This weekend a friend of mine shared this depressing video on incoming inequality in the United States:
I responded half-jokingly that since it is Christmas I need to go read the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55) to make myself feel better. In that song Mary is presented as singing of the exaltation of the humble (v. 52b) and the filling of the hungry (v. 53a) as well as the scattering of the proud (v. 51b) and the rejection of the rich (v. 53b). For a citizen of the United States I’m not wealthy, but I’m comfortable. I have housing, food and drink, a nice car, some fancy technology, and the financial standing to continue my education beyond what most people have available to them. I’m not impoverished, at all. Many of my fellow citizens face far greater struggles.
To put things into perspective though, I have seen a chart that say about 48% of the world’s population lives on two or less US dollars a day. Also, I’ve read somewhere that if every human used the resources that the average US citizen uses we’d need thirty or so planet earths. While I’m sure that this statistic is inflated by our most wealthy it serves as a reminder that on the world scale, and in relation to most humans in our brief existence as a species, I’m quite wealthy. I know the solution is not as easy as overthrowing capitalism, or selling all my possessions in order to feel as if I am virtuous, but it is a troubling reminder that relative to many others I am not the one singing the Magnificat because I am hungry and poor, but instead, I might still be the proud and the rich who at the Great Judgment is reminded how much I had in this life.
As a side note I was told by my friend Greg Monette that the Gospel of Luke SBL Session on Monday, November 25th, (titled An Embarrassment of Riches? Wealth and Poverty in the Gospel of Luke) went from a scholarly discussion to a “spiritual experience” as the panelists became somewhat emotional while discussing the Lukan view of wealth (most notably Christopher M. Hays’ presentation). The audience wasn’t just asking questions about the past, but “what can we do now?” The Third Gospel contains a radical message where, “Blessed are the poor, for yours is the Kingdom of God” challenges even the most scholarly and sophisticated of readers. For comfortable, privileged citizens of the United States like me there is a temptation to want more because the opportunity for social mobility presents itself, but this must be challenged by the reminder that there are so many with so much less and with little opportunity for change both in my own country and around the world. This troubling reminder makes reading the Magnificat a very different experience.
Thanks for the link to the insightful chart. The quirkiest statistic on there is that 75% have cell phones. So at least half of those living on less that $2/day have cell phones. I don’t doubt this statistic.I saw it first hand in East Africa several years ago and was completely dumbfounded by it.
That is a strange static. I wonder if cell phones have gotten that cheap, or do old cell phones in places like North America and Europe get resold for super cheap in other parts of the world, or do wealthier people like business owners provide family and neighbors with the technology?
Brian,
Thanks for this reminder. I also just saw this on my feed (http://www.nytimes.com/projects/2013/invisible-child/#/?chapt=1), shocking to see that according to this article, we have the highest child poverty rate of any developed nation but Romania…
Here’s a good tool from the excellent “Giving What We Can” site to estimate how your household income compares globally:
http://www.givingwhatwecan.org/why-give/how-rich-am-i
Definitely changes your perspective.
@Mike: That is sad. Homelessness is terrible, but it feels even worse to see children who have to live that way. Reminds me that even the small things like a roof over my head are privileges.
@spinkham: Indeed, I don’t think of myself as being in the top 10% but the fact of the matter is I am comparatively quite wealthy. What a great, somewhat overwhelming responsibility that presents.