Jack’s Winning Words 12/19/08
“The rich are always advising the poor, but the poor seldom return the compliment.” (Lord Chesterfield) Our Optimist Club usually does things for the needy at this time of the year. I think that we could do a better job of it, if we had had the experience of really being poor. The Parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Lk 16:19-31) is an example of this. I once heard a needy person say, “You just don’t understand.” It was a statement and not a complaint. ;-) Jack
FROM GOOD DEBT JON: I've been poor before, it is highly overrated.
FROM YOOPER B.L.: That's one of the joys of going to Tanzania. When we are there for an extended period of time the folks are free in commenting upon our lifestyle and what we might accomplish better by working together.
FROM S.A. IN MI: In respond to the poor; as a Chaldean/Iraqi/American, there is a saying within the culture I will translate it to English the best way I can. It says " people who are full(as full after a large meal) have no clue about the hungry ones."
FROM MOLINER G.S.: how true, how true
FROM MOLINER C.F.: Anybody who went through the Great Depression understands what being poor means. They also know that you can Work your way out of it.
FROM OUTHOUSE JUDY: Been there...done that...hopefully never again. JACK'S REPLY: We are what we are, because of what we were....I think!
2 comments:
I think we think we have a clue about needy people but it is the wrong clue. It's the clue that makes us afraid of closer associations, that makes us live in segregated housing, shop in segregated malls, go to school in segregated schools, ride segregated modes of transportation, use hospitals, doctors and dentists that are more for wealthier people. If we had the right clue about needy people, we might be a less classist society, less segregated between poor and wealthy. Can you use the word segregated to refer to the divisions between economic classes?
Peace,
Sharon
I'm thankful we still have a lot of people around who went through the Great Depression and who may have some key insights as to how best people can Work to come out of this economic downturn we are facing now. I believe the solution may lay in community cooperation, as well as individual effort. As a child some of my relatives would talk about the the WPA, at least that's what I think it was called, putting people back to work. One of my teachers taught us that poverty used to be thought about as a personal problem but when so many people were facing hunger and great need during the Great Depression, people started to realize it was a societal problem. The Great Depression impacted us, that's for sure.
Sharon
Post a Comment