The history books have dedicated volumes of attention to the Great Depression that racked the United States, as well as other countries, during the 1930s. There has been debate upon debate on causes and effects, solutions – both proposed and enacted – and what the long term effects have been over the following decades. What is key in any discussion is how the Roosevelt administration, either along with or in spite of congress, chose to contend with such an economic disaster. It was not with idle chatter and ego building nonsense but with real down to the street corner policies enacted across the country, focused on bringing families back to a level of not just survival but  an actual decent living.What we saw was a combination of programs aimed at bringing the labor force back to work and engaging government in the recovery. 

Fast forward to early 2008 when, for similar reasons, the United States saw itself on the verge of yet another complete and total economic collapse. History has repeated itself and, while again we can debate cause, the effect is still rather the same. Millions of jobs were lost, the housing market failed, smaller banks went under, Wall Street looked like it might crash and the overall economic status of the nation was, to say the least, precarious, The outgoing republican administration had squandered a budget surplus and plunged us into massive debt and once again, idle chatter prevailed.

Enter a new administration and immediately the task of recovery began and while unpopular bail outs of certain industries were made to advance recovery ( admittedly adding to the debt ) the labor force saw an uptake, jobs were coming back and families were beginning to see at least some level of stability.That administration, after eight years , left with recovery well on the way and, though certain issues were never solved, at least the hemorrhaging stopped. Then the whole thing turned around with now, again, a republican regime that seems to be more interested in power and profiteering than in actual policy formulation, either domestic or foreign.

Accepting that the parts of the economic picture are better than it has been in years, it is still primarily benefitting a relatively small sector of our social structure, the top ten per cent being the primary beneficiaries. Statistics show the lowest unemployment rate ever, though those statistics rarely provide an accurate picture of the job market. The largest sector of the employed are in the retail market and near to 65 % of them are, by corporate policy, part time.

Corporations are benefitting from the largest tax break since the Reagan years which again was a major factor in the debt rising over 26 % just in the past three year. A prime example of the mind set of corporate America was demonstrated at an event in New York in the course of the 2018 Annual  CEO Forum conducted by the Wall Street Journal. During an evening session, while discussing those massive corporate tax cuts, the then Director of the National Economic Council Gary Cohn asked for the house lights to come up and he then asked a room of about one hundred and fifty corporate CEOs, how many would be looking at reinvesting those profits from the tax cut back in to their local communities either directly or indirectly through research and development aimed at job creation. With a show of hands, only FIVE said yes. Five. It was later made clear that, for the most part, those funds were used for stock buy backs  thus increasing profit margins. Can you smell the aroma of history starting to repeat itself ?

The recovery from the early 2000s is still a work in progress to many who observe these matters but the question is, with all that has transpired within the beltway. how do we move forward. How do we move in a direction which will further stabilize  the social structure, bring greater participation in the economy and less economic inequality and have long term beneficial effects not only here domestically but also abroad on a more global scale. Indeed, folks, that is the pressing question of our time and one has to ask, is the  GREEN NEW DEAL the answer ? Perhaps, or perhaps not but its basic tenets demand consideration – serious consideration.

The Green New Deal is package of projects with a broad based agenda focused on not just environmental issues, as the title might imply, but also on the economic and social arenas on which these projects could have profound impact. Reports credit journalist Tom Friedman for coining the phrase and an orchestrated effort by members of the Green Party of England in collaboration with the Friends of Earth, Solar Century and the economic editor of the Guardian for its original promulgation. Regardless, conceptually, it has several roots, much like its agenda.As expected, the GOP side of congress, following the lead of the anti science, anti-intellectual, anti fact White House, is blocking giving any consideration to the measure which, at this point, is only a House Resolution ( H RES 109 ). Nonetheless, the merits of the approach have been successfully tested on a smaller scale on a state level, most notably in Washington under the leadership of Governor Jay Inslee.As he and others rightfully see it, the Green New Deal is not simply an attack on the environmental crisis. It is a panoramic approach to environmental, social, infrastructural and economic challenges in a way which links public-private partnerships, varying resources and likewise varying disciplines in meeting the broad spectrum of the current compelling issues.The principal agenda focuses on three basic elements – the establishment of a sustainable economy, the cleaning up of the environment and the developing of a broad based sense of social responsibility which would focus on community renewal.

The schema, so to speak, for this approach, as demonstrated by Governor Inslee and fiercely promoted by democratic congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, has as its linchpin wide scale cooperation between government and corporate America. It will take, in order for it all to succeed, massive joint efforts particularly when it comes to job development, water and air clean up and the total overhaul of our domestic infrastructure. It will require not only investment on the part of government but also substantial investment on the part of private corporations, a feat which can only happen when and if the powers that control these two factions – i.e. congress and boards of directors – acknowledge the critical nature of the need. It will require leadership which accepts science and its findings, that understands the realities of climate change as well as the reality of economic inequality. They must also be in total agreement that, nationally as well as globally, time is not particularly on our side.

House Resolution 109 lays out a framework for consideration, taking into account the several facets of our daily lives which are in serious need of repair. Not only the physical infrastructure but ,for certain, the economic infrastructure as well. Targets include a resurgent affordable housing market, development of a up to date job market and an education system which provides skills for that job market and, as a corollary, a wage scale commensurate with the modern cost of living.While this may not be a perfect scenario, H R 109 does acknowledge the real very crisis and it does offer, if not the manual complete with answers, nothing less that a serious starting point for critical  and one might add, long overdue discussion.

Historians tell us that if one does not pay attention to lessons learned,  we are doomed to have history repeat itself.  On a broad scale, we have seen this first hand and it is indeed the circumstance we find ourselves in presently. However, the stakes now are so much higher than simply the issue of economics, which for sure is not simple. What we have are global crises in respective economies, in environment and in social infrastructure. What we need to be about is, as a nation, taking a leadership role in addressing this crisis. If that leadership is not forthcoming from inside the beltway, then the responsibility is squarely upon the citizenry to demand that it be and take all legitimate measures to bring that to fruition.