I believe that much of today’s extreme social and political unrest is deeply rooted in widespread poverty. We’ve endured stagnant wages over the past 45 years, as computer automation and offshoring have stymied wage bargaining, while the rich got richer, and, now, inflation pushes prices higher.

The American Dream has faded, as we work harder and harder, but still fall below our parents’ gains. How can we reverse this trend? How can we increase our purchasing power? Is a Universal Basic Income in the cards down the road?

One hopeful sign has been the Child Tax Credit that temporarily lifted tens of millions of American families out of poverty as part of President Biden’s coronavirus relief package. But these payments came to an end in December, after the evenly-divided U.S. Senate, with zero Republican support, failed to pass the Democrats’ Build Back Better Act, which would have extended the policy.

Perversely, if the policy is not reinstated, it could deal another blow to Democrats’ already fading prospects in November’s midterm elections. Republicans are currently favored to retake control of the U.S. House, and the failure to pass the Build Back Better Act — and specifically its extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit — may make voters even less inclined to reelect Democrats.

The bitter irony is clear: If Republicans win the House, we will almost certainly lose all chance of a national response to poverty, and the dysfunction and the suffering will likely continue.

I urge all my fellow readers to push for a comprehensive fact-finding about the huge wealth gap in the United States of America, and to get behind a vigorous national debate on the alternatives which might give us a just and livable future.

Marshall McComb

Baker City