservatives watch television, read by electric lights, drive automobiles, visit national parks and some even have jobs. Truly they do not grasp the impact the "New Deal" had on the nation, but specifically the South. Prior to FDR the South was in the dark, literally. There were no major highways, let alone paved roads. Jobs were created by the government through the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corps) . Other articles have been written about its successes and accomplishments. The obvious misinformed individuals either came from "old money", "prejudiced against the poor and others" and ignorant of history.

In both today's economic strife as was in Roosevelt's day, the current administration followed a disastrous one. And today the conservatives continue to blame the current office with the results of the previous one.

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