So what is the so-called Blog Action Day?
Blog Action Day is an annual nonprofit event that aims to unite the world’s bloggers, podcasters and videocasters, to post about the same issue on the same day. Our aim is to raise awareness and trigger a global discussion.
This year’s issue is poverty. Let’s be honest… poverty sucks. Nobody who’s in poverty wants to be there. So why is anyone in poverty? What’s the root cause of poverty? Can we do anything about it?
Talking about poverty in the United States seems a little like talking about electricity within the Amish community — we have it, but not much of it (relative to the world), and in seemingly different flavors and for different reasons. I’ve seen some poverty both in the US and in other countries… and frankly, our poverty appears lame by comparison. My wife, who volunteers in a local shelter and has also been to many more regions of the world than I have, has an even clearer perspective. My lineage comes from Armenia… a place with serious, serious poverty. My wife and I support a little girl in Bolivia through Compassion International. And there are of course many, many more places around the globe that are so poor it makes Western poverty look like the Hamptons. I guess it’s relative. Is it?
So how do we end poverty? Well… we don’t. For me as a Christ-follower I’m called to fight poverty, but not to END it. We’re NEVER going to end poverty. You can’t end poverty any more than you can end indigestion or greed. Poverty is the result of humanity’s fallen-ness and depravity. We are by nature very clever and slightly evil. Anyone who’s spent any time at a homeless shelter knows that some people, no matter how much wealth they’re given, will be impoverished again eventually.
Ok, so how do we fight poverty? And even more importantly for Christ-followers like me… how do we fight poverty in a way that glorifies God, rather than in a way that glorifies secular humanism. One of the best scriptural assessments I’ve found anywhere addressing this issue was this article here, titled The Cause and Cure of Poverty, written by John Armstrong for Mark Driscoll’s TheResurgence blog. My own attempt to directly word-tackle this issue would seem pathetic next to John’s article… so just read his! Seriously! 
Some excerpts:
What causes poverty? The question presently plagues many serious Christian thinkers and leaders. The answers vary but the proposed solutions are the stuff of our political campaigns every four years. We can already hear the discussion from the various candidates for the presidency in 2008, both Republican and Democrat.
[...]
…Capitalism is deeply rooted in the Judeo-Christian moral code. (This is not to defend all that Adam Smith, the so-called father of modern capitalism, wrote since Smith made mistakes as any theorist will.) …Capitalism is not rooted in greed at all, as is falsely argued by numerous Christian activists today. …Capitalism, when it is rightly understood, is rooted in altruism. And it is fundamentally based upon creativity, the creativity of both service and wealth. …Wealth is good, something many pious Christians have a hard time appreciating.
[...]
Simply put, capitalism creates new wealth, it doesn’t simply capture it or steal it from others.
Think about the much-maligned Wal-Mart chain. Politicians, and the various critics of modern forms of American capitalism, routinely attack Wal-Mart even though their overall record as a company is generally one of helping create jobs, of providing goods at cheaper prices and of stimulating creative economic changes. Yes, mom and pop stores do suffer when Wal-Mart moves to town. But that is the nature of the system. Mom and pop will have to adjust. The spirit of freedom allows them to do exactly that if they become creative enough to work better within the free-market system.
[...]
Socialism always destroys personal freedoms by trying to plan for other lives through a central government system that watches out for you. (This is why President Reagan once quipped that the worst words you could ever hear were these: “I’m from the government and I’m here to help you!”) Capitalism allows you to plan for yourself. It allows for creativity and enterprise. Furthermore, it encourages people to provide for others in order to express their creativity through goods and services. Greed is, in reality, inimical to capitalism. Greed drives the welfare state more than it does capitalism since greedy people want unearned rewards to be given to them by a benevolent government that levels the playing field. Such a system directly causes people to petition governments to solve their personal problems, and the bigger the government’s role becomes the worse the nightmare.
The problem with liberal economic state-based solutions is that they undermine this cycle of personal success and initiative. Capitalism allows even “the wretched of the earth” to succeed. Envy and greed create wars and revolutions. Witness the great twentieth century bloodbaths, most of which revolved around economic thoughts and the role of government in engineering material possession and seeking to level the playing field economically.
[...]
Many young Christians are being sold a bill of goods about the evils of capitalism by evangelical writers such as Ron Sider, Tony Campolo and Jim Wallis. The intentions of these men are generally good. They desire equality, which is good. They also hate injustice and racism. This is also very good. But the equality of means and income is not the basis of real freedom. Even lifting everyone out of poverty is not possible since poverty is rooted in much more than access to more money.
Indeed, it seems too many Christian folks are buying into a form of humanist socialism as a means to address society’s social justice issues. Their heart may be in the right place… but Christ tells us that WE (His followers) are the ones who are supposed to be doing that work IN HIS NAME, so that HE get’s the glory rather than some socialist system. So rather than pay higher taxes into an impersonal, godless system of idiotic wealth redistribution we should be supporting free markets and lower taxes so that not only is new wealth is created for all, but so we have more personal income to directly invest (both with our money and volunteer time) into Christ-honoring ministries that fight poverty and win souls.
Free market capitalism and lower taxation actually become a major part of the Christ-follower’s fight against poverty — surprise surprise.
I'm a Christ-follower, compelled by my faith toward reason, which points directly toward conservatism. This world's daily onslaught of lunacy offends my intellect and senses, so this is my venue to blow off steam.
Thought provoking! Helping people help themselves seems to be the short answer to reducing poverty. And there are many ways to do that.
About how there will always be poverty.
I agree….there is no way to stop it.
But how do we make the world better?
“One random act of kindness at a time.” – God (Morgan Freeman) Evan Almighty
Once again, I agree with everything you said. Well done!
Hey man,
Just found your blog today, and I like what I’ve seen so far. As a fellow Christ-follower I agree with part of what you said, but I think you actually get at something toward the end of your post that informs something you say earlier.
Near the end you say: “we should be supporting free markets and lower taxes so that not only is new wealth is created for all”
First of all, I completely agree. And the idea of paying into socialist systems is, in my opinion, at best misguided, and at worst motivated by “rich guilt” or attempts to get even with the wealthy for being wealthy, etc. And where many people miss the boat is exactly the point you end with when you say “Free market capitalism and lower taxation actually become a major part of the Christ-follower’s fight against poverty — surprise surprise.”
In other words, ultimately business is a force for good (link to an Economist article from this summer that makes this point quite well with regard to Mr. Gates).
But this is where I would start to take issue with your earlier claim that as followers of Christ we are not meant to end poverty, but rather to fight it. I would argue that for the first time in history (or, perhaps more specifically, since the start of globalisation), we’re living in a world where a true fight can be made to *end* poverty.
And I don’t mean through socialism and redistribution of wealth. I mean through capitalism. (I like links
Basically, many people who rail against capitalism and scream the evils of the west make the mistake of thinking that capitalism is a zero-sum game. But it’s not (again, that economist article is good). And if it’s not, that carries an important implication: if wealth and prosperity can be created through capitalism, then in theory we should be able to raise the standard of living worldwide to the point where poverty has been eliminated.
And I use the word “poverty” here very specifically, because here is where I must respectfully submit that you have made a mis-judgment (and I freely admit that I may be wrong!
. I absolutely do *not* think we will ever eliminate income *inequality*, but I think you’re mistaking income inequality with poverty. As you mentioned, our version of poverty here in the United States is rather mild compared with the rest of the world. I’m not saying it’s not real, but there’s a fundamental difference between our poverty and “their” poverty, and the difference is, well, prosperity. And our prosperity came through free market enterprise, through business.
Income inequality is an inherent characteristic of a prosperous free-market society. Poverty is not. You must, nearly by definition, have income inequality with capitalism. But that doesn’t have to be evil. Because what you don’t have to have is poverty. When capitalism is allowed to run its course, the standard of living of an entire society can rise so high that even a society’s “poor” are not actually living in “poverty” by any historical standard. In my opinion, the US is living proof of this. We have some very poor people in this country, and I’m not minimizing their struggle, but anyone who has even seen pictures of some of the conditions to which human beings are subjected in other parts of the world must admit (as you say) that our “poor” have it far better than some.
So my (long-winded) point is merely this. Yes, the bible says “the poor will always be with [us]“, but I would argue that capitalism in a globalised world has the potential to radically transform the living conditions and quality of life of the “poorest of poor” to a level which would never be called “poverty” if it were compared with the worst poverty we have seen over the course of history (though it may still be poor compared to the world’s rich).
Thus, I think in the *modern* world (and this is different that 1,500 years ago), Christians actually have a responsibility to fight poverty “hands on”, but also globally, with true coordinated effort to eliminate poverty without deceiving ourselves that we will ever eliminate income inequality.
Now, here’s the part where I argue with myself: do I think this will ever fully succeed? Probably not. But not because the idea isn’t fundamentally sound. I think it is (and by comparison, I think socialism is not). I think this will never fully succeed because of evil people in positions of power who will continue to oppress large groups of human beings for as long as the Earth has left. It’s ironic, in fact, that poverty today is more severe by far than that faced by people thousands of years ago. I can’t prove this on the fly, but I think it must be true. The past century has seen government regimes which have inflicted inconceivable poverty and living conditions upon huge populations, and that seems to be a particular evil of the modern era.
So no, because of that, I don’t think efforts to *completely* stamp out poverty will ever succeed. However, I think my main point remains, which is that Christians (well, really, everybody, Christian or not) in the modern era are the first in history with the opportunity to fight for the end of poverty wherever it is possible. In other words, wherever it is not prevented by the presence of evil, oppressive systems of governance.
And of course, the rub is that one of the best ways we can do this is not by throwing money at poverty itself, but by fighting for the preservation and continuation of wisely-regulated free-market capitalism, which will do an infinitely better job than simple money ever could. This does not excuse us from our responsibility of getting right down into the mud with hands-on love of the poor, and thus it is not an excuse for inaction. Rather it is an expansion of our responsibility beyond what we have traditionally faced.
Holy cow this comment is long. I’ll wrap it up there. I hope my argument makes sense. Would love to hear what people think.
Anyway, just my two cents.
-StanTheMan
I messed up the doctors w/o borders link near the end of my comment above (I forgot the “http://”). If you wouldn’t mind fixing it, I don’t see a way to edit
And feel free to delete this little comment here, it just seemed the quickest way to tell you about the messed-up link.
And thanks for posting!
Wow, StanTheMan!!! What a great comment! Great links, too!
You sound like you’ve thought about this topic at LEAST as long as I have. Surely when Christ returns we will be drawn up together in the exclusive “first wave”.
If I may clarify a bit my “fight, don’t end” stance… I think it was more an observation of the ineptitude (or sin, whatever) of some humans to actively gets themselves into poverty despite having every chance of success slathered on them by others.
I’m not talking about the country who, through free-market prosperity, has now established a solid water and electricity system that has bolstered their agriculture to the point of major exporting (and by extension potential food for all). No, I’m talking about the person who’ll quit their great job… blow their plentiful cash (and any cash given them by others) on drugs and alcohol… and, despite every chance at success, will ACTIVELY PUT THEMSELVES into “poverty”.
But, I think I agree with your major point… in that despite income inequities that eventually – in theory – poverty as a global issue could effectively “end”.
And I also agree that that won’t ever happen.
For the same reasons… greed, corruption, control, power… just take a gander at most any third-world government and list off their major flaws and you’ll get a list matching our reasons. Coincidence? 
Some well-meaning but logically-retarded “Christ-followers” have oh-so missed the boat on this issue — as Alister McGrath was just saying on Ravi Zacharais’ podcast, many young Christians have gotten so involved in serving Christ through fighting social injustice that they have in the process abandoned Christ!?
Thanks so much for stopping by!!! (oh yeah, and I fixed your link for you)
Well, not to start this post with a piggyback remark, but I completely agree with what is being said here. Poverty will never be a solved issue, but we are all still called to fight it.
One thing that we can do is be smarter consumers, and buy products that are effectively supporting foreign economies. For example, coffee. Although buying fair trade coffee is not the best answer to help coffee growers in parts of Africa, it still helps many farmers to receive fair wages. War and corrupt politics are the main reason for their problems, but fair trade is something that we can do to help.
Just one little tidbit there! I like the idea of Blog Action Day . . .
Cheers!
Hey, Steve. Slowly getting over this election thing and trying to remember that God is still on the throne. Anyway…you said this very well. I have become very frustrated with Christians who make out like if you don’t want the government to take your money then you must be selfish selfish selfish. Or if you want to actually help people move forward (those who can, of course; there ARE people who are unable to help themselves and we, as the body of Christ are called to help them). rather than enable them, it’s sort of a tough nut to crack to try and get a balanced view. Personally, I feel that I would rather choose how I am going to help the less fortunate than let the government do it for me in their own extremely inefficient manner. I found this very interesting post today which does give one some food for thought about the whole wealth redistribution thing.
Right now, I am just pissed and I am reacting, but I just can’t get into the unmitigated joy that a lot of people are feeling right now.
Hello Steve,
My name is Becca and I work with Compassion International. I was doing some research recently and I came across your blog, http://negative99.com/faith/blog-action-day-2008-poverty/. I know this was posted a while back but I noticed that you Sponsor a Child in Bolivia. Thank you so much for your support and love for that little girl.
Also, I wanted to thank you for taking the time to share with everyone your experiences with Compassion. This is a terrific way to help spread the word about Compassion and encourage others to help children living in poverty.
Do you think it would be possible for you to add a Compassion banner on your site? If so, our banner and widget creative is available at the link below.
http://share-compassion.org/widgets/featuredchild/web/getHTML.php5?referer=&refererrequired=2
Thank you for your efforts to help release children from poverty in Jesus’ name!
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me.
Be Blessed,
Becca Brickey
Compassion International
Dear: Steve
My name is Angelene and I work with Compassion International. I was doing some research recently and I came across your site http://negative99.com/faith/blog-action-day-2008-poverty/. I know you sponsor a child in Bolivia and wanted to say thanks for supporting her and giving her hope.
I wanted to know also if you would team with Compassion International and add a Compassion banner or widget to your site? If so, our banner and widget creative is available at the link below.
http://share-compassion.org/widgets/featuredchild/web/getHTML.php5?referer=&refererrequired=2
Thank you for your efforts to help release children from poverty in Jesus’ name!
If you have any questions about this, please feel free to contact me.
May God richly bless you!
Angelene Dimino
Compassion International
adimino@us.ci.org
719-272-5361