Tuesday, June 01, 2010

How the Civilian Conservation Corps fixed America

Anthropomorphic Climate Change. An environmental disaster. Economic collapse. Massive unemployment. And a President who is accused of being a "Socialist."

I caught this program on TV last night and couldn't stop watching it. See how the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression in the 1930's led to the formation of the Civilian Conservation Corps and the New Deal - which saved America from environmental and economic devastation on an almost unimaginable scale.

WGBH American Experience . The Civilian Conservation Corps PBS

Listen for the bit (starting at 31:19) where they explain how particularly hard-hit Texas was by the irresponsible, unsustainable agriculture methods that led to the Dust Bowl. The Civilian Conservation Corps fixed Texas, turning denuded fields taken over by mesquite into permanent pasture. Then see this from Texas Governor Rick Perry's Newsweek interview:

You're opposed to the New Deal?
Yes. I think the programs created by the New Deal and the monetary jury-rigging that went on in our society exacerbated the Great Depression and pushed us farther down. The New Deal did not get America out of the Great Depression; World War II did. Generally speaking, the expansion of government at the federal level has not, by and large, been good for the American people.
Watch the video, study the issue further, and decide for yourself.

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