Those New Deal programs did help some destitute individuals and did provide some public works programs that benefited specific communities. That probably looked like improvement to many, but such government spending just does not revive an economy in recession or depression. We recently saw the quotes (during the stimulus debates) from Roosevelt era officials acknowledging that the programs did not end the GD.
It might not be worth it to try and convince your mother of that, or most who actually experienced those times.
“It might not be worth it to try and convince your mother of that, or most who actually experienced those times.”
What is odd is that her family worked hard for themselves, scrimped, saved, etc. With no help from the gov’t. She knows what it means to be independent. I think it is not so much what she experienced, but what she heard from the likes of Walter Cronkite over the years that has her believing that big government is the cure to some of our problems.