President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal During The Great Depression

During the years of the Great Depression, the 1930s that is, President Franklin D. Roosevelt launched the New Deal plan to combat the economic woes befalling the nation. The New Deal allowed for greatly increased government control over the economics of America and used many programs in order to both provide welfare to those in need and cut unemployment. Some of the agencies that were created as part of the New Deal are still active today. FDR’s efforts to combat the Great Depression via New Deal policies and organizations are still impactful today mainly in the forms of the FCC and the SSB.

During the Great Depression, the FCC was responsible for regulating prices applied to services such as radio and electricity, the FCC is still in effect today in that is regulates all forms of electronic communication in the United States. Before FDR’s New Deal, government control over business and communication was minimal. After the New Deal was put into place, agencies such as the FCC were in power in a way

that allowed them to regulate such enterprises. Essentially, agencies such as the FCC were a mark of an increased governmental role in the lives of everyday Americans—a role that increases in significance every day. Currently, the FCC is mostly involved with regulating digital communication—it has been deeply involved in the struggle for net neutrality over the past few months; something the members of the current generation are involved in.
The SSB, now the SSA—Social Security Administration—is responsible for the social security program in the United States: before its creation, there was little to no assurance of an old age pension for those who retired from the workforce.

After the creation of the SSA, a program was in place whereby those who have reached the age of 65 could receive a pension to live with during their old age. The important fact here is that the SSA is a public, federal, organization. When created, it helped to shift the focus away from private organizations performing the same function and increase the focus on a public organization doing so. In many Americans’ minds, this began to associate the government with protection and it made it so that the government was expected to provide welfare to those in need. Before, the idea of the government providing welfare was much less prevalent. This effect has continued, and increased until today—when unemployment benefits are

commonplace.
The main theme that was initiated by FDR’s New Deal policies is one of government oversight. Oversight over the wellbeing of Americans, oversight over the practices of massive corporations, oversight over smaller corporations. When it comes to the oversight of Americans’ wellbeing, one of the main programs that is applicable is the Social Security program—which provides a way for Americans to save money for old age as well as several other things. In the more business related sphere, one of the government’s main tools for oversight is the FCC. Today, many of the largest companies in the country are ISPs (Internet Service Providers). Recently, the FCC ruled that ISPs must charge an equal rate for access to all parts of the internet instead of favoring those websites that paid them a toll. This is just one of the many ways the government’s role in American life has grown. But it is one of the most pressing at this time.