Writing about what I have been reading and encountering in the media. |
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On August 14, 1935, Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into law. It provided payments to older Americans, unemployment insurance, aid to homeless, dependent, and neglected children, funds to promote maternal and child welfare, and public health services. None of these had previously existed in any form. Francis Perkins, the first woman cabinet member and longest-serving secretary of Labor led the effort. Among other formative experiences, she was raised in the New England Congregational Christian tradition. As a young woman, she joined the Episcopal Church and expressed her belief that "the need to make the Kingdom of God in this world would be a source of strength and commitment throughout her life," * and it was. She committed herself to build economic justice and the protection of workers. The purpose of the Social Security Act was two-fold: 1. Provide a social safety net that would be equtable through a nation where wealth and poverty were not equitable; 2. Stimulate the economy. The vast majority of Americans have always supported this effort. A powerful but small minority have always opposed it. It has succeeded in its goals in every way. *https://francesperkinscenter.org/ |