Grasping Reality on TypePad, by Brad DeLong

Eleanor Roosevelt:

My Day: It is interesting to note in some of the papers during the last few days, the suggestion that to insist that the hours of labor shall not be increased is a short-sighted policy in view of the fact that rapidity of production is necessary. It seems to me that the people who say this are forgetting the fact that an employed nation is necessary for the survival of a democratic form of government, and that it will be time enough to increase the hours of labor when we have cut our unemployment to the minimum. It may be said that the type of workers needed are not those who are unemployed. It seems to me, with industry really wishing to cooperate on this defense front, it might be possible to train some of those who are now unemployed and who have not previously been mechanics, so that they would be able to go to work when new factories are ready to receive them. Some people seem still unable to realize the fact that it is important to make democracy worth fighting for. Unless that challenge is met, we are apt to find ourselves with large numbers of people in our midst who care very little under what form of government they have to exist...