Posted on 11/04/2016 8:03:23 AM PDT by Mr.Unique
During the 1930s, the wish of the world's politicians to "plan" other men's lives was strong and, by unhappy coincidence, so was their power to do so. The urge to "educate and uplift" their fellow (if lesser) man into a state more agreeable to their theories beat brightly in every progressive heart from Moscow and Berlin to London and Washington D.C.
SNIP
Like an unwanted pregnancy, Arthurdale was not conceived in an atmosphere of calm, deliberate reflection. Much like circa-1914 Russia, cursed with an ass for a leader when she required a lion, circa-1933 America was cursed with public servants who did not have nerves of steel. Harry Hopkins, hand picked by FDR to run FERA, hand picked one Lorena Hickok to be a FERA "investigator" in West Virginia, to check out the local scene, and to report back with any suggestions.
Thrown into hysterics and horrified by the plight of West Virginia's indigent coal miners, on returning to Washington D.C. she breathlessly reported to Eleanor Roosevelt that "the only way out of the mess" she could fathom was that FDR become an "absolute dictator" (Thomas 1998, p. 117).
SNIP
During the first hundred days of FDR's administration, the Subsistence Homestead Division was born and "Back to the Land" was no longer merely an idea, but a tangible, if unconstitutional, reality. In Eleanor Roosevelt, it found a very willing and able patron. In FDR, who stated the "project represented something new" and hailed it as a "bold government venture," it found $25 million of other peoples' money to play with.
Eleanor took the West Virginia tour herself, and — being blessed with a likable combination of compassion, ignorance, and arrogance — latched onto the Back to the Land movement as the solution.
(Excerpt) Read more at mises.org ...
The footnotes are also quite entertaining!
Just another socialist failure...even with, or because of government backing.
Yep. Look at the cost of the homes. From the article:
When all was said and done, what Eleanor Roosevelt and her circle of experts had assured would cost $2,000 — maybe $3,000 per unit, tops — came in at "$16,625 each"
“Harry Hopkins, hand picked by FDR to run FERA, hand picked one Lorena Hickok to be a FERA “investigator” in West Virginia, to check out the local scene, and to report back with any suggestions.
Thrown into hysterics and horrified by the plight of West Virginia’s indigent coal miners, on returning to Washington D.C. she breathlessly reported to Eleanor Roosevelt that “the only way out of the mess” she could fathom was that FDR become an “absolute dictator” (Thomas 1998, p. 117).”
For those who don’t know these characters, Harry Hopkins was a Soviet spy, and Lorena Hickok was Eleanor Roosevelt’s dyke lover.
Interesting. Thanks.
We continue to apply the same ridiculous logic to federal programs and get the same results. This is why progressivism (communism) only works with an absolute dictator but only for a very short time until the source of other people’s money dries up.
Armed they’re still doing it by forcing quiet suburbs to house “refugees” that barely know how to use a toilet.
Wow. $16k was serious, serious money in those days. Circa the late 1970s you could pick up old Atlantic Steel mill houses in West midtown Atlanta, 3 BR 1 bath, for that kind of money. While they needed a lot of work, it was also 40 years and a lot of inflation later. Just for comparison purposes, to show how ridiculous the overspending was from another angle.
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