Proverbs 27:17

"As iron sharpens iron,so one man sharpens another."~Prov 27:17

Below is a response from Michael Cross to my post entitled "Poverty Was The Ruin of Poor in New Orleans".

It's obvious that Michael and I don't agree on everything. But I have been impressed with his style of writing and obvious good heart that shows through in his writing. In the interest of fair play, and showing another side to the Christian view of what to do about poverty, I wanted to share this excellent response.

As a matter of intoduction, I found your blog as a link at Alison's Live Creative blog.

I'm not sure I follow you on this essay. I don't know anyone who blames the poor for being poor. People like myself may blame it on various government programs that enable, and encourage, the poor to remain poor, but not on the poor themselves. I know from experience that none of the government programs that exist are designed to help people to do better. They are designed to keep people in whatever condition they are in. That is a simple, sad fact.

Caring for the poor is a matter that is best left to the Church, because the Church has a vested interest in the well-being of our fellow man. Likewise, the Church, as an outreach within each of our own communities, is meant to deal with people on an individual level (as in, "personal relationship"). Which means that the Church, when it is acting as it was meant to, will be able to identify the individual needs of the people within their community, and address them in the most efficient way possible.

Unfortunately, the Church has abdicated it's responsibility in this matter in lieu of taxpayer funded welfare programs which are nothing more than "throwing money" at our problems. It is a shame that as Christians we have opted to allow some government agency to take our place in society as a provider for peoples needs. As a result of the Church's retreat from the public square, the government has also taken God's position as the arbiter of morality as well. Look around and tell me that isn't so, but I'll never believe you.

However, if giving money (or more money) to the poor were the answer to poverty, then why is it that over forty years, and trillions of dollars, haven't solved the problem yet? By the same token, raising the minimum wage doesn't really help the poor to do better. Instead, it leads to price increases across the board for nearly all goods and services. It also increases the amount of taxes that are paid by the poor. Meaning that while the paycheck may be slightly larger, it doesn't really stretch any further than the previous pay level. Besides, when one considers that a minimum wage job is meant to be something along the lines of an "entry level position", why should any business be forced to pay more for entry level experience.
And as for a "living wage", doesn't that depend upon how we choose to live? If you're willing to make sacrifices in order to make your money go further you can do just fine. For several years I supported a family of 4 on a little over $6 an hour. It's a matter of stewardship, being faithful with what God has blessed you with, and personal responsibility.

But, again, the programs which are in place, and our very culture, are at odds with the idea of personal responsibility. What we saw in New Orleans was not a result of race or social status. It was the mindset of people who had been told, perhaps for generations, that "The government will take care of "it".". So, when the governemnt failed to "take care of "it".", the people who were expecting help were left on their own. And we all saw the results of that.

Nobody faults the poor for being poor, or even for remaining poor, if they are making an attempt to do better. People like myself blame those who don't bother to try to do better because it requires greater effort than accepting monthly assistance. And we blame people for believing that they are owed something simply by virtue of the fact that they want it. And even more distasteful is the notion that people believe that it is morally superior to ask government to force businesses to pay more. Whether it be in the form of a forced "living wage" or through higher taxes. Nobody has that right.

But just so you don't think I'm some cruel, heartless, jerk...
Should companies pay more to their loyal employees? Yes. Should the wealthiest members of our society be willing to help the poorest? Yes. But should this be an operation of our government? No.

Jesus did not tell us to "render unto Caesar" so that Caesar could feed the poor. He told us, as individual disciples, to do His work on earth, and not to leave it up to others. Our calling is to interact with individuals, to change peoples hearts on a personal level. Not to ask our government to take the hard-earned wealth of our fellow citizens.

Consider Christ's teaching on "The sheep and the goats" (Matt 25:31-46). If the only charity that someone is giving comes from their tax withholdings, how is this seeing Jesus in need? Does this type of giving come from the heart?
You and I may very well agree that the poor and downtrodden ought to be helped. Where we differ is on who ought to provide that help and how.
Sorry about making this such a long reply, but you might never read it if I just posted it at my own blog.

M+



Thanks for reading,

AC

"Poverty was the ruin of the poor in New Orleans"

"The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor."~Proverbs 10:15(NIV)

When I considered why so many people didn't evacuate before Katrina hit, I started thinking about what it was like when we first got married and both had minimum wage jobs. We were in bad shape financially. I remember not having health insurance, and going to low-cost clinics. There were times when we had $10 for the week in groceries. That time of our life lasted longer than I care to remember. I remember being out of work, on unemployment and applying for relief. When I was a teenager I remember when my folks filed for bankruptcy and we lived with relatives for a while. I've been one of the working poor, and there is no easy way out.

I don't know what I would have done if I would have been in the shoes of the working poor in New Orleans. I may have made the same decision to try to ride it out. I would not have had the extra money to get out of town, or take the risk of taking time off for work. In low paying jobs, you can lose your job so much faster than in better paying jobs. There is no such thing as sick days or personal days, especially when all you can find is part-time work. I owned cars that I would have been afraid to take on long trips. If I was in New Orleans, and was as poor as I was when I first got married, I would have had to stay in the city and hope for the best like so many of the working poor that are suffering now.

"I don't make judgments about why people chose not to leave but, you know, there was a mandatory evacuation of New Orleans,"~Michael Brown, Director of FEMA

FEMA chief: Victims bear some responsibility

"To those who wonder why so many stayed behind when push came to water's mighty shove here, those who were trapped have a simple explanation: Their nickels and dimes and dollar bills simply didn't add up to stage a quick evacuation mission"~Wil Haygood-Washington Post

"Why the poor stayed in New Orleans"
I'm not going to spend any time bashing Michael Brown, the rest of the blogosphere seems to be handling that fine. Whether he meant to sound clueless or not, I think his remarks are a good example of a real lack of understanding by many in government, about what it means to be truly without resources.

I think there are a lot of people that seem to automatically define the poor as not smart enough to get out of town when disaster is coming.Its important to people that believe in what I call, at best, "boot-strap capitalism", and at worst, Social Darwinism, to define their world in such a way that so many failures of the poor are always the fault of the poor and no one else.

"In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has."~Prov 21:20

Of course there are many of the poor that are making mistakes. When I was in bad shape, I was doing some dumb things with my money. I remember blowing money on things I didn't need and living in the moment. I could have been more responsible. I could have saved. I needed help to get out of an economic mess. But I paid my taxes, I worked overtime, I did everything I knew to do, but was still not making it.

When a person is drowning, you need to throw them a line, not criticize their swimming.

If we would get beyond blaming the poor for being poor, there remain larger issues. There is much more to poverty than just low wages and not knowing how to handle money. There are class and race issues, and there are many forces outside of just "working harder and saving more".

"Look! The wages you failed to pay the workmen who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty."~James 5:4(NIV)

There will continue to be working poor that are caught in disasters and calamities as long as this country continues to prefer profit over people. We will continue to see the ugly side of poverty as long as companies prefer to staff their businesses with entirely part-time workers at low wages, as if the entire work-force is in High School trying to pay for their tricked-out Camaro. As long as we continue to seek tax breaks to "spur economic growth", but never raise the minimum wage to any kind of real living wage for families, and get that confused look every time anyone mentions real health care reform, the human suffering that we saw in Katrina will repeat itself over and over.

Thanks for reading,

AC