I generally hate any and all government programs. However, the Civilian Conservation Corps is one of the few that I love. What a great idea. Take millions of unemployed men and put them to work.
The legacy they left is being used and enjoyed today by all Americans. Trails, roads, parks, paths and tons of huge infrastructure was built by the CCC.
While our problem today is not on the same scale, a modern CCC would be great, especially for underserved communities. Young black men have a tremendously high unemployment rate coupled with a generational legacy of not working. A strong CCC would instill a work ethic in many of these young men and teach them the value of a hard days work and a paycheck, not an EBT card.
Here’s your choice. Join CCC or get your payments cut off. Commit to one or two year enlistments. We will provide lodging, food and work clothes and a paycheck. You will learn a skill, in many cases one that can be used for a full time career when your enlistment is over.
How much would that cost to the taxpayer? How long will this version of the CCC last? How many would be enrolled? What would their compensation be? What age groups would be allowed to participate?
The maximum enrollment in the CCC at any one time was 300,000; in nine years 3 million young men participated in the CCC, which provided them with shelter, clothing, and food, together with a small wage of $30 (about $547 in 2015) a month ($25 of which had to be sent home to their families.
The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) was a public work relief program that operated from 1933 to 1942 in the United States for unemployed, unmarried men from relief families as part of the New Deal. Originally for young men ages 18–23, the CCC was eventually expanded to young men ages 17–28.