Provides rich portrait of policies with new deal with special attention directed to relevance, impact on social movement and president roosevelt position. The author or editor of seven books. She is professor where she directed ph. D program in social work. Shes cochair and cofounder in the National Jobs coalition. Sheila colins is professor of Political Science and director of Public Policy in international affairs. Shes the author or coauthor of six books. She cochairs the colombian seminar and the seminar on globalization, labor and popular struggles. Please join me in welcoming to the Roosevelt Community festival. Thank you very much. Im going ton begin from quoting from roosevelt, unfortunately a catastrophe seems to be necessary in ideals and government and proper relationship to its citizens. Of course, its more unfortunate that it doesnt happen. The crisis of 2008 seemed to us similar kind of opportunity and sheila and i hoped that perhaps we would be able to take stock and to correct some of the things that maybe had caused the the meltdown to perhaps reverse the course towards increasing economy inequality, to put the bankers in their place in the financial sector, and perhaps if the response was a very creditable one to restore in the ability of government to solve peoples problem. Its not government the solution, its the problem. We decided to take a deeper look at the successes and failures of the new deal, and we came away with increased respect for the new deal, but not without a great deal of criticism as well particular failure to serve women and blacks in relation to their need. The ladder being really the responsibility of a southern segregationist congress. We were very happy with one of the people who spoke about our books said it was that we were quite critical of roosevelt just as we were critical of obama. Now i think the success of the new deal should be measured in terms of the magnitude of the crisis that confronted it, and im going to read a little bit from our book just to give you that sense of the crisis. O the new deal with one of the most serious crisis ever faced by this nation. With unemployment more than twice its peek rate during the grate recession, the resort of the country local and State Government were spent and deeds and despair stocked the land. With economic crisis giving birth to dictatorships elsewhere in the world american democracy was itself on trial. Blackened the sky and polluted the air over huge stretches of the land. Overproduction was a cause of depression in a land of hunger, in struggling against the Great Depression new dealers lacked theon governmental institutionso deal with economic insecurity that had been established earlier in some other countries. It felt then failed then to create institutions. The Roosevelt Administration rose to deal with this crisis by providing unprecedented amounts of direct federal relief to people. Big innovation and later providing in the form of employment which not only gave job and dignity to those people but enhanced the resources. Sheila willf speak about that when she talks. During roosevelts tenure the government recovered lost ground even before the economic stimulus of world war ii. Unemployment remained high, one of our authors show that it would have been lowered if we counted as employed if we counted the people in war programs. The unemployment dropped from nearly 23 to 10 , which is incredible drop, and perhaps reflected in that landslide victory. The official record, we didnt count the people from the work program from 23 to 17 . But in addition, of course, there were the important reforms that the Roosevelt Administration when onto enact and unemployment, but thanking reform and so and so forth. Guaranteeing collective rights to labor, and all of this spelled a new activist role for the federal government in caring out the constitutional mandate of promoting the general welfare. Its her e really that roosevelt shown in really rationalizing the new role for government. I sometimes think that our government has some success in preventingha the Great Recession frome becoming a Great Depression. I dont think the real credit has been taken for the role the government has played. In a country that was long with individualistic political culture fdr displayed a genius for expanded role of the federal government with traditional values and aspirations. Security wasr concerned with common desires for decent homes, Productive Work and some safe guards against misfortune which cannot be eliminated. They could no longer be achieved through the interdependence of members of families upon each other as roosevelt put it or families within a Small Community upon each other. It wasa not just a matter there for of individual responsibility or selfreliance, this being the case he said we are compelled to employ the active interest of the nation as a whole through government in order to encourage a greater security for each individual who composes it. And in his rational again for the second economy bill of rights which he was then certain that it was possible to provide a job for everyone, he held that the rights guaranteed by the constitution had quote proved inadequate to assure its equality and for pursuit of happiness. Again the traditional values of liberty and freedom were not achievable without Economic Security or as he put it freedom from want in the fore freedom. Im going to summarize briefly what currently policy have learned from the new deal successes and failures. Sheila will speak more about specific programs. Faced with the most the deepest economic dive since the Great Depression our policymakers did seem to learn something important but you couldnt wait a long time to intervene the way disasterly the government had been enacted following the crash of 29. They learned that but had to intervene with some degree of force and and in a big way. Of course, they did a bank bailout. Both the combination of a Democratic Congress and a republican administration, did this bank bailout, and that was a big thing to do in a big hurry. However it was one thing to bailout the bank but relatively unpunished, andem if you essentially compare that with the Roosevelt Administration, you remember that roosevelt castigated against the money changers and almost biblical rhetoric and political encouraged the hearings and essentially led to very important banking reforms, and by contrast there was very little, very short hearings following the Bank Failures here that really had much to do with obviously the meltdown, and essentially the bankers continue ed while other people lost their savings and so on. Essentially sectary of the treasury was most interested in the banks having a soft landing. The new deal also helped the mortgage the people who were really lost their homes, who lost their mortgages, they bought up mortgages and made it refinanced and made it possible for people to be able to keep their homes whereas we know that public one of our office call it had public option was really not available, and we think that there had been huge losses to homeowners and it could go up as high as 14 million or 13 million before this is all over. The new deal also probing precedent by employing the unemployed, by putting them to work, as i mentioned, increasing dignity, giving a paycheck. Sheila will talk more about that what meant. That did not happen in this time. We had a huge stimulus and essentially did use those programs that were developed by the new deal, the Unemployment Insurance which was expanded, stamps that was expanded enormously. That had a lot to do with keeping the recession from becoming a Great Depression. In fact, its estimated that unemployment would have gone to 16 instead 15 . The government expanded them and used them and there was some success, again, in preventing a Great Depression whereas the new deal employed people, that option was not taken, the option of directly employing people, putting them to work was not taken, and people remained on unemployment, extended Unemployment Insurance, which is, of course, better than nothing. The country could have used them to do a great deal to improve our infrastructure, our our underdeveloped social services and do important work on the environment at this point. So that option really wasnt taken, and one of our authors estimate that the big stimulus of 787 billion f it had been used in directly creating jobs, could have reduced official unemployment. Now official unemployment at that time was 13 million people. The stimulus actually saved or created only about 4 million jobs. So we they that was a big option, a big learning that the Obama Administration could have taken from the new deal, but did not. Finally, all right, i think we have a whole lot about the relationship to the Roosevelt Administration to the Popular Movement of the time. That us what is what we call it a decade of defense. That was a very complicated relationship. Roosevelt administration didnt give in completely at all. People, radicals helped parties of the left, including communist parties. The administration sometimes used that as a way of saying, well, give us our more moderate reforms. But they did just to concentrate a little bit on labor rights which were certainly expanded to the new deal Cost Recovery act, later that was made more permanent and was more controlled through the act m of 1935, as a result labor triples. One of the important things about the relationship of the Roosevelt Administration to these descend was that they really did not believe in suppression of decent. Roosevelt may have coopted but very against the use of onforce. Particularly in relation to the sitdown strike in in michigan, he and perkins, the secretary of labor supported the governor who was for not using force and the result was, of course, one of the greatest victories of the century for labor, recognition of general motors. The Obama Administration has really not been supportive of lay labor. It would have made it easier for labor to organize and harder for business to suppress that, i think thats an important difference. And finally, i want to talk a bit about the about the obsession of the Roosevelt Administration with deficits, and even though they spent a lot, they had to spend a lot in 1937 they cut back, and the result was a element almost a depression within the depression. Obama became on assessed with deficits while employment was still going up in 2010, and in point of Deficit Reduction Commission with people that were really terribly antiSocial Security, welfare state. Its interesting that i might say that it was sort of like other aspects of this half learned. While there was a talk about deficit and a talk about cutting back, essentially the cutback has been rather slow, and so you might say that that lesson was halfm learned a little bit like the intervention on the side of the banks and not on the side of the people, i might say. From now on, sheila is going to talk about some of the programs. [applause] im going to cut mine short because of the time. I want to talk about employment programs and infrastructure they built for the country which was tremendous, but since that piece of thehi roosevelt administratin has been covered to a great extent by other historians, im going im going concentrate on stories that received little attention. One is the first is the Environmental Programs of the Roosevelt Administration. Teddy roosevelt is thought of as the environmental president. In our reading of his contributions we argue the Franklin Roosevelt after all saving areas at the time of Economic Prosperity was easy. Onen sixth one about to blow away. The country has suffered massive floods. We were blessed with a president that not only had a scientist understanding of principles derived from the study, but one that scars sustained almost like personal injury. His approach to the environment was more complex, more a produt of scientific interrogation. It would take into account the need to reconcile human patterns of evolution. Franklin was a more modern and is still ahead of any of pis president ial successes successo. For roosevelt the land was relationships between humans and between humans and the Natural World that evolved over time. The result of that relationship has often been destructive. In so doing, he created a definition of liberty and freedom that pertained not just to the individual but to the community as a whole, thus time honored values with new meaning. In a speech as early as 1912 in terms of what were facing today in terms of climate crisis, he said there are many persons left today that can see no reason why ast a man owns land he should nt be permitted to do what he likes with it. I i will go even further that they care not what happens even to their neighbors, to the community as a whole during their own lifetime. After all are opponents of liberty will argue that even though they exhaust all the Natural Resources the inventedness of man and the progress of civilization will supply a substitute when the crisis comes. We hear a lot about geo engineering today thats going to safe us from the climate crisis. First lesson that points to the necessity to seeking community freedom. I believe it to be the most important ofc all our lessons. 1912, for roosevelt the house of the Human Community required not only that the piece of land on which a particular community lived be handled sus stain sustain, whether that was in high part or in texas. And they also had a responsibility to care for the land so that it could nurture future generations, thus prevents, recovery and restoration as well as conservation were placed in the public agenda. This represented a watershed shift from a public in which deindustrialization and authority term thinking had led to tremendous waste and environmental destruction. It also deferred from the progressive area in which wild nature was to preserve as much as possible in its state so human beings could partake of its wonders. Another characteristic of the new deal approach, which demonstrates its modern character, was the idea of ho listic planning, problems such as wildlife, unemployment and poor health were seen not in isolated issues but interrelated thus requiring that they be treated together. Through the civilian Conservation Service and authorities, the devastated country was restored to life. The National Park system became a truly National System with addition of hundred of state and county parks. Human health was improved and a new generation of people that had participated in the were prepared to be the leaders. Fdr had no particular judgment or knowledge about the arts but artists were starving and new they needed work, but also had a feeling. As one of the new deal artist put it they could coke back america back to life. They did much more than that. Until then had been the province of the urban elite. People that could never afford to enjoy could now participate in both the making and enjoyment of the arts, painters, graphic artists, musicians, photographers film makers brought beauty to the American Population and landscape into pop swlargs popular consciousness. Whats more america is real problems, racism, workers, poverty, disease, underdevelopment were not swept under the rug but were given public voice through photography exhibits, paintings, plays and films. The new deal arts programs resulted in new subjects, new audiences. Some of the new deal arguments program remained after the programs ended. The National Endowment can be seen as one of its legacies. The postwar period public support for the art began along decline and much of of what thew deal had accomplished was neglected or destroyed. A significant segment of Congress View arts programs as a waste of taxpayer money. Funding not only for National Endowment but arts in school is being slashed, museums are struggling for funds. Perhaps theres no more telling symbol than any fact that the New York State Theater for the performing attar is now called the coke theater. [laughs] thought the arts contributed to the ability of people to participate in democracy. But most importantly, the arts remained critical to the Spiritual Health of the people, they are essential to the development of imagination thats needed to resolve the enormous challenges faces us in the 21est century. [applause] any questions, if you like to show up to the microphone. Could you comment on pope francis on Climate Change . I think its wonderful. I just hope that it can galvanize Popular Support for, you know, more drastic measures to control the climate, but very much im glad that he is putting it in a moral framework, i think that is so necessary. Scientists have been reluctant to take the moral stand but we need pope francis to do that for us, thank you. Could you tell us please, each of you what you think Franklin Roosevelts greatest accomplishment was as president and greatest value . Ill tell you a my opinion. The greatest accomplishment was obviously Social Security and winning the war. Theres no question that it would have won. The greatest failure was what you alluded to, he didnt spend enough. He was too on assessed with deficits and he always use today used to brag that he balanced the budget im sorry . Yeah, he always used to brag, but he balanced the budget to the extent of the regular budget but it was t only the emergency expenditures that drove it into deficit. I dont think i can disagree with you too. I havent really thought about it. The deficit was obsession with something, but it was something he shared with other new dealers like wagner. It was hopkins who talked him out of out of it after the disastrousas failure of the cutback, the premature custback cutback that lead to the depression and really halt itede w deal reform with the exception of the wages and hours in 1938. Yeah. Yeah. I think the Social Security was a great accomplishment but i also think the Environmental Program was perhaps even greater, because if he had not done what he did, i think, this country might have faced Climate Change and extinction long before we have. And you know, okay. [laughs] i think the responsibility of the federal government, the idea that government that to make a better life for people and the whole notion of the way he expanded our notion of what government can do and its responsibility to the people and thern notion that Economic Security really is essential to freedom. , but you cant have liberty and freedom without it. I came in late so i dont f you covered at all the ccc because right now we have a terrible hidden crisis of young people who are unemployed and have no goal and we need that so badly, im wondering if you covered that and its impact. I had to race through my speech because i ran out of time. It was my fault. And i actually did speak about not only the tremendous but also our failure this time to employ people and not use what they could do for the environment, for the infrastructure, for social services and so on. Yes, if the failure of the Obama Administration to douc this dirt job creation that is sufficient and does so much to keep them off the Unemployment Insurance, however much that is. Satisfy the southern senators but notby allowing that but in return to their votes to not benefits to African Americans to the south and the whole country specifically in hour laws, which she said, basically did not cover home care and farm work, mostly African Americans. Can you talk about that decision, please . Yes. I actually did say that that was one of the thing thats that wast critical. Failure to serve blacks and women in relation to their need. That was the deal with the segregation congress. He quotes roosevelt to saying to the head of the naacp that i cannot approve bill because i have to save america and ill lose them. [inaudible conversations] we have time for one more question before the session is over. I have a question but a couple of very quick comments. First, i dont think the nazis would have won the war fdr or no fdr, once they went to war with Great Britain number two, the government has touched on the latitude of fdr in the face of African Americans and civil rights which is an obvious fact. I think he was a great president. Did that live up to what he coulatd have when it came to three groups of people that were helpless and the president of the United States more than anybody else was in a position to play a role in helping them, number one African Americans, number two jewish and number three japanese americans following pearl harbor. [applause] i want to thank did you want to address that question, im sorry . I think theres no question about it. Im not sure given the political realities of the, you know, democratic south that he perhaps he could have used better [inaudible conversations] the leader from arkansas. Almost all of the committees were headed in congress by southern democrats. Its hard to tell whether he could have or he could have done more on that. [laughs] well, unfortunately, were out of time, thanks for the wonderful questions and thanks to our office. [applause] is there a Nonfiction Author or book you would like what do you do for a living
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