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« The Christmas Story from Luke 2:6-7 | Main | Two YNAB Winners Named »

December 23, 2007

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Is an Ameircan with negative net worth really more wealthy than almost all the people in the world?

The series sounds interesting, but what surprises me is that the pastor is charging people to download it.

You can listen or watch any of these messages for free, but if you want to download the message you have to pay for it. This seems pretty reasonable to me. Especially since they put no limits on reusing their intellectual property once you have paid for it. Andy Stanley is one of the best speakers in the county (Christian or otherwise) and it is a steal to download him speaking for the same price you get your music from itunes.

Outstanding post--thank you.

"Is an American with negative net worth really more wealthy than almost all the people in the world?"

This is an interesting question, but I still believe the answer is yes. It is important to remember not all assets are strictly financial.

American citizenship is very valuable in itself. Our poorest citizens are given free food, free housing, free medical care, and even spending money. Citizens who are unable or unwilling to work have access to these funds and enjoy essentials like running water, but also luxuries like heated housing, air conditioning, refrigerated food storage, telephones, televisions, and even computers with internet access.

Aaron summed it up quite well. In this country even our poor are well fed when compared to the poor in, say, most African nations. Through our current entitlement system many who are among our poorest not because of disabilities but because of bad situations and (sometimes) bad choices are encouraged to stay poor. They are encouraged to lower their self esteem and drink at the teet of mother welfare.

I like the OT Biblical view of how to help with the poor. The community did help out but they didn't just give free handouts. In the various instructions that you can find in the mosaic books you see the rules for how to harvest your field. Basically the landowners would not go for everything, they would leave parts of their crops unharvested for the poor to harvest for themselves. Also if they were to drop the harvest while gathering it they would leave it, again for the poor to "harvest". That important subtle notion helps preserve self respect and self confidence.

I am not saying that our poor are all a bunch of losers. I am not saying that everyone on welfare should not be. What I am saying is that the current system does not help those who could work if they were helped to get to that point, it doesn't help subsequent generations. The reason you see "socio-economic" problems is because of a vicious cycle. You see children of welfare recipients making similar choices in life or ending up in similar situations. Part of this reason is because the current welfare system doesn't really have an incentive not to.

Now again I am not trying to paint with a wide brush and I am most certainly not talking about every case but imagine if we had a system that encouraged people to get off of it. Mandatory job skills training, job aptitude testing, financial assistance with child care for single parents while they receive education (that is assisted either outright or with 0% interest rate loans) and then acclimate to a career. Pick careers that are in need (nursing in some areas, for example) and that a person shows an aptitude to. Guide them towards it and set up benchmarks or milestones. If the milestones are not met (certain GPA, certain timing on repayment, number of hours worked eventually, etc.) the dole is cut. Tough love, yes, but what you end up getting is someone who can sit back at the end of it all and say "Hey! I am doing something with my life!!! Everyone told me I was supposed to be a burden and a leech but now I am contributing!"... You do this and they have pride and self worth, their children have pride and self worth and they are going to choose to work hard and not allow a gang to tell them that "you are nothing, so you might as well become part of our "brotherhood" and join up and help sell drugs".

I think allowing churches (regardless of faith or denomination.. I am a christian and while I know from scripture that there is only one way I also know that we are a free nation and that other faiths still do "help" people in the temporal, worldly sense of the world) and civic organizations to help contribue to this system and to help administer the system would also help ensure that pride and self worth are an important part.

I also like the story of the sparrows in the Bible.. Most of us know it. Not really a story, just a comment. Jesus was talking to someone (I believe it was Jesus speaking) and he was basically saying (this is the Mike W paraphrase version) God ensures they are fed and takes care of them. We are his children, imagine how much more he'll take care of us.

I heard a graet commentary on this once. Maybe it was David Jeromiah. You ever see a sparrow? Jesus Himself told us that God cares for them. That means they can sit in their nest, sleep in all day and manna will appear each morning to give them food, right?

No! They are out every single day waking up way before I do searching hard for their food, pruning or building nests and providing for their young. The majority of their days are spent working for food.

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