Jobs do more to sustain
people than assistance
America needed a New Deal after the Great Depression and World War II. President FDR realized hungry, demoralized people can be swayed to fascist leaders, Hitler in Germany and Mussolini in Italy, and the promise of bread in Russia and China, through communism.
The genius and generosity of the Marshall Plan rebuilt Europe after World War II. Free soup satisfies hunger, but it cannot, by itself, sustain a person nor a nation. Public assistance is a step up from a soup kitchen, but it’s demeaning for parents who must line up with their family.
A job restores one’s pride to provide for your own family.
But high tech has been eliminating many jobs, and robotics will accelerate job elimination.
Gil Villagran
Emeritus Lecturer
School of Social Work
San Jose State University
Submit your letter to the editor via this form
Read more Letters to the Editor
