{"id":3111,"date":"2014-05-06T08:49:23","date_gmt":"2014-05-06T14:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/?p=3111"},"modified":"2014-05-06T09:03:30","modified_gmt":"2014-05-06T15:03:30","slug":"poverty-inequality-are-symptoms-of-a-fundamental-problem-we-want-to-live-without-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/paperbacktheology\/2014\/05\/poverty-inequality-are-symptoms-of-a-fundamental-problem-we-want-to-live-without-limits.html","title":{"rendered":"Poverty, Inequality are Symptoms of a Fundamental Problem: We Want to Live Without Limits"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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Do a Google Image search for the phrase \u201cNo Limits\u201d and see how many of the hits are from churches promoting a sermon series by that title. That\u2019ll tell you how far off the church is on one of the most important problems plaguing our contemporary culture.<\/p>\n

It seems as though we\u2019ve reached a tipping point in American society, and most people are at least somewhat aware\/accepting of the reality that much of the world\u2019s poverty is systemic. Most of the world\u2019s people are poor not because they\u2019ve made bad choices or don\u2019t want to work hard, but because they are part of a complex social, economic, and political system that needs winners and losers. North American poverty, in particular, is largely generational and systemic. I don\u2019t know many people who argue against this today.<\/p>\n

Because of the acknowledgement of systemic issues, more attention has been given to considering the systems at work in our society and the world. Movements like Occupy Wall Street<\/em> have brought attention to the concentration of power and wealth among the 1%. For instance:<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil the 1980s, corporate CEOs in America were paid, on average, 30 times what their typical worker was paid. Since then, CEO pay has skyrocketed to 280 times the pay of a typical worker; in big companies, to 354 times. Meanwhile, over the same 30-year time span, the median American worker has seen no pay increase at all, adjusted for inflation. Even though the pay of male workers continues to outpace that of females, the typical male worker between the ages of 25 and 44 peaked in 1973 and has been dropping ever since. Wages of the median male worker across all age brackets has dropped 10 percent, after inflation, since 2000.\u201d (Robert Reich, Kansas City Star<\/em>, April 29, 2014<\/a>)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The problem of wealth\/power concentration in the hands of a few is a huge issue, and is something that needs to be immediately addressed on a national and even global level. However, American opulence extends far beyond CEOs and the 1%. Just a quick snapshot of American society shows that we are hooked on our own opulent lifestyle and it impacts everything from our own bodies, to the way we organize our society, and even the wider world.\u00a0Here are a few interesting examples:<\/p>\n

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