Thomas Jefferson Memorial?

Question

I recently went to go see the memorial and I realized that the memorial was built around the same time as the Great Depression. Do you think it was appropriate to use the government money for the memorial as opposed to feeding and helping people in need? Granted the memorial did offer jobs to some. I am not disputing the memorial itself but I think it should have built later when the economy was more stable.

Answer 1

Well the idea was to pay people to work, vs. modern Liberal theory of paying not to work and to have kids. I think the WPA and CCC workers were proud of their work, most cities got museums and monuments out of the deal, and we also go the National Parks. But given modern America, I can see how you would think it would be better to just pay people to stay home and eat (remember they didn't have TV back then and radio was still not very big at that point).

Oh and by the way, CCC and WPA were Liberal Democrat programs, you should be proud of it (well, except the work part I guess). But it was a different day and age, people wanted to work and didn't want the government to help them. If Katrina had struck then, and an equivalent amount of money were allocated, New Orleans would be a showplace 2 years later.

Answer 2

I think you should do a little more research on when the money was appropriated, how it was appropriated, from whom the donations came and so on. These things don't happen overnight. Usually a Memorial is planned at least 20 to 30 years before it is actually built. Sometimes 100 years.

And part of the construction work was because during the depression part of the healing of the financial problems was putting people to work; all the work programs were paid for with government funds and it turned the tide of the devastation from the depression. So perhaps the fact that the construction was finished during the depression was a good thing. After all, it fed and housed the construction workers, and the money they spent on necessities, helped fuel the economy.

Answer 3

The memorial was built at the same time as hundreds of other national and state momuments as part of the work program that gave people money for food and housing that they worked for. The notion then was that rather than hand out welfare, people were able to work with the dignity of earning their way while benefiting the community. So, in essence, building the memorial was used as an effort to stabilize the economy.

Answer 4

Well they started building it in 1934, which was when FDR's New Deal policies were starting and people were starting to get more government jobs and we were going in the right direction, it could have also been symbolic and raised morale, but you have a point, people spend money on a lot of unneccessary projects in times of economic hardship, particularly through "pork barrel spending" and "earmarks", and symbolic things like this, it happens to this day unfortunately and it will probably always happen

Answer 5

The country in those days had the concept that people should earn their food and housing.

Does the government have a specific obligation to feed and house the people in need?

Answer 6

The Works Progress Administration hired millions to give them work. There are projects across the country in which they were involved.

Answer 7

yeah, i agree, they should've waited till after the depression to build it.
it is a nice building, though.
but they should have been helping all those poor people in need

Answer 8

It helped make jobs rather than took them away.

Answer 9

the religious right would not vote for jefferson because he is a diest.

Answer 10

i think it was 1934