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Abundant riches for the scarce few

15 Sep 2013 - Preaching the News for Sunday

“Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant,” exclaims the author in the reading from 1 Timothy this Sunday. The wealthiest 1 percent of the population in the U.S. has experienced abundance in their fortunes, with income growth of more than 31 percent in recent years, while the rest of the population has had to get by with less than half a percentage point of growth in income.The result? The wealth gap between the top 1 percent and the other 99 percent in the U.S. is as wide as it's been in nearly 100 years, a new study found.Between 1993 and 2012 the real incomes of the 1 percent grew 86.1 percent, while those of the 99 percent grew 6.6 percent, according to a study based on Internal Revenue Service statistics examined by economists at the Univerity of California Berkeley, the Paris School of Economics, and Oxford University."This implies that the top 1 percent incomes captured just over two-thirds of the overall economic growth of real incomes per family over the period 1993-2012," wrote conomist Emmanuel Saez of UC Berkeley.The 1929 stock market crash that preceded the Great Depression, followed by World War II, reduced an earlier national income gap for decades. But it began to grow again in the 1970s and has widened since.Saez attributes the trend not only to technology and job outsourcing but also to the reduced power of progressive tax policies and unions, along with "changing social norms regarding pay inequality."Homily hint: There was a time not long ago where the kind of money routinely handed out today to CEO’s, celebrities, sports figures, and the like would have been considered inappropriate if not obscenely disproportionate. Inflated salaries at the top create a cultural attitude in which increasing income stratification can flourish unchallenged, where it is OK for the few to make a lot and the many to make a little. Point out that this attitude is hard to reconcile with democracy, much less with gospel values. Source: An article by Connie Steward for the Los Angeles Times

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Presidential message: No time to stand still

02 Feb 2014 - Preaching the News for Sunday

Jewish law at the time of Jesus dictated that the firstborn male be presented at the Temple, giving rise to the feast we celebrate this Sunday. U.S. constitutional law requires that the president each year make a presentation before Congress and the nation on the state of the union. Despite a high level of political discord, President Barack Obama promised to move his agenda forward—with or without congressional action.After five years of fractious political combat, Obama declared independence from Congress on Tuesday as he vowed to tackle economic disparity with a series of limited initiatives on jobs, wages, and retirement that he will enact without legislative approval.“I’m eager to work with all of you,” the president told lawmakers of both parties in the 65-minute nationally televised speech in the chamber of the House of Representatives. “But America does not stand still—and neither will I. So wherever and whenever I can take steps without legislation to expand opportunity for more American families, that’s what I’m going to do.”Obama’s message centered on the wide gap between the wealthiest and other Americans as he positioned himself as a champion of those left behind in the modern economy. “Those at the top have never done better,” he said. “But average wages have barely budged. Inequality has deepened. Upward mobility has stalled.“The cold, hard fact is that even in the midst of recovery, too many Americans are working more than ever just to get by, let alone to get ahead,” he added. “And too many still aren’t working at all. So our job is to reverse these trends.”Republicans responded by blaming the president for the country’s economic problems, but the party’s leaders avoided the language of last year’s government shutdown and hoped to present what Representative Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington called “a more hopeful, Republican vision” intended to appeal particularly to women in a midterm election year.Homily hint: With so much partisan discord, it is easy to see how political fatigue can set in, but there is no room for complacency in a healthy society—or in a healthy church for that matter. Stay engaged, continue to care, and do what you can to make your country a better country—and your church a better church. Source: An article by Doug Mills for the New York Times

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The wealth of nations

22 Jan 2017 - Preaching the News for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

The psalmist this Sunday is confident that a time of abundance is coming in this lifetime: “I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living.” According to statistics from the charity Oxfam, however, the poorest half of humanity have a long wait ahead of them. In fact, even as the world’s economies have expanded, their riches are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, says Oxfam--so much so that the richest eight billionaires today hold as much wealth as the poorest half. Oxfam presented its report on widening inequality at the World Economic Forum annual summit which opened on Tuesday in Davos, Switzerland. While the event is attended by the world’s top business executives, policy makers, and academics, the forum often focuses on issues touching on economic justice, such as income inequality. This year’s forum theme, for instance, is “responsive and responsible leadership.” Oxfam said it didn’t name the richest eight billionaires in its report because its goal is to call attention to the political and economic mechanics that are creating widening inequality. Still, the eight billionaires are those at the top of the Forbes’ billionaire list, many of whom have pledged to spend large portions of their fortunes on charity. The list includes six well-known leaders of U.S. companies, five of which are computer or internet related: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, investor Warren Buffet, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, media mogul Michael Bloomberg, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison. The problem goes deeper than simple concentration, Oxfam argues, since the rich-get-richer phenomenon is creating a feedback loop, where the richest have more resources to spend on creating favorable outcomes, such as lower taxation for the wealthy or lobbyists who can help sway lawmakers. “It puts in stark terms the biblical proportions of the economic health of the world, where eight people have as much economic power as 3.6 billion people,” said Gawain Kripke, the director of policy and research at Oxfam American. “There is a moral frame to this: Is it right that so much economic power adhere to those few individuals? Is our economy working right if this is what is happening? Is it moral that so many people struggle when so much wealth is available?” The incomes of the poorest people in the world increased a mere $65 between 1988 to 2011, or about an additional $3 per year, the Oxfam report found. Yet the incomes of the richest 10 percent increased 182 times as much, putting an additional $11,800 per year in their pockets. The research echoes recent findings from economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman, who in December published research that examined how Americans experienced the economic expansion since the 1970s. Roughly 117 million American adults are living on income that has stagnated at $16,200 per year before taxes and transfer payments, they found. At the same time, the richest 1 percent have enjoyed growing income levels. Their conclusion: The bottom half of the U.S. population has been “shut off from economic growth for over 40 years.” Lessons drawn from the readings Jesus has a simple and direct message in this Sunday’s gospel, equally appropriate to his audience at that time and to we who hear the words today: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Severe stratification of wealth has led to ruin and revolution in ages past. It could happen again, especially if we do not heed the signs of the times. Top executives in large U.S. corporations now take home around 300 times what the same corporation's median worker receives. That's far more than in other countries or at other times—and the disparity can't be explained simply by productivity gains. In many cases, corporate CEOs take home so much simply because they can—doing so at the expense not only of their workers but of the long-term growth of the company, experts say. Final thought in light of the news There is nothing inherently wrong with wealth—in fact, prosperity has brought many blessings in its wake, alleviating much personal and social suffering, when shared fairly and applied with wisdom. But wealth is a two-edged sword, as Jesus taught us. We can be its master—or its slave. If we continue to act as if there are no moral implications to the unequal distribution of wealth, we will all be the poorer for it. Speak up and work for governmental budgets and policies that are equitable, and if you are in a position to do so, treat those in your employ fairly and generously. Let’s work together for that day when, as the reading from the prophet Isaiah puts it, “anguish has taken wing, dispelled is darkness.” The good you do will come back to you!

oxfam wealth gap income disparity income inequality billionaires

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Quote of the week

22 Jan 2017 - Preaching the News for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

"Inequality is trapping hundreds of millions in poverty. It is fracturing our societies and undermining democracy." --Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International Gulf Between Richest And Poorest Is Wider Than Previously Thought, Oxfam Says

income disparity income inequality wealth gap poverty oxfam

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Fact of the week

22 Jan 2017 - Preaching the News for the Third Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cycle A

At current trends, it will take 170 years for women to be paid the same as men for the same work. Oxfam International

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