Analysis of the Great Society

     President Johnson's Great Society was an admirable quest for a better America, but it was poorly planned and shallow-rooted. The foundation for the federal programs was not strong and was doomed to crumble eventually.

     The Great Society was LBJ's vision of a more equitable and prosperous America. He noticed that despite the overall economic stability of the nation, there was a lot of poverty. To decrease this and improve the living quality of minorities, Johnson employed several federal programs providing: health and welfare, education, a "war on poverty", and consumer and environmental protection. As a continuation of Franklin D. Roosevelt's work, Johnson created several agencies and had congress pass acts regarding social progress. Medicare and Medicaid, for example, were made to provide health insurance for the elderly and economic minorities. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Higher Education Act, and Project Head Start are some other examples of educational programs.

     The primary source of error in the Great Society was the same as in the New Deal: direct government spending. When the Federal government dishes out money to all the people who don't have enough, it bypasses the layered system of delegation. In other words, it attempts to go straight to the end result instead of taking some time to work through business and other mediums essential to capitalism. This causes the money to be spent fast and inefficiently rather than expanding it into a more sustainable source. Direct, constant spending forces the government to budget everything nervously, increase taxes, and continually struggle for control of business and market interests. What the federal government should do is kick start the engine when needed, then let the private sector run it from there on. Always giving needy individuals money often causes them to rely on government pay instead of use it to get on their feet. A crutch is temporary - it allows the injured leg to heal. But if you hold on to it for too long, you forget how to walk without it. Most of Johnson's programs were temporary patches for domestic problems, and they cost too much money in a time of war.