A modern CCC for our times

I was hiking trough a park near my home yesterday. The hike was very relaxing. The park was created by the CCC. What is the CCC you might ask? That would be a legitimate question for those who don't recall some of the details of the first Franklin D. Roosevelt administration.

Within weeks of moving into the Oval Office, FDR established the Civilian Conservation Corps. It employed young men to do public works and nature conservation projects. Over the CCC's nine year history it employed over 3M men between the ages of 18 and 25. The CCC built bridges, planted trees and created and maintained many state parks.

Though this exact program would not be appropriate today, it could be used as a model with a new twist. Unlike the "Great Depression" when the nation was gripped by a stagnating economy with high unemployment and little immediate potential for recovery there are several sectors of our population who are gripped by a "Great Depression" of the mind which has an even more devastating effect.

A modern day CCC may provide hope and opportunity for some of the 13M men and women who are incarcerated in our prison system. Proper training for infrastructure development and repair, conservation, environmental and agricultural employment opportunities as well as entry level work in these areas could create value.

Value for the individual because they get a choice and a chance, and value for society because we get someone with new hope who chooses to participate versus prey. A big difference - just ask anyone who has ever been a victim of crime or worse, lost a loved one to a repeat offender's poor choices.

There are 100s if not 1000s of civil infrastructure projects that are public works that need to be repaired or replaced. Think of the bridges, water systems and flood controls that need to be repaired. Any increase in sea level will lead to different infrastructure needs, barriers and levees. Though much of the work that has to be done requires special skills with years of training, there is no better place to start than now. Training can happen while the individuals do the manual and menial tasks that are the basics of many apprentice, military, and development programs world wide.

Some will say that this will open the door to cheap labor and possibly more separatism, racism and exploitation. I can only ask if the current system is working to minimize this societal problem or is it inadvertently making it worse. Though it is comfortable (relatively speaking) and easy to avoid changing the system we all know that there is a better way.

The CCC of today would empower young men and women to develop the infrastructure of this nation for the next 200 years. There are many things to be done but the local, state and federal governments - as currently configured and governing - will never get them done.

Let's go for a win-win model. A person gets a chance to make wise choices and society gains. If only society could choose!?