Teach a Man to Fish
The term "social justice" is getting a lot of traction with Christian communities and organizations in the U.S. The idea carries an assumption that "justice" means equality of standard of living. It is the idea that it is unjust that Bill Gates has a giant mansion and there are people in the heart of the city that are having trouble feeding their families and paying their rent. To a social-justice proponent, this is not only unfair, but unjust.
This concept is based on the assumption that justice means equality of standard-of-living. This is certainly at-odds with our constitution and with the econmic foundations of our country. The constitution explicitly gaurantees "the pursuit of hapiness" as a right. Most constitutional scholars agree that this can be translated "the pursuit of wealth" for legal purposes. The phrase "the pursuit of" is the key difference between how I see justice and how social-justice proponents see justice.
There are two keys to gaining wealth in the U.S.: 1) Education (knowledge) and 2) Excessive Cash. When I write excessive cash, I don't mean to suggest that it has to be an exhorbitant amount, I just mean that you need cash above and beyond what you need to live. One of the reasons there is so much opportunity in this country is that it is relatively easy to borrow money and get the excessive cash you need in order to build a business, buy real estate, or for any other purpose. You can also buy a car or a boat or a television on borrowed money which is where the education comes in. Just as there is an abudance of opportunity to gain wealth in the U.S. there is also and abundance of opportunity to lose it. There are many opportunities which allow you to live like a rich person without actually being rich. I have neighbors who can barely pay their rent and they are driving brand new Cadillac Escalades while I own my house and several others and drive a 24 year old Toyota with over 200K miles. The difference here is the second key to wealth building: Education.
Many Christians will have closed the browser window by now because wealth is considered evil. Wealth implies an over-abundance or a hoarding to many Christians. I call it good stewardship. That is because on the same income, with some better financial practices, the same person can vastly improve their financial situation. That is more than justice, that is freedom.
Most organizations that work with the poor, do not emphasize financial education (or any other type of education). It seems to me that social justice organizations are trying to change laws in order to force the middle class and wealthy to take pay the rent and bills of the poor. Don't get me wrong, I don't want anyone to go hungry. But wouldn't it be better for us to be teaching the poor how to escape their poverty? Shouldn't minority leaders be crying "Education!" instead of crying "Injustice!"?
Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime.
My whole argument assumes that we're talking about the U.S. - where we have the greatest financial opportunities mankind has ever seen. What do we do for the poor in countries where they do not have opportunity like we have here? In some cases, they can also be brought education and infrastructure that allows them to improve their situation. In other cases, however, their government or economic structures simply don't allow them to better their situation. I don't know the answer to this question.
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