Perfect timing for a seasonal reference

 I think most people can agree that it’s been a tough year, but it hasn’t been all bad. We’re in the middle of the fastest drop in child poverty in the nation’s history, thanks largely to the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) that went into effect on July 15.

Around 346,000 West Virginia children have benefited from the credit. 

According to the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University, “The fourth monthly payment of the expanded Child Tax Credit kept 3.6 million children from poverty in October 2021. The Child Tax Credit reached 61.1 million children in October and, on its own, contributed to a 4.9 percentage point (28 percent) reduction in child poverty compared to what the monthly poverty rate in October would have been in its absence.”

That’s pretty major, and the numbers they’ve been tracking have been getting better month by month since it went into effect in July of this year. Given the chance, they’ll just keep getting better.

Contrary to fears that the CTC would discourage employment, the US jobless rate is at a 21 month low, while Governor Justice announced in October that the WV not seasonally adjusted unemployment rate  was 3.2 percent, the lowest on record.

That shouldn’t be a surprise if you think about it. The boost in monthly income is helping people stay in the workforce while looking after the needs of children.

Recently I’ve been part of an effort to collect and share stories from WV families about what they’re doing with the CTC. Here’s a sample in no particular order of how people are using it to improve their lives: paying for braces for kids, new clothing and shoes for kids, paying off bills, buying food, winter heating, car payments and insurance, kid’s doctor bills, fixing water problems, buying a new toilet, internet access, school supplies, moving to a better and safer home, visiting family members not seen in years, mortgages, utilities and preventing cutoffs, household supplies, and extracurricular activities for kids like sports, camps and cheerleading.

No doubt it’s going to make Christmas a little brighter for many families here and around the country. 

Unfortunately, all those benefits could die this month unless congress passes legislation to extend it without restrictions that would cut off those who need it most. 

Given the holiday timing, I can’t help thinking about the comments of pre-repentance Scrooge in Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. When reminded of the needs of the poor at this time of year, he asks “Are there no prisons?...And the Union workhouses? Are they still in operation?”, referring to the miserable shelters indigent people were sent to at that time.

When he was told that many poor families would rather die than go to such places, he says "If they would rather die…they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.”

(I would like to think that we’ve made a little progress in mercy, compassion and social policy since Dickens penned those words in 1843.)

In the end, even Scrooge experienced a change of heart at this time of year and did the right thing. I hope something similar happens in the US Senate, with some help from West Virginia.

(This ran as an op-ed in the Charleston Gazette-Mail.)

Darwin, Malthus and Scrooge

Scrooge and Marley's ghost in Dickens' A Christmas Carol.

Charles Darwin's ideas of evolution by means of natural selection were shaped in part by Thomas Malthus' theories of population. Malthus believed that human population tended to increase faster than available resources.

These ideas became very popular amongst conservative Victorians, who used the idea to argue against social reforms for the poor, which presumably would only lead them to have more children and become poorer.

This showed up in popular culture in the words of the as yet unrepentant Scrooge in Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Early in the story, Scrooge is visited by two humanitarian gentleman soliciting Christmas donations for the poor. Here's how Ebenezer responds to their request:

``Are there no prisons?'' asked Scrooge.

``Plenty of prisons,'' said the gentleman, laying down the pen again.

``And the Union workhouses?'' demanded Scrooge. ``Are they still in operation?''

``They are. Still,'' returned the gentleman, `` I wish I could say they were not.''

``The Treadmill and the Poor Law are in full vigour, then?'' said Scrooge.

``Both very busy, sir.''

``Oh! I was afraid, from what you said at first, that something had occurred to stop them in their useful course,'' said Scrooge. ``I'm very glad to hear it.''

...


``I wish to be left alone,'' said Scrooge. ``Since you ask me what I wish, gentlemen, that is my answer. I don't make merry myself at Christmas and I can't afford to make idle people merry. I help to support the establishments I have mentioned: they cost enough: and those who are badly off must go there.''

``Many can't go there; and many would rather die.''

``If they would rather die,'' said Scrooge, ``they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population...''

TALKING SENSE. Here's an op-ed by Robert Greenstein and John Podesta on letting Bush era tax cuts for the wealthy expire.

THE NEW UNEMPLOYMENT. Here's an op-ed by yours truly about how being unemployed has changed in this recession.

310 MILLION WHAT? Attacks on Social Security, rhetorical and political, are getting hotter.

DOING GOOD might make you unpopular.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED

Do moon coyotes howl at the earth?

Earthrise from the moon, courtesy of wikipedia.

El Cabrero has a feeling that lots of people will be slacking off today as the Christmas holiday approaches. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

The holiday season seems a little different this year. I don't know about you, but the annual ritual of excessive consumption that has grown around the holiday, always pretty crass, seems particularly off key given the growing economic crisis that is affecting so many people around the world. I keep wondering how bad it's going to get.

In the meantime, here are a few items, starting with one about the above image...

AN IMAGE THAT CHANGED THE WORLD (see above) is discussed in this article from the UK Guardian. Short version: the trip to the moon helped people discover the earth.

KICKING THE ECONOMIC BUBBLE HABIT will be tough.

A LENGTHY OBITUARY FOR "THE OWNERSHIP SOCIETY" and how Bush policies contributed to the current crisis can be found here.

GOD BLESS US, EVERY ONE. The latest edition of the Rev. Jim Lewis' Notes from under the Fig Tree ponders Dickensian themes in these hard times from A Christmas Carol.

SPEAKING OF HARD TIMES (AGAIN), labor and community groups in WV called for a meaningful stimulus package to get the economy moving again. Here's the coverage from the Charleston Gazette.

SURF'S UP! Waves in the Pacific Northwest have been increasing in height by 7 centimeters a year and no one is sure why.

GOAT ROPE ADVISORY LEVEL: ELEVATED