FDR, New Deals, and the Limits of Power 231again local leaders resisted outright welfare. Time and time again FDR
stressed that there would be no dole. The government’s relief plan for “rural
rehabilitation” left out countless thousands of needy people. The disaster relief
program was created to help most those who could preserve the Midwest
agricultural empire. That idea was at the root of this entire clip of American
history: How best could American corporate farming proceed into the future?
The Roosevelt era began the very long trend of funneling federal disaster
relief through a federal government most concerned with stabilizing a capital-
ist economy—not helping farmers. In general, federal disaster relief exhibits
problems demonstrated by the individuals it often leaves out—those who do
not own property. This happened in the 1930s, but was also evident in mod-
ern day disasters such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
Dr. New Deal?
It is almost inconceivable to imagine all that happened in the 1930s—global
depression, government crises, economic upheaval, class struggles, violent
strikes, environmental catastrophe, and a real transformation in the very nature
of American society and life, politically and economically. Yet, there was more
to come. As FDR was grasping for ways to fix the depression, Europe was
preparing for another Great War, one that would be immensely bigger than
the one that plagued the continent in the 1910s. As Wilson did, FDR would
wait to enter the war, but when he did, it would even more dramatically
transform U.S. power. FDR, who referred to himself as “Dr. New Deal,”
would have to shift priorities and become “Dr. Win-the-War.” But Dr. New
Deal had not cured the country before the next great war began.
Surely, the American economy was in better shape by far than it had been
in 1929. The New Deal transformed Capitalism, but it did not change the
economy. Private ownership of production, agriculture, and banking remained
the basis of the political economy, and workers and farmers would still be
struggling for the necessities of life. Workers had legal rights to organize
unions and go on strike, but even with the frequent street violence remained
too often at the mercy of their employers. Farmers who held large amounts
of land got government subsidies to slaughter livestock and destroy crops, but
their tenants and sharecroppers remained hungry and homeless far too often.
Capitalist power had its limits, as all could see. Still, there was a glimmer of