Your tax dollars at work?

The days of the Civilian Conservation Corps are passing out of living memory. 

During the Great Depression, the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration crafted a plan to get the United States working again.  It meant spending government money on, among other things, hiring young men (who were, for the most part, unemployed) to do hard physical labor across the country.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civilian_Conservation_Corps

These days, it would be really hard to get young men to send the bulk of their income back to their parent(s).  But even if it just kept them so busy that they had no time to get involved in gangs, I wouldn't care if they kept their money for themselves. 

Could our national and state parks use help?  Of course they could.  All you have to do is take a day hike on any trail and you'll see that winter and the spring melt take a heavy toll on some of those trails.  Hiker shelters could be re-built.  In some parks, whole roads could be restored. 

You'd have young people (women as well as men) making an income, keeping out of the worst troubles they might normally encounter, and being able to flex their well-earned muscles for their friends.  They'd have an actual job on their resume. 

Could these same young people be paid to work, not only in parks, but perhaps in helping to repair houses for senior citizens on welfare?  Yeah.  They could.  A roof that doesn't leak, insulated ceilings and walls, and plumbing that works well would make the difference for many elderly between staying in their home and being warehoused somewhere.

Hey, we could try it for--say, five years.  Then we could compare the demographics in our jails and prisons and see if young people aren't so over-represented, as they are now.

Oooo.  Sounds like socialism. 

Is it better to warehouse our elderly and let our younger generations wander into gangs?

I dunno.  Seems to me that a bit of socialism in the right place could be a good thing.

Wow.  I'd better write something from my conservative side soon.

-Spottedcat