As I mentioned in the TAWG, the
Bible lists several reasons why people are poorer than they normally would be.
Of course, “poverty” typically is used as a relative term. In many countries,
“poverty” means you don’t have enough to eat or are barely at sustenance level.
“Poverty” in America typically means you only have one TV set and only have one
working car and don’t have all the channels on cable that you’d like.
The Bible—getting back to my point—lists
several reasons why people are poor. There’s government oppression, at either
the national or local level, there’s deprivation due to physical handicaps
(e.g., a man born blind), and there’s poverty due to the main provider of a
family (the husband/father) being missing or dead. Amos spoke frequently
about rich people who “oppressed” the poor by cheating them or bribing judges
to get favoritism in court.
But there are other reasons as well
which the Bible—in particular Proverbs—addresses
and we should as well. It could be because of laziness or lack of ambition. It
could be because you make foolish financial decisions, like impulse buying or
investing in “get rich quick” schemes. It could be because of addiction to
alcohol or drugs or gambling. It could be because—like most Americans—you’re in
“unsecured” debt and are living beyond your means. If you read my TAWG posting
above, you’ll see that Solomon addressed all these much more than the issues
listed in the paragraph before (which we have no control over).
Now, am I saying that there is
absolutely no oppression of the poor
in America? That there are no instances
in which a poor man is taken advantage of by processes in which he has
absolutely no control? That there are no
instances in which a physically “challenged” person gets no help and is left on
his own? That there are no instances
in which the rich and powerful get away with stealing from the poor because
they can afford better lawyers? That there are absolutely no examples we could find of a government conspiracy to
deny the poor their rights before the law? That there are absolutely no instances in which a person is held
back from advancing in life because of racism?
Of course not. I’m not a fool or a
demagogue. I’d never claim that. Of course, this country has around 330 million people spread across a continent, so of course there's not too much we wouldn't be able to find, assuming we looked long and hard enough. The book of Proverbs, which has a lot to say about personal decisions which lead to poverty, recognizes that there's such a thing as government oppression and injustice against the poor.
But I would submit that under a
free-market system (commonly known as capitalism) and under a representative
democracy such as ours, it happens a lot less frequently than under any other
system known to humanity. I also thoroughly believe that any notions of messing
with our free-market/rep. dem. system, either with big changes or small ones, should
be viewed with extreme skepticism. To the degree that we move away from this
system (a free market with representative democracy), we’re trading something
good for something worse.
My friend, as a corollary I’d submit
that the vast majority of people who are “poor” in this country (remembering
that poor is a relative term) are poor because of personal dysfunctional
behaviors, referring to either the poor person’s behaviors or to his/her
parents’, such as those listed by Solomon above. Most people on the street are
not there just because of bad circumstances that happened to them like a meteor
that fell out of the sky. They’re on the street because they’re A) Addicted to
a substance, B) Mentally ill, or C) A combination of the two.
Now, does that mean that if people
are poor because of faults of their own (or because of bad behavior by their
parents) that we don’t care about them and shouldn’t help them? Absolutely not!
Following the example of how our Savior treats us, we’re certainly going to try
to help those whose lives are messed up, even if it’s 100% their own fault.
But how best to help them? By
handing them money? Providing for their physical need while ignoring the root
causes?
Is that showing love for someone? Or
is it just alleviating guilt?
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