The New Deal And Reagan :: essays research papers

  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The New Deal provided motivation for governmental action for fifty years. The material conditions of the nation could be cast into the frame of the New Deal and would motivate public action to address them. The way that they were addressed was framed by the New Deal's notion that the dispossessed of society were dispossessed because of the irresponsible actions of those at the top of the American economy. Government would become their representative in addressing the failures of capitalist leadership to protect the common man and woman. Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the New Deal, which consisted of the Workers Progress Administration, and Social Security among several other programs. At the time, conservative critics charged it was bringing a form of socialism into the capitalistic American system. Conservatives sustained this argument until the 1980's when President Reagan actions brought conservative economic beliefs into fruition. Ronald Reagan was to succee d in defusing the political power of the New Deal motive. In doing so, he managed the public/private line, moving many concerns back to being private concerns that the New Deal form had seen as public matters. Reagan was to accomplish this by substituting another motive that replaced the faith of Roosevelt with the faith of Reagan.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  One of the programs, which the New Deal instituted, was the Workers Progress Administration. The stated purpose of the Workers Progress Administration was to provide useful work for millions of victims of the Great Depression and thus to preserve their skills and self-respect. The economy would in turn be stimulated by the increased purchasing power of the newly employed, whose wages under the program ranged from $15 to $90 per month. Although this administration lasted only 8 years it gave the understanding that a middle class American society would have to commence, for the economy to operate.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The assistance, which was given to workers during the New Deal, was to be eroded by the Reagan administration. Reagan's economic policies towards middle to lower class workers recognized the economic imbalance of American society as a problem, which could not be solved by so called subordination of the American taxpayer. The implication of this was that the government would not subsidize, using taxpayer money, administrations and programs that were similar to those of the New Deal. One can derive this conclusion by looking at Reagan's policy towards cutting unemployment insurance and his hesitation towards raising the minimum wage.