World poverty is only half the problem

Who do we think we are kidding? There is a deceit at the heart of third-world development.

When we see people starving on our TVs due to a drought in some part of the world, we may respond with compassion, send some immediate aid and perhaps consider longer-term strategies aimed at helping people to help themselves.

And when we see the economy of some developing country improving and making progress towards lifting their population out of poverty, we are thankful as we see living standards being raised. Along with any altruistic motives, our guilt is also assuaged and there is probably relief that a part of the world needs less of our money and aid.

But this is only half the development story, as it propagates the assumption that under-developed nations should aspire to Western standards of life. The other half of the needed change is carefully suppressed and rarely spoken.

We also need to address first-world over-consumption and greed. Unless the West reduces its consumption of raw materials all round, and until we live in a sustainable way – that is, not plundering the rest for the few in the West – then we are continuing to buy the lie that can we raise the standards of the poor, but not lower the living standards of us who are rich. We cannot round everyone up to the level of the West.

It cannot be done!

Moreover, keeping the focus on the developing nations is also a way of avoiding (or even acknowledging) our own need to change!

Real progress would be to greatly simplify our Western lifestyles whilst also addressing the abject poverty of the many.

Perhaps we can stop raging against the current economic downturn and 'austerity measures' in many Western nations, and see it as the beginning (just the beginning) of going in the right direction. This would also mean dropping the delusion that the current downwards direction of travel is temporary and soon we'll be back to 'business as usual' - which means more raping the planet and exploiting the poor.

Austerity sounds harsh, but it could offer a simpler life, with less clutter, more balance, less rush and more time - which sounds good to me! However, for this to be so, also means tackling the growing inequalities in our own Western countries. While we continue to tolerate great disparities of wealth within the West, we have no difficulty accepting such inequality between rich and poor nations. If we do not tackle our local wealth gap, austerity just means that the wealthy are protected while others, especially the young, are cast into unemployment. Moreover, the West will pay even less to our wage-slaves in developing countries, as we export our misery in order to protect ourselves. That doesn't sound good to me!

Andrew Carnegie, one of the richest men the world has ever known, said "The man who dies rich dies disgraced" and went on to give away most of his fortune through philanthropic enterprises. Jose Mujica, the current president of Uruguay, who has been described as 'the world's poorest president' (see: www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20243493) says, "Poor people are those who only work to try to keep an expensive lifestyle, and always want more and more".

Personally, I am for getting materially poorer in order to work towards greater equality and fair shares all round. Then we will all be richer!

Being distinctively Christian

When Jesus commanded his followers to be salt and light, he was making clear that they were to be clearly different from their non-Christian neighbours: light in a dark world, etc. After all, if being a Christian makes no visible difference, then what is the point? And if those who are in the dark cannot see the light, then they will never be saved.

It's strange, then, how much effort some Christians take to distinguish their particular theological brand or denomination from other Christian brands or denominations - as if Christianity was some kind of internal competitive market.

Where Christians put more effort into this internal competition than being distinctively 'light' in a dark world, I wonder what's going on and who is being served.

I don't think that was what Jesus had in mind!

Pushing the boundaries

It's common childhood behaviour to push boundaries. In fact, long before teenage-hood, children discover the power and felt enjoyment in saying "No!". And usually it is only much later that we realise the reasons for those rules, which were usually designed for our own good.

God the Father, like human fathers (and mothers) also lays down the limits, the rules, the boundaries. Unlike human fathers, God's rules are always for our good. But, like children, we, the human race, are well practised in saying 'no' and pushing any boundaries we dislike.

The most basic set of rules were set out by God in the 10 commandments:

God said: “I am the Lord your God ... You shall have no other gods before me."
And we said: "All religions are of equal value and each person can worship whatever or whomever they want; equality demands that no god is put before others".

God said: “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God"
And we said: "If I want to bow down to manmade statues or ideas, or to worship money and material things, why shouldn't I?"

God said: “You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name."
And we said: "Jesus, can't I even say what I want?"

God said: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy."
And we said: "No chance! Sunday is the best shopping day!"

God said: “Honour your father and your mother"
And we said: "Honour them! It was due to them that I inherited these ugly genes, and it was them who screwed me up as a child by continually nagging and denying me what I wanted."

God said: “You shall not murder."
And we said: "On this we agree, though if people get killed in the third world through our using cheap labour, that's not our fault, it's just market forces."

God said: “You shall not commit adultery."
And we said: "Eh? What consenting adults do behind closed doors is up to them, so don't treat us like children!"

God said: “You shall not steal."
And we said: "You shall not steal my things. But if I rob those in the third world and future generations, that doesn't count."

God said: “You shall not give false testimony against your neighbour."
And we said: "I deny it! And if you continue with that slander I'll call my solicitor!"

God said: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house ... or anything that belongs to your neighbour.”
And we said: "But he's got a bigger house than me, and just look at that car!

It seems we're still toddlers pushing boundaries...


Bible excerpts from Exodus Ch20 (NIV)

It's not fair!

How often do we feel or hear someone say that something's not fair? Well, I want to add my voice too.

It's not fair:

• That I have clean water to drink
• That I have enough food to eat
• That I have a roof over my head and warmth when it's cold
• That I have felt safe within a reasonable rule of law
• That I have good health
• That I received a good education
• That I have a job which is fulfilling and interesting
• That my income puts me in the richest one or two percent in the world*
• That I have lived nearly 6 decades without experiencing war at first hand.

Nor is it fair that Jesus found me and took me under His saving wing**.

It's not fair!

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* See www.givingwhatwecan.org/ or www.globalrichlist.com to see where your income lies in the world rankings
** This last point, alone in the above list, is available to everyone. However, it's totally undeserved, and so is also not fair.

This special generation

The 'baby boomer' generation, born in the West in the years after the 2nd World War and now in their 50s and 60s, has been a remarkable generation!

They:

• "Never had it so good" in the 1950s and 1960s, due to the dramatic rise in the standard of living
• Liked the sound of 'free sex' in the 1960s and went for it big time with the aid of easy contraception
• Ditched marriage in favour of easy divorce
• Invented credit cards and spent, spent, spent
• Stopped worshipping God and started worshipping themselves, and money
• Turned their backs on community, and even family, in favour of individualism
• Came to think that materialism was normal and became consumers par excellence, wanting more, more, more
• Forgot that loans have to be repaid, with interest
• Took rising standards of living for granted, an assumed infinite progression
• Became besotted with 'progress', assuming that it is normal and always good
• Turned houses into financial assets rather than places to live, and so shut their children out of home ownership
• Forgot responsibility, but demanded their rights
• Discarded troublesome honesty and adopted 'spin' and deceit
• Enjoyed unprecedented decades of peace*, but exported war to other parts of the world through the arms trade and 'direct intervention'
• Thought slavery had been abolished long ago, but kept the majority of the world in poverty in order to fund their lifestyles
• And exploited & consumed far more of the world's resources than any other generation in history, leaving an unbearable debt burden and a denuded and polluted world for their children and children's children.

This special generation! This self-indulgent and avaricious generation.


* I am very well aware that there has been war in various parts of the world throughout all these years, including many directly involving the US and European armed forces. Yet it remains a fact that most of this generation has - very unusually - not experienced war at first hand.

5 ways to well-being

Returning to the theme of wellbeing (see Seeking well-being rather than salvation), I have been very struck by a paper by the 'New Economics Forum' (NEF) who reviewed the evidence for what activities enhance wellbeing and also reduces the risk of mental health problems. The NEF is an independent think tank whose tag line is 'economics as if people and the planet mattered'.

As a counsellor I am impressed with the findings they present in this paper. Here is the simple summary, in the report's own words:

Five ways to well-being*

A review of the most up-to-date evidence suggests that building the following five actions into our day-to-day lives is important for well-being:

Connect...
With the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

Be active...
Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy and that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

Take notice...
Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

Keep learning...
Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun.

Give...
Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you.


But I am most struck as a Christian with how closely these mesh with values at the heart of the Christian gospel. Jesus told us 2000 years ago that:

• relationships matter greatly - with our Father in heaven, with our families, our neighbours and community; we are even to love our enemies
• our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit and we are to take care of them
• we should notice with awe, praise and thanks the remarkable works of our amazing Creator
• there is always more to know of God our Father, and that we are to strive to become mature, the people that God intended and more clearly reflecting the image of Christ
• and that it is more blessed to give than to receive.

Still, I suppose it's not a surprise that God knows what is good for us.


* The full Report is available from the New Economics Forum website.

Love your neighbour as yourself

Jesus said that the second most important command was to "Love your neighbour as yourself" (Matthew 22 v39, quoting Leviticus 19 v18), as if loving ourselves was the most natural thing in the world and this clearly explained how we should go about loving our neighbours.

It's true that most people tend to eat when they are hungry, warm themselves when they are cold, seek security when they are fearful, etc. But is Jesus simply saying that loving our neighbour involves feeding or warming others when they're are hungry or cold, and offering security when they are afraid?

Moreover, working as a counsellor, I sometimes talk with people who self-harm, have eating disorders, or feel suicidal - people who appear not to know how to love themselves, let alone love others. Even those who don't struggle with such problems frequently behave in ways that are likely to leave them wounded - through the misuse of sex, alcohol or just leading an unhealthy lifestyle. In fact, when it comes down to it, all of us behave in ways that are selfish or self-damaging in various ways. And this isn't loving ourselves - it's love gone wrong, turned into greed or self-worship.

So do any of us really know what it is to love ourselves?

There is more to Jesus' command than simple advice to 'do as you would be done by', which, in the minds of many people is just seen as 'be nice to others in the hope that they'll be nice back', or is sometimes expressed as 'what goes around, comes around'.

Perhaps we need to understand more about love? What did Jesus mean when he said we should love both our neighbours and ourselves?

I drew a distinction between worldly and Godly views of love in one of my earliest posts - Whatever you do, don't love me - but we should look at that wonderful description of Christian love in the Bible to get a clear insight into what it is to love someone.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. (1 Corinthians 13 v4-7)

This is proactive love - actively seeking ways to do good to our neighbour; it is much more than merely being nice to people.

Perhaps it is also then an instruction into how we should go about loving ourselves as well as our neighbour? Are we patient and kind towards ourselves? Do we let go of our anger and our grudges - even those we hold towards ourselves? Are we honest with ourselves? Do we forgive ourselves, protect ourselves? Do we trust ourselves - or do we try to deceive ourselves? Do we keep hoping and persevering, trusting that God will bring his good work in us to completion?

If we actively love ourselves in this way - knowing God first loved us - we may also become better at loving our neighbour.