Poverty damages human beings by denying them what is necessary to live, and is an everyday reality in many of the countries we work in as members of the Missionary Society of St. Columban.
Rather than resign ourselves to this state of things, what causes can we identify? What do these causes imply for our own way of life?
Who doesn’t have memories of being called to the table with the love and intimacy that comes with a life shared day-to- day? These also were Jesus’ words to His beloved ones
It’s pretty obvious that we all buy products made in countries where workers are taken advantage of. But it’s not realistic to just tell people to buy American. Plus, that has really harmful affects on everyone too. The solution is better trade policies, but even then, what’s better for us and better for others isn’t the same. We have to hope and pray that elected people with a conscience stop thinking about the U.S., and start thinking about the world. It’s not about us / U.S.
Wastefulness in the developed world is one of the causes of global poverty. Countless people go without food, while enormous amounts of food in our country are wasted. Consumers buy things that they do not need, while millions of people go without the things they need to survive.
We need to create a culture of sharing and consideration in place of our culture of individualism and consumerism. It is unjust for us to waste the world’s resources while others do not even have access to the most basic resources. Living simply is one way that we can do our part to reduce wastefulness and global poverty.
Living simply could have been the theme of the US Social Forum held last week in Detroit. The stated theme was “Another World is Possible”. The World envisioned by most participants of the Forum is a world of sustainability. During 2 of the workshops I attended, the story of the Manna in the desert played a prominent role. Both sessions reminded us of an important lesson the Manna teaches. Take only what you need! If the Israelites took more Manna than they could eat in a day, it rotted and was of no value to them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all of us in the industrialized world could remember to take only what we need every day. I know it is a lesson I still need to learn over and over again.