A really upsetting graph

I ran in to this graph today, and it really troubled me.   The inequality in our country is something I feel very passionately about, and would like to see reversed.   In our day and time, a family needs both parents to work, and to take on ever increasing amounts of personal debt, just to survive.   This is unsustainable.   Something that struck me, was the income ranges for each fifth of society.   So many are struggling.

loveismyreligion

Hello Gladstone community,

loveismyreligion

I am a spiritual, non-religious, love-based/ focused open-hearted human male
seeking intentional community that truly utilize the power of intention and
mutual cooperation.

I would like to know your avail. to rent ASAP, the cost, what options you have
for space, and the overall process.

I have solid references and I am an emotionally mature 42 year old male
seeking to share my rich well-developed gifts and natural talents if possible
for mutual well-being and empowerment.

loveismyreligion

Steve
passionatecheetah with compassionate, empathetic, and gentle gazelle

Kindergarten Communism

"[Christianity is] the best kindergarten of communism possible." - Ayn Rand

Ayn Rand and I don't see eye to eye on much, but we do have some commonality in our understanding of Christian morality.   Of course, she hated Christian morality, but that's beside the point.

We both understand that Jesus, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit are about people.  

Here is one God in three parts - whether or not you believe in God, or whether or not this trinity idea is possible, community and interconnectedness are built in to the very being of God.   And as the story goes (and I believe), God has put Himself out there on behalf of others.   And He calls Christians to do the same!

How can you be about others and hold individualism as your highest value at the same time?

Eventually, one of these is going to have to give somewhat - and I have chosen to give along my borders.   I am more than the sum of my parts, in fact my [parts] wouldn't even exist without others!

The bummer is, if I start looking toward others.   If I start offering to community - within the church, within my neighborhood and city - parts of myself that compromise my individuality, I become more about community than I am about myself.   And when that happens... it's just a slippery slope to communism.

At least that is what Ayn and I think.

Is pet care part of your rapture readiness plan?

Now it can be!

Need.

I just read the transcript of an interview Noam Chomsky recently gave around the situation in Egypt, and I am at a complete loss.   The need for the kingdom is incredible, and my affective reality of God needs to grow if I am to trust His word that the good work He began will ultimately be brought to completion.

I believe, help my unbelief.  

Where is the hope?

I came across this article today by Eugene Cho, and I felt that it really struck a chord.  

I relate to the person who can't accept God in the face of evil.   Not that I think God couldn't exist if evil does, but rather it is extremely hard to have hope.   It is really hard to trust that God will bring about good He promises.

Proverbs 22:16

I'll be the first to say that Proverbs isn't always meant to be applied literally.   Interestingly, many people today consider this book of wisdom to have been assembled after the Babylonian Exile rather than during Solomon's reign as it says.

And rather than discredit what it has to say, I think the intention of it becomes even clearer and more profound.   Likely these pieces of wisdom were around at the time of Solomon, but Israel had yet to learn something essential about putting them in to practice: it takes a discerning wisdom to use the proverbs.   Not every one applies in every situation.

It wasn't until The Exile that Israel began to wonder if they hadn't understood the role they played in the success and failure of their nation.

It is called a book of wisdom, because it is most effective when we learn to use it wisely - whether that means saving it for special occasions, or making sure to not ignore it.

That being said, what do we do with Proverbs 22:16 today?

“Oppressing the poor in order to enrich oneself, and giving to the rich, will lead only to loss.”

A Community Based Approach to Rethinking Value:

There is a part of me that rages against the very idea that I am nothing more than a collection of abilities to increase the GDP.   I can roast coffee, I have skill on the phone, I know how to develop and execute successful programs, and based on that there is a formula out there that determines my worth to our economy.

And, I'd venture to say, I don't have nearly the same value as a doctor or a corporate executive.   An hour of my time is only worth so much - 12-18/hr I'd guess.   I am now nothing more than an hourly unit because there is no metric for the things about me that don't contribute to the economy.   My hopes and dreams are worthless if they don't involve monetary exchange.

Thankfully, people are thinking outside the paradigm and creating alternatives.   One in particular gets me humming: time banks.   In a time bank, an hour of my time is worth an hour of time from a CPA, doctor, or masseuse.   Think how this throws the hierarchical, capitalist paradigm on its head!

Not to get all revolutionary up in here - I wouldn't have the opportunity to share alternatives with others over the internet if it weren't for our paradigm - but opportunities to see others differently creates the mustard seeds needed to reverse the class system we all contribute to by being consumers.

Maybe time banks and other alternatives may one day fundamentally change the conversation on Capitol Hill from economic growth to more kingdom oriented value structures: relational inclusiveness rather than a free market, or opportunity creation rather than job creation.

Check out the time banks website for yourself and begin to dream: what could this bring to your neighborhood?   And then take a look - there may be people already at work in your city, making it happen.

- Andrew

The Ministry of Presence

A friend of mine, Paul Sparks, recently brought a Henri Nouwen quote to my attention here.

An Old and a New Cry for Justice

With the news today that President Obama has agreed to extend the Bush tax cuts for the top 3% of Americans, I find myself in a surprising grief.   I have had opportunity that many Americans haven't, and yet at the same time I find myself among the other 97% who are seeing their voice shrink in efficacy in the face of big business.

A letter to the President worth noting:

Dear Mr. President,

Every choice our country makes is a statement of who we are and what we prioritize. At its heart a budget is a moral document. For people of faith, our priorities must always lie with the poor and most vulnerable. Extending the Bush tax cuts for the most fortunate while ending unemployment benefits and cutting back services for the poor does not reflect the values of faithful Americans. For that reason, we urge you to let tax cuts for the most fortunate expire as scheduled at the end of the year.

Almost 50 million Americans wonder where their next meal is coming from. One in 5 children live in poverty and many Americans are out of work. At the same time, there are more millionaires in our country today than at the peak of the market in 2007. In the last 30 years, the wealthiest 1% have seen their incomes increase almost 300% while regular Americans are worse off.

We have a responsibility to balance our budgets. We have an equal responsibility to make sure that burden is carried by those who can most afford it. Giving benefits to the rich while denying them to the poor is a sin. As citizens of this country and people of faith, we have an obligation to those in need. The book of Proverbs puts it quite simply: "He who oppresses the poor to increase his wealth and he who gives gifts to the rich--both come to poverty" (Prov 22:16 NIV).

We believe that our own good is tied up into the common good; that we will meet the challenges of today not just as individuals but together as a nation. We are grateful for the leadership of the Patriotic Millionaires who have stepped forward to ask that their tax cuts expire. We hope you will heed their counsel.

May God bless the leadership of you and the Congress, and may God bless America to be a blessing to the world.

Sincerely

Brian D. McLaren

You can add your voice ... here.

Top 10 Albums of 2010 - Andrew

And now for something completely unrelated (yet obviously important):

Catcher in the Rye and Beginnings.

Wilhelm Stekel: “The mark of an immature man is that he wants to die nobly for a cause, while the mark of the mature man is that he wants to live humbly for one.”