The economic downturn of the past couple of years has affected everyone, right? After all, those poor bankers and industrialists needed the rest of us to bail them out, and didn't our governments do a good job of keeping them off welfare? Okay, that sounds cynical and we are seeing that there have been positive results from some of those bail-outs.
I was interested to hear yesterday that the rich have been getting richer in Canada despite tougher economic times. The wealthest segment of the populace has steadily taken hold of more of the pie during the past three decades. The wealthiest 1 percent have doubled their portion, the richest .01 percent have quadrupled, and the super-richest .001 have quintupled their wealth. It warms the heart, doesn't it?
Meanwhile the middle-class has stagnated during that time. Of course, as a middle class Canadian I realize that I am wealthy beyond the wildest dreams of most of the world's population, and I am grateful for the accident of my birth into this prosperous country. Well, my mom doesn't consider my birth an accident, but you get what I mean. And I have known people through the years who are prosperous and even wealthy who have generously shared their good fortune with others.
A passage which comes up every year in this season is the Magnificat in the first chapter of Luke's gospel. It includes these thoughts:
And Mary said: my soul magnifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour...
God has shown strength with his arm;
he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.
He has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly;
he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty...
We haven't quite arrived at this vision have we, but God isn't finished with us yet. What do you make of this latest report about the wealth of the country's elite? Are you discouraged, even angry? Are you willing to admit that in some respects you are rich? Is it our role as Christians to work toward greater fairness and economic equality?
2 comments:
We in North America are in the final throes of the 30 year Reagan Revolution, and surely most have realized that wealth does NOT trickle down to the rest of us from "on high." Even in Canada, we are not immune from this philosophy and its enactment.
That said, there isn't a day that goes by where I'm not thankful that our Canadian social safety net is in place. And still, so much need still exists ...
I don't begrudge anyone who has alot of money. I'm sure they earned it, or inherited it from someone who did.
It's the greed I don't like. How much is enough? There are so many good causes out there that could use a few bucks. Don't break your self, but try giving. It feels pretty good too.
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