Looking Backward from the Tricentennial

Chapter Six

The next night after dinner, for which Julian was served soft, easy-to-digest foods, he and Ray headed to the parlor. His host's economist friend, Teara Harper, was willing to chat with them about the American Union Jobs Program. After a moment, a middle-aged woman with caramel skin and hair pulled back into a tight bun appeared next to Ray on the loveseat. Her plumpness was shaped by her well-cut suit.

Ray made introductions. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Julian," Teara said. "I wanted to be able to address your questions about the economic transition, so I reviewed data from the twenties. Although relative poverty still exists—it's impossible for everyone's income to be above average—an estimated one hundred thirty million people lived in or near absolute poverty back then, including one in three children.

"That inequality was a hallmark of the Second Gilded Age. There was a euphemism for the growing economic insecurity, downward mobility, which one author compared to quicksand. 'Once it grabs you, it keeps constraining your options until it's got you completely.'"

Julian shifted on the couch. After spending a few days in this fancy condo, the statistic brought up memories of the littered streets of the neighborhood where he'd grown up, where the common struggle for solvency had been an integral part of the community fabric. Even if he didn't yet understand all the details of the tricentennial, Julian was grateful to have that behind him. "That's a good description," he said. "It was harder and harder to get ahead."

Teara wrinkled her nose. "It's an effective depiction, but I don't really like using it as an analogy because quicksand occurs naturally. The economy doesn't; it's strictly a human construct. The United States was touted as the land of opportunity, but those opportunities were maldistributed. Do you know what a fox hunt was?"

Julian nodded slowly. "I'm picturing horseback riders wearing red, chasing a fox across the countryside."

"In one of her books, Stella Freedom used it as an analogy for poverty," Teara explained. "I'll try to do it justice. Back then, fox hunting was described as a sport, which implies a contest where all participants have an equal opportunity to emerge victorious. In reality, it pitted one fox against a pack of dogs and men on horseback. To call it a sport trivializes the uneven stakes; the fox's life was on the line, while the worst a rider might generally experience was disappointment from an unsuccessful hunt.

"Theoretically, the fox could escape, maybe by climbing a tree or dashing through a stream to hide its scent from the dogs. Any mistake could mean instant doom, but even without an error, the animal was in a race against time. Eventually, the fox would become worn out, slow down, and be caught and killed. The rules and resources were all biased toward one side.

"It was theoretically possible to escape poverty too, and sometimes it happened, just like the fox sometimes got away. But the laws and rules of the United States, the political structure, even the very dollars that circulated through the economy: they were all biased in favor of those who already had money and property."

Julian gave a wry chuckle. "I wonder what the old foxes would have told the younger ones about fox hunts. 'I escaped, so you can too. Just try harder.' Because that was what we heard about poverty: work your way up to a better job."

"I don't understand," Ray said. "If an individual got a better job, wouldn't whoever took their place still be in poverty?"

Teara nodded. "The fact absolute poverty—not having enough money to meet your basic needs—existed in the United States was a policy decision by Congress," she said. "This was easily observable; in 2021, childhood poverty in the US fell to a historic low when Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit. Congress took it away in 2022 and pushed more than five million children down into poverty."