“Forgotten Man,” written by Amity Shales, gives a detailed version of the Great Depression.

It is too bad this book is not part of our school curriculum.

As a child growing up with parents who lived through that era, I was often told stories about what life was like during those years.

People often forget where we have been and how we got here. Forgetting our history can allow us to relive it.

A absolutely incredible part of this book describes how there was no work and no unemployment or welfare checks to support many people.

President Franklin Roosevelt did many controversial things, but I would like to share a rather inspiring story: He created the Civilian Conservation Corps. Thousands of people who were destitute and actually homeless were offered food, shelter, clothing and work. From Wyoming to Greenville, people who really wanted to work but couldn’t find jobs in the private sector earned money improving parks, railroads and bridges. They planted 3 billion trees.

In Maine in the winter, these people cleared many miles of road, shoveling snow that had drifted up to 200 feet deep.

That brings me to today and a question: Why are there so many unemployed people and others on welfare who simply don’t work?

Instead of giving out free money, maybe the private and public sectors could develop a way to give work to these people.

People want to work for the most part.

The others should be assigned work and if they do not do anything, then they receive nothing.

I certainly do not have the answers in detail, but I do share with so many others the desire to make this country great again.

Peter Redman

Augusta