Wildly Optimistic

An Old Democrat's Take on "Guaranteed Jobs" and Such

MAKE WORK  

PUBLIC WORKS

Done right (one of my fav sayings) great Public Works can work miracles.

The Result of the WPA (Water Project for America)

The Mississippi Flood of 2020 (and most other U.S. floods) became the End of Drought.  The solar and wind energy industry joined the oil companies as Majors.  American technology took another great leap. Agricultural subsidy took on an entirely new meaning.  Millions of Americans became owners of a dependable money machine.  Dying aquifers began refilling.  The Presidency regained some of its luster.  And the rest of the world began to emulate a plan that worked.

Ok, it's just fiction, but plausible fiction. This is how America used to solve huge problems - like building the Interstate Highway System, or laying railway track over field and mountains.

There is a huge difference between "Make Work" and "Public Works."  The New WPA in this short story has benefits like these:
In the twelve years it took to complete the project, unemployment dropped to 2%, and a job on the Great Project has the badge of significance comparable to being a World War II veteran or a steel worker on the Empire State Building or a fireman during the 9-11 attack on the World Trade Center in times past.  Cynics said that the Water Project for America (of course they called it the “WPA”) was the greatest make-work project since the building of the pyramids, but they were properly ignored, for the work was hard, challenging, honorable and for an obviously wonderful cause.

The "New WPA" describes a nationwide public works project that might cost as much as the F-35 fighter plane project, and way less than the nuclear weapons upgrade. Which would do more for Americans?