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let me welcome you this morning to the curry lecture of the 2013 curry lecturers. I want to welcome not only those of you who are right here in front of us, but also to make us all

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aware there's another crowd of people across campus over here who are also watching the lectures and we want to welcome you as well. We're all here together this morning um and uh celebration. Um please pray with

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me for one moment. God, we thank you for the gift of this time where we can reflect together and open ourselves to your spirit, May our ears and eyes be open to you. I'm in

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our 2013 curry lecturer is the reverend dr Elizabeth L Henson Hasty Dr Henson. Hasty is associate professor of Theology at Bellarmine University, where she is also the co director of their Peace Studies program. Previously dr

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Henson Hasty was the Professor of Religious studies and chair of the department of Religious Studies at ST Andrew's Presbyterian College. She got her bachelor's at William Jewel College received the Master of divinity from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary

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and received a PhD from Union Presbyterian Theological Seminary. She is the recipient of numerous academic honors and awards um uh that Bellarmine Faith and Reason Award, the Wilson Wyatt Faculty Fellowship Award for Excellence in teaching,

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excellence and Teaching and scholarship. She is a Fulbright scholar and spent a year in De person Hungary at Debra's unreformed uh Theological University where for many years and ongoing, we have had a sister relationship. She

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was awarded the Kentucky anna Metro verse, Itty and structural instructional development award for a course entitled theology From the margins. She was selected by Bella mean students as a faculty superhero and she received also the provost

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faculty Merit Award. She was the project director for a 10,000 grant dollar grant awarded by Valparaiso University to study christian practices and persons with disabilities. She is the author of beyond the social maze exploring vita,

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Dutton scudder's theological ethics out from continuum, and is the co editor of prayers for a new social awakening from Westminster john Knox and also to do justice, engaging progressive christians and social action also from Westminster john

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Knox. She is the author of numerous articles in refereed um journals, particular of note. Perhaps she contributed 11 entries um to the Westminster Dictionary of Women in american religious history. She has written numerous book

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reviews, has published also in numerous popular church publications , such as Presbyterians Today and Presbyterian outlook. She has been active as a preacher in uh various pulpit supply capacities for many of us are very significant thing

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. She was a guest on NPR's State of Affairs with julie Cretan, where she discussed 1/20 1st century social creed. She is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the american Wild indian society,

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the Society of Christian Ethics and the Social Ethics Network , her international service and in particular this is also her service to the Church. She was the P . C. U. S. A participant in

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the World Council of Churches, International Ecumenical Peace Convocation at the University of West Envies in Kingston Jamaica and May of 2011. And she is the P. C. U. S. A representative for the

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World Council of Churches, consultation on poverty, wealth and ecology. Um She is the chair of the Task Force uh Task Force to design a study of the status of women on all levels of the P

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. C. U. S. A. With a report due um report that was at the 20th 20th General Assembly uh in 2012. And that's just a taste of the many books publications uh, and

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uh, activities in the church she's been involved with . I could go on and on. In short . She is very well qualified to speak to us to her topic. Uh, what uh, miss

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something. But in short, she is very well qualified to speak to us for her topic this morning . Her lecture this morning is the Driving Forces Behind an ethic of scarcity. Welcome to Austin Presbyterian Theological

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Seminary and we're eager to hear what you have to teach us. Okay? Yeah, thank you very much. Doctor Greenway and thank you Austin Presbyterian Seminary for your warm welcome and especially dr ted Wardlaw for

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this wonderful invitation to be with you all today to talk about the Driving forces behind an ethic of scarcity . I have to admit at least initially, that the awards he mentioned, I love the faculty superhero

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award the most because it came along with a cape . So it makes me always makes me feel good . Um when I'm there to know I have that cape back home to study me as we think about

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such deep and profound issues facing our society. I understand from good friends and colleagues with him. I met as I was preparing to be with you for the curry lectures today that I would be entering into

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a rich and thoughtful discussion that is extended for some of you over the course of many years, many of you already know each other as friends and colleagues and supporters of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary as students,

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alarms, board members, perhaps administrators, faculty and or good friends so that I may not be perceived as an intruder, a stranger in your midst. I want to take some time to introduce myself to

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you. As we begin to enter in to conversation together, a stand here among you, with the obvious veneer of white middle class nous. My father is a church historian and expert in new testament,

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studies, and Petrus sticks. For most of my life I have been privileged to keep my head in the clouds of the academy's ivory tower atmosphere, somewhat distance from the realities of those mired in poverty.

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My father is the epitome of the self made man who beat the odds and got out of small town Missouri when he was a little boy, he lived in a small town called CUba. His mother,

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single at that time couldn't afford to support him and his brother jean. So he was raised by an aunt and uncle during the Great Depression, even though he was educated in a one room schoolhouse, his

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brains, his hard work and stick to itiveness provided the tether that would enable him to pull himself out of the thick quicksand of small town life. His town offered few possibilities for education and social climbing.

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Dad attributed much of his success to the dedication of a teacher who presided over that one room schoolhouse with grace and hospitality from that one room schoolhouse. He eventually matriculated at Washington. You in ST louis and

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his academic career began before he could afford to go to wash you. He had to work for a year in between high school and college so he could scrape together enough money, something like$75 at that

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time to have a bit of savings to go to college, and also to have enough money to buy a brown pinstripe suit so that he would have something more appropriate than overalls to wear to class. Now

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, just imagine that he actually thought that suit would be appropriate despite the difficulties he faced. My father still talks about that experience as a miracle of grace , a term which we will have to return to

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later in our conversation. Unlike some of the more popular endings to story, it's about self made individuals . My father and my family as a whole have kept looking back on the impact of the great depression

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, on our family life. We've reflected on its importance in the way in which we viewed the world . We've always been aware that beneath the veneer of our white middle class experience is a family history of

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poverty, forced migration. That in the end, rewards paid for hard work. On the other side of my family. However, there is quite a contrasting story. My grandmother flossie grew up without access

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to many of the advantages that could be afforded in middle class life. She only achieved 1/6 grade education . Romance novels, were her literature of choice. We think she married at a young age, although

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we have no wedding pictures to prove it. Her husband, whom I never met was a bright man , but unable to apply his gifts because of his addiction to booze and possibly an undiagnosed depression. Flossie

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, or momo, as I called her, was an incredibly talented seamstress. Eventually she earned a place working for Carly dress corporation. And I promise you that in her youth she was so talented that she

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could hand stitch the hem of the dress with the precision of a sewing machine. Carly dress corporation formed in 1938 in ST louis, and holds a place in the fashion history as one of the great junior

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dress houses. The garments that my grandmother made were highly valued, but the labor that she put into them was not historical studies record. The average wage of a female factory worker in the 19 forties was

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about$31 a week. Male workers earned$55 in addition to working for incredibly low wages. Even within the historical context, my grandmother ended up being a single mother of three. Ultimately, she had to

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rely on other family members, including my mother Martha , and then later both my parents for support. My grandmother wouldn't have been able to analyze the systemic or structural causes of her poverty. But after her

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retirement, she confronted that issue on a daily basis and the difficulty of living on the meagre pension that was provided for her by the company for which she worked only$83 a month. We live in a

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land of contrasts in the U. S. But I think that we seldom want to admit it. We may even prefer to erase those memories from our minds and our family histories. We can all be

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too eager intended to uphold the myth of the american dream and the promise of individual wealth creation. Even when we are are abruptly shaken from that misty I dream by the nightmarish hand of need. Two very

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different stories within my family history are perhaps representative of some of your stories as well. I share these stories as a way of introducing myself to you and to underscore how the themes of wealth, inequality and

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poverty converge even within my own experience. In other words, poverty has a face for me socially. I'm not that far removed, at least within the context of the United States, from the problems that

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I will discuss this morning, and that lack of distance informs my concern has helped me to build the intellectual scaffolding for my work in this area and deepens my compassion for people who are living in poverty.

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Whether you have a similar story or not, you will likely be aware that commentators, in all forms of media scholars and other authors of books and ethics , economics, politics and theology recognize that we are

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facing the most significant moral and arguably theological dilemmas of our time as we confront three in a related problems the severe and unequal distribution of wealth in the US and between different regions and nations around the globe.

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The exploitation of our natural habitat caused by current methods of wealth creation and the alarming trends and climate change caused by our overuse misuse and abuse of the earth , our home, and the history of colonization.

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That continues to impact relationships between and among people in our nation as well as between countries of the global north and global south like me, You may be wondering how we got to this point? What are

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the root causes of the wealth inequalities that we see all around us? Why is it so difficult for us in our society and as members of and leaders of churches to instigate serious and significant changes that will

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end poverty? What ethic has emerged that continues to drive and continues to dominate our society allows even encourages such inequalities to abound and persist. Of course, these questions cannot be easily answered. I will not

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pretend that within a single lecture I can respond to them as thoroughly as I would like, but we can begin to get a firm enough grasp to set us up for a longer, more sustained dialogue.

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Over the next two days, I will argue that neoliberalism, a particular form of capitalism that emerged in the 19 seventies, is the root cause of recent surges and wealth, inequalities and the patterns of consumption

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that are leading to ecological destruction, dramatic changes in our earth's climate and the rapid depletion of the earth's resources. Neoliberalism is a form of market triumphalism. Market faith in which markets are trusted to determine the

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value of goods, labor and other resources even look to relied upon as a means of social salvation. An ethic of scarcity all too often dominates our public discourse and practice in our society and within our church

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. That leaves us ill equipped without the theological and moral courage and character, to challenge the unequal distribution of wealth in our nation and around the world and to offer creative visions for life lived in authentic relationship

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with God one another as part of an interrelated, dynamic and organic whole. The term neoliberalism is used by ethicists and also religious leaders in the larger global ecumenical movement to name the ideology that has been fueling

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changes in economic policies in the shaping of public perception and ideas and the reshaping of social and political institutions for the last 30 years. Sometimes, neoliberalism is also referred to as turbo capitalism. There's an emerging

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consensus among ethicists that neoliberalism is the root of the problem and has accelerated wealth, inequalities, Social ethicist Rebecca, Todd Peters discusses in her book in search of the good life four theories of globalization and the

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ethical decision making and moral world views that support them . Peters puts forward two dominant theories of globalization, neoliberalism and development. Both neoliberalism and development have much in common. Both are rooted in neoclassical economics,

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and they share a similar idea of what it means to be human. We, as individuals, exist independently and are free to pursue our own self interests . Where neoliberal and development approaches differ most greatly as

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in their understanding of an individual's responsibility towards his or her neighbor, and with regard to the state's role in ensuring that all people have equal access to the basic necessities required for their own survival. In this

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lecture, I'm going to focus primarily on neoliberalism. Scholars marked the beginning of neoliberalism with a successful right wing reaction to the oil price crisis of 1973. In the 19 seventies, the major developed O.

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E. C. D. Countries, especially Britain and the United States experienced slow growth and productivity and we're faced with increased inflation and high interest rates, mortgage rates escalated into the double digits in Britain.

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When the Conservative Party, under Margaret Thatcher was elected , they were confronted by union opposition and soon set about dismantling the welfare state in the United States. Ronald Reagan took office in 1981. A shift towards

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supply side economics is that opening up, excuse me , a shift towards supply side economics began during that Reagan Thatcher era. The basic theory behind supply side economics is that opening up markets allows the owners of

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capital to create more wealth increased wealth provides the owners of capital with the incentive and capacity to provide more jobs, allowing the wealth to trickle down to the workers. Government intervention is viewed as interference with the

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natural workings of the market. As far as neoliberal doctrines are concerned, there is little difference with neo classical liberalism, but neo liberals today have a very different and much more global economy within which to work

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for the last 30 years. For the last 30 years, U. S. Economic policies have favored deregulation, market efficiency, privatisation of goods and services , dismantling of social programs, opening up of economies

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across borders and incentives such as tax breaks uh huh . To encourage the wealthy owners of industries to increase employment. These policies represent a neoliberal agenda. A survey of data gathered from economists and organization on wealth

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, inequalities, wage gaps and poverty will show that neo liberal economic policies have accelerated the rise of wealth inequalities in the US in the last 30 years. Organizations such as the Economic Policy Institute have researched the

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impact of our current dominant approach to wealth creation and found that over the last three decades inequality has grown by almost all measures. Clear disparities exist according to differences in race and gender. I want to consider

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the impact of neoliberal policies by examining two ways that wealth inequalities are measured in terms of income and overall net worth or wealth today, the U. S . Has ranked 39th in terms of the distribution of

00:20:06.450 - 00:20:18.210

family income. Does anybody know the other countries that have a similar ranking with us? In terms of the distribution of family income? I don't want to take time to discuss this but I wonder if you

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could just call out their names if you're aware. It's an unflattering list. It includes Cameroon, Madagascar , Rwanda, Uganda and Ecuador China has a more equal income distribution than the United States. According to

00:20:41.210 - 00:20:56.170

Max Fisher, a former writer and editor of the atlantic monthly income inequality is more severe in the US than it is in nearly all of West Africa, North Africa, europe and Asia where on par with

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some of the world's most troubled countries and not far from the perpetual conflict zones of latin, America and sub Saharan Africa. Labor economists such as Richard Freeman have added the term economic apartheid to their rhetorical arsenals

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. in an effort to heighten public consciousness of the growing divide between wealthy people and laborers. Many scholars , historians, economists, theologians and ethicists among them argue that wealth inequalities threatened to return us to the

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social and economic divisions of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, but there are also some striking differences between our era and the age of the robert robber barons. Global trends gives this report, wal mart

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stores had in 2000 and nine revenues exceeding the respective G. D. P. S of 100 and 74 countries, including Sweden, Saudi Arabia and Venezuela , and employed over two million people more than the

00:21:57.350 - 00:22:14.970

entire population of Qatar. If it was a country , it would be the 22nd largest country in the world today. About 44 companies generate revenues that equal 11% of the global GDP. These combined revenues are

00:22:14.970 - 00:22:30.710

larger than the combined economies of 100 and 55 countries . We have to ask, however, whether or not this ability to generate massive wealth and employ such huge numbers of people has resulted ultimately in a wider

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distribution of wealth In the US. There have been tremendous and disproportional increases in the incomes of the highest paid workers over the last 30 years, while the lowest paid workers have actually experienced a reduction in income

00:22:48.890 - 00:23:04.650

and wage stagnation. According to the U. S . Census Bureau. Since 1967 U. S. Household inequality has grown 18%. Nearly half of that growth occurred in the 19 eighties as a whole.

00:23:04.650 - 00:23:22.160

The top 5% of families in the U. S . Saw their real incomes increase 81% between 1979 and 2000 and five over the same period. The lowest income fifth saw the real incomes decline by 1%.

00:23:23.140 - 00:23:45.550

The Congressional Budget Office states, the top 1% of the US population received 17.1% of the nation's after tax income, while the bottom fifth received 4.8%. Inequalities are even more tangible when examining the rise and ceo

00:23:45.550 - 00:24:03.410

compensation. Since the late 19 eighties. Ceo pay including cash pay and bonuses took off like a rocket blast between 1989 and 2000, rising by 79%. According to more recent statistics from 2000 and seven.

00:24:03.470 - 00:24:25.310

The chief executive officers of the top 15 U. S. Companies receive wages 520 times greater than the average worker. Did you hear that? 520 times greater than the average worker. These wage differentials represent

00:24:25.310 - 00:24:38.390

a serious disregard for the value of the average laborer . I should also mention that wage gaps are evident within our church. The P. C. U . S. A. Report entitled neither poverty nor

00:24:38.390 - 00:24:52.880

riches that was adopted at the 2010 General Assembly deals with a theology of compensation in the in that particular report, their quotations that are included from a variety of different pastors around the country. And this is

00:24:52.880 - 00:25:06.810

what these are some questions that was asked that were asked by one of the pastors that are included in that report. Why are pastors paid so differently in the first place? He said in a nearby church

00:25:06.810 - 00:25:21.070

with four pastors, one is paid three times as much as another, is his work three times more valuable to God's kingdom. Are we really all ordained to the same status? Or is there really a

00:25:21.070 - 00:25:37.580

hierarchy with the rich at the top, admittedly 3 to 1 is better than 520 to 1, but we have no set standard in our denomination for tolerable wage differentials, caps were removed entirely in the peace

00:25:37.580 - 00:25:52.330

usa in 1999 levels of income inequality vary across the country with larger pockets of poverty in some areas than in others. The U. S. Census Bureau reports that six out of 10 counties with the highest

00:25:52.330 - 00:26:06.410

level of incoming inequality are in the Deep South. There are also visible differences in income levels for women and people of color. In comparison to white men . There are significant differences in unemployment rates for people

00:26:06.420 - 00:26:21.350

of color. When statistics are examined, according to race and ethnicity researcher, David padilla has found that the unemployment rate for black workers in our country generally hovers at approximately twice the unemployment rate for white workers

00:26:22.340 - 00:26:34.650

, A larger proportion of women and people of color are paid low wages, poverty level wages or minimum wage. Approximately 30 million people in the U. S. Work in low wage jobs, while two

00:26:34.650 - 00:26:52.810

thirds of the people working in low wage jobs are white african american and Hispanic people are over represented among persons who are working in such jobs between the years of 1970 1990. As the global market itself expanded

00:26:52.010 - 00:27:06.850

, the number of women who are working in low wage jobs actually increased. In addition, there are disproportionate numbers of Hispanic and african american and workers when compared to white workers who earn poverty level wages,

00:27:07.340 - 00:27:23.390

roughly, three of 10 female workers earn poverty level wages as compared to 20% of male workers. Statistics that are gathered from to Economic Policy Institute studies provide evidence also of some of the dramatic shifts in wealth

00:27:23.390 - 00:27:41.080

that have occurred since the 19 sixties. This first slide shows some differences. Beginning in 1962 1962 the wealth of the richest 1% of households was about 125 times that of the typical household. By 2004.

00:27:41.100 - 00:27:59.290

The wealth of the richest 1% of households was 190 times that of the typical household. More recent data shows that in 2000 and nine, the richest 1% of US citizens had reached 225 times the average or

00:27:59.290 - 00:28:18.490

median household and they owned about 50% of all wealth . Other countries in the north american region have fallen prey to similar trends and wealth. Inequalities allow me to use Canada and Mexico as examples steve Kerr stutter

00:28:18.500 - 00:28:33.090

, he's a researcher for the Canadian Centre for Policy alternatives. Found that the wealthiest 10% of family units in Canada held 53% of the wealth in 1999. At the other end of the spectrum, the wealthiest

00:28:33.090 - 00:28:52.070

10% of families experienced an increase of 122%. An overall wealth. The conference board of Canada, a non profit organization that examines economic trends and public policy , observes that since the 19 nineties, income inequality

00:28:52.070 - 00:29:11.140

has risen more rapidly in Canada than in the US income inequality is dramatically increased between 1976 and 2000 and nine for Canadian citizens as well. Now, let's look at Mexico political scientist, brian potter has studied

00:29:11.140 - 00:29:26.920

recent trends and wealth inequalities south of the border. In Mexico potter suggests that the opening up of economies that resulted from free trade agreements such as Nafta, actually increased wealth. Inequalities in Mexican society. Studies

00:29:26.920 - 00:29:45.940

show that poverty is on the rise in Mexico despite a period of economic growth between 2000 and 8 to 2010, nearly half of Mexico's population lives in poverty , approximately 52 million people at the same time,

00:29:45.950 - 00:30:00.990

Mexico is home of Carlos Slim Helu, a man who was ranked in March 2011 by Forbes as the world's richest. Hey Lou began building his fortune by forming his own brokerage firm in the 19 nineties.

00:30:00.990 - 00:30:18.910

As the Mexican government, as Mexico's government telephone company became privatized, he gained control of Telmex today. His personal fortune equals 8% of Mexico's GDP reductions in wealth were felt all across the United States and also

00:30:18.910 - 00:30:33.320

around the world in the wake of the great recession beginning in 2000 and seven. However, the destruction of wealth that resulted from the great recession was not uniform from 2000 and 7 to 2000 and nine.

00:30:33.330 - 00:30:51.970

Average. Annualized household declines in wealth were 16% for the richest fifth of americans, 25%. For the poorest 4/5. Significant differences in losses experienced by white families is revealed through a comparison to reductions in well

00:30:51.970 - 00:31:07.890

sustained by Hispanic, black and asian families. A recent study that was conducted by the Pew Research Center found that Hispanic families accounted for the largest single decline in wealth of any racial ethnic group. The median

00:31:07.890 - 00:31:26.170

net worth of hispanic households in 2009 was about$6000 . In that same year, black households had a median net worth of about$5600. White House holds their media net worth was about 100 and$13,000.

00:31:27.340 - 00:31:41.330

It gets worse if we begin to think about the circumstance, particularly for single women of color. The insight center for Community Economic Development has found that women of color are most likely to have zero or negative

00:31:41.340 - 00:32:00.220

net worth insight C. C. E. D . Estimates that the media network of single black women is about$100 for hispanic women, 100 and$20 . The great recession that really sent shockwaves throughout the

00:32:00.220 - 00:32:15.410

U. S. Economy also sent shockwaves throughout a larger regional economy. At the beginning of 2000 and nine, the Wall Street Journal ran an article bearing the headline US recession stymies Mexico's growth for 2000 and

00:32:15.410 - 00:32:32.550

nine. More than 80% of Mexico's exports are sent into US markets. As home values dropped, workers were laid off unemployment escalated and U. S. Consumers reach their spending. This also significantly impacted our

00:32:32.550 - 00:32:50.190

neighbors across the southern border. If we think about the Caribbean region, it's also important to point out that people in the Caribbean region were greatly affected by the recession. There's a popular saying in Jamaica you

00:32:50.190 - 00:33:01.860

may have heard when the U. S. Economy sneezes. Jamaica catches pneumonia. Jamaica was hit hard by the U. S. Recession due to a reduction in tourism and more importantly, the reduction in

00:33:01.860 - 00:33:20.680

rem entrances that were sent by Jamaicans working in the US back to their families. According to the World Bank. In 2000 repentance receipts equalled approximately 10% of Jamaica's GDP 24% of exports of goods and services,

00:33:20.710 - 00:33:38.060

59% of gross receipts from tourism and 173% a direct foreign investment. Yeah, I've been dealing with some statistics for some time now. So on a pause for a moment and introduce you to the story of

00:33:38.060 - 00:33:51.170

a woman who I met in Louisville at a place called casa Latina. There's an organization in my city called casa Latina, where the women who are recent immigrants. The U. S. Are helped there

00:33:51.740 - 00:34:04.000

. Um, Castle Latina creates intentional communities where they can find and build for themselves a network of support in our city. Recently I took a group of students from a class that I was teaching on social

00:34:04.000 - 00:34:16.470

mysticism to casa Latina. We met a woman there from Guatemala who called herself Janet probably so that we could pronounce her name. She worked doing cleaning for a local business and was able to live in the

00:34:16.470 - 00:34:30.000

house, which was formerly a catholic worker community. The circumstances of her entrance into the US weren't entirely clear to me through our conversation, but it could have been my lack of understanding her native language.

00:34:30.010 - 00:34:46.050

Is mom, what was, what was made very clear to me, however, was just how much she and her family depended upon the money that she made, even if it was minimal. I asked

00:34:46.050 - 00:34:57.650

her to describe what it was like to live in the US while I was there, particularly what it was like to live in Louisville. And she said to me, it's like being a ghost. What

00:34:57.650 - 00:35:09.200

do you mean? I inquired after hearing her statement , she explained that being being a ghost for her meant that she could live unnoticed in the community. She wanted to stay under the radar, so to

00:35:09.200 - 00:35:23.070

speak. She was afraid that if people noticed her that she would be held with suspicion, she couldn't afford to be sent back to Guatemala. Her family was depending on her wages were incredibly low. I

00:35:23.070 - 00:35:37.300

can't imagine that she would be able to risk being identified to cause a stir to stand up and demand fair pay and access to services or benefits. When we visited casa Latina, I must be honest that

00:35:37.300 - 00:35:50.810

the story of the women going to the tomb and tending, jesus body came to my mind and what they're expecting to in some sense, make a visit to the bodies of the dead. People who had

00:35:50.810 - 00:36:06.160

come without hope, people who are willing to risk everything to come to the United States. As I looked into Janet's face as I really listened to her story. What I discovered, however, was something

00:36:06.160 - 00:36:22.410

very new about my city, something very new about my city's hospitality and the impact of our collective desire for security Janet. And her story revealed to me a vibrant woman very much in the land of the

00:36:22.410 - 00:36:40.990

living. She was there to make a new life . Even if we had forced her to live like a ghost, her story still haunts me and reminds me of the possibility of real lived resurrection. You're

00:36:40.990 - 00:37:00.670

likely aware that in the United States today there are 46.2 million people living in poverty. That number exceeds the entire population of Canada. According to the U . S. Census Bureau 2010, the official poverty

00:37:00.670 - 00:37:20.200

rate climbed to 15.1%. This constitutes the largest number of people living in poverty for the 51 years, in which poverty estimates have been published between 2000 and eight and 2009, the poverty rate increased for whites

00:37:20.200 - 00:37:37.780

to 9.4% for blacks to 25.8% and for Hispanics to 25.3%. Many of the people living in poverty at the present times are adults between the ages of 6 to 18 to 64. This represents a change in

00:37:37.780 - 00:37:52.060

the poverty demographic since the 19 seventies, when the majority of people living in poverty were Children, lack of access to important social safety nets creates a kind of chronic instability in the lives of people. The

00:37:52.060 - 00:38:08.760

National Coalition for the homeless estimates that 3.5 million people are homeless in the US annually. African american hispanic and native american peoples make up a larger proportion of those accessing homeless shelters with respect to their overall representation

00:38:08.760 - 00:38:23.990

. Among people living in poverty. More than half of the families his seek help from homeless shelters are african american Children make up 39% of all homeless people . It's important to observe here that there's also a

00:38:23.990 - 00:38:38.080

great deal of hidden homelessness in our country. As statistics do not reveal the number of people who live in temporary or unstable housing conditions, sleeping in their cars in campgrounds or on a friend's couch, immigrant

00:38:38.080 - 00:38:52.320

populations in the US are often among the hidden homeless , those who are ghosts. One of the other classes that I teach at Bellarmine is called theology from the margins, as part of that class that require

00:38:52.320 - 00:39:04.830

students to engage in the local community through an immersion experience. The main goal of this experience is not to do charity or mission work, but rather to learn how to build relationships with people on the margins

00:39:04.830 - 00:39:15.240

in the community, particularly those who are homeless. One of the opportunities that they have is to go and eat dinner with homeless people at the ST Vincent de paul Center or the Salvation Army Center for Hope

00:39:15.920 - 00:39:28.480

. Usually the students will have to go at least three times because it takes some time to get comfortable enough to break out of one's own facade of social superiority and to enter into an authentic conversation with someone

00:39:28.480 - 00:39:40.450

who is homeless. It also takes some time to get used to the food, which is usually a menu composed of random, a random collection of donated and detailed items from local grocery stores or restaurants.

00:39:40.920 - 00:39:54.380

A student named Kristin found this a particularly difficult and rewarding experience when she engaged in it and taking the class. She did a presentation for the class on her experience and in that presentation she told the story

00:39:54.380 - 00:40:07.760

of a man who she and the other students who were eating together that night affectionately called cake man, cake man had a sweet tooth Kristen sat with cake man on two occasions and both times he, at

00:40:07.760 - 00:40:21.570

times he asked the people sitting around the table if they were going to eat their cake. If not , would you mind sharing? He asked Kristen and the other students with her were surprised that cake man

00:40:21.570 - 00:40:32.530

was willing to ask the question and even more so that he wanted their two day old cake. They gladly shared knowing that they could stop at another restaurant on the way home to get something better to eat

00:40:34.610 - 00:40:50.140

. In my mind, cake man's questions resemble those asked by the Canaanite woman in Matthew 15, couldn't I eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table . His question disrupted what the students had come to

00:40:50.140 - 00:41:04.700

know to expect and to feel comfortable with in a social setting. A difference in the gospel story however , is that faith leads to healing. I'm not sure that we're moving towards social healing for cake man

00:41:04.700 - 00:41:17.240

. Yet before Kristen met cake man, she had no idea that someone could work full time in her country and still be unable to afford a home and need to rely on some form of public assistance.

00:41:17.810 - 00:41:31.240

She'd been taught that people who are homeless usually deserved their fate. They've done enough to ensure their own financial stability. Cake man told her his story while they were eating together, sitting at the table together

00:41:32.510 - 00:41:46.550

when she gave her presentation about the experience in class , she said was surprised. You know cake man works full time cake man is a full time janitor in one of the local public schools. While the

00:41:46.550 - 00:41:58.790

salary on the surface seems like enough, it wasn't a living wage for a man with two Children to support a combination of a low salary. In comparison to the wage, he needed to sustain a family

00:41:58.820 - 00:42:10.090

, unaffordable housing costs and medical debt that he had incurred from a bout with cancer in previous years prevent cake man from being able to fully support himself at the end of the month. He has to find

00:42:10.090 - 00:42:28.410

a place to eat, sometimes even a place to sleep if the rent comes due before he gets his paycheck cake man gave wealth, inequalities and poverty of face for christian distribution of wealth and income are not

00:42:28.410 - 00:42:40.680

the only problems that we are facing as a society . U. S. Consumption of energy goods and natural resources is way out of balance with the needs of other people around the world and threatens the very

00:42:40.680 - 00:42:58.550

survival of our planet, our economic systems and structures and the dominant approach to wealth creation assume unlimited growth and the unlimited abundance of natural resources. Us residents make up just a little less than 5% of the

00:42:58.550 - 00:43:15.580

world's population, but we consume more than one third of the planet's resources and account for almost 1/4 of the world's fossil fuel consumption. Us food consumption increased 16% since 19 seventies. According to the U.

00:43:15.580 - 00:43:35.630

S. Environmental Protection Agency, 42% of US greenhouse gases, greenhouse emissions result from the production consumption and disposal of food. The average U. S. Resident consumes£200 of meat per year. Global livestock

00:43:35.630 - 00:43:52.060

production generates 18% of total U. S. Greenhouse gases gas emissions. People in the US use an average of 134 more gallons of water per day than the half of the world's population that lives on 25

00:43:52.060 - 00:44:06.770

gallons of water per day. These patterns of over consumption come at a great cost to the overall well being of individuals, communities and our planet. Moreover , consumption patterns within the U. S. Are

00:44:06.770 - 00:44:25.600

connected with divisions and wealth robert B. Reich, former Secretary of Labor, recently observed that the top 5% of americans with the highest incomes now account for 37% of all consumer purchases. It's staggering to think

00:44:27.190 - 00:44:42.120

that people in the United States spend nearly 90 times on luxury items as the amount of money that would be needed to provide safe drinking water and basic sanitation for all the people around the world who do not

00:44:42.120 - 00:44:58.770

have these necessities now, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, If the global community redirected about one third of what was spent on fragrances in 2000 and five, the worldwide community could provide the$9 billion

00:44:58.770 - 00:45:16.960

needed to fund one year of adequate primary education for all of our Children. A direct correlation can also be made between poverty and environmental racism, income, homeownership levels, property values and race are the most

00:45:16.970 - 00:45:32.730

important factors in the location of toxic waste sites and landfills. Native americans often live on land that is used by government for resource extraction and defense activities. The land which native peoples feel that they belong.

00:45:32.740 - 00:45:50.790

The black hills of South Dakota, home to the Lakota nation's and the four corners area of the Navajo nation has officially been designated as a national sacrifice area . What do we do with these statistics? What

00:45:50.790 - 00:46:09.220

do we do with this overwhelming amount of data? What do they say about the ethos of our nation ? As you're likely aware, the greek word ethos literally means character, the prevailing ethos or character of

00:46:09.220 - 00:46:27.490

our nation, the prevailing character or ethos of our society and the institutions once relied that we once relied upon the shape persons of good character and also, uh, to shape what's going on in the church

00:46:27.490 - 00:46:40.790

today can be described, I think, in terms of an ethic of scarcity for many people who are well versed in the field of economics. Their terms economic and economics and scarcity may appear to be redundant

00:46:42.650 - 00:46:57.900

in classical economics. Resources are limited. While the desires of the individual are unlimited. Economics is the study of the choices that consumers, business managers and government officials make to obtain their own goals given scarce

00:46:57.900 - 00:47:15.740

resources. The alleged and sally MacPhail observes that economics is not then just about money, it's present wherever and whenever scarcity exists. In neoclassical economics, we distribute scarce resources according to self interest. We are

00:47:15.750 - 00:47:36.150

homo Economicus, the mass person, the consumer who lives amid unprecedented material splendor and the producer who bends the earth to virtually unrestrained human purpose. The ethic of scarcity places a high value on mobility, privilege

00:47:36.160 - 00:47:54.840

, social superiority, production, competition, fragmentation and the sacrifice of others for the sake of one's own interests and one's individual success in the market. The ethic of scarcity govern so many of our institutions,

00:47:54.840 - 00:48:13.170

communities and organizations today that were once trusted to shape persons of good character. Traditionally, families, educational institutions and the Church have all contributed to the creation of good character. But these institutions are increasingly governed

00:48:13.170 - 00:48:28.530

by the same ethic of scarcity that is driving our consumer choices and economic policies. In the current U . S. Economy, individual workers are expected to be mobile, efficient, self sufficient and independent from

00:48:28.530 - 00:48:42.330

others who might encumber them. There are many places where jobs are in sustainable wages are too few too scarce for people to have enough individuals and family are all too often unable to put down roots within a

00:48:42.330 - 00:48:57.600

particular community. For some, the corporation or business for which they work requires work to be their priority and mobility is seen as their key to success. Others, including whole families, may be forced because

00:48:57.600 - 00:49:14.100

of the economic climate in their own countries to migrate across borders for work in universities and colleges across the United States. The ethic of scarcity often informs and frames curricular choices. Today, enough provisions are made

00:49:14.100 - 00:49:30.490

to fund programs that create workers for the economy. Increasingly, departments have to develop strategies to meet the demands of both donors and consumers. Students, church related liberal arts colleges that have traditionally seen their mission

00:49:30.510 - 00:49:49.600

as offering a strong liberal arts education that emphasizes the development of moral character are waning. They are often underfunded by financially strapped denominations denominations and have difficulty competing with larger universities. They lack a broad appeal because

00:49:49.600 - 00:50:07.890

of lack of services and programs available in smaller institutions . The open spaces where we can truly teach and think in creative ways continues to diminish, diminish in our society is becoming increasingly scarce and then there is

00:50:07.900 - 00:50:22.840

our church, as I speak of our church. I mean specifically the PC usa the context that I know, but you may hear similarities within other denominations . The ethic of scarcity has made its way into

00:50:22.840 - 00:50:37.660

our denomination, partly out of the fear of the decline of the main line. I want to offer just a few examples. And your last curry lecturer , dr tom are presented a riveting description of the

00:50:37.660 - 00:50:52.710

decline of the main line he signed in 1965 as the last year of growth in the peace. Usa he said we once had a vivid imagination for mission beyond the walls of the church, but we now

00:50:52.710 - 00:51:07.000

seem afraid that there will not be enough money, time or talent two and creatively engage the problems of wealth, inequalities and poverty all around us and we have focused far too much on our own needs and

00:51:07.000 - 00:51:22.780

are scarce resources, the church are said, is a shadow of its former self. In the past we have cultural assets, but now we are lamenting their loss on too many levels. Local congregations,

00:51:22.780 - 00:51:39.190

presbyteries, even our denominational offices are appealing to business practices and strategies in hope that they might save us . Another story that's told and neither poverty nor riches is about the chair, the pastor nominating committee,

00:51:39.760 - 00:51:52.600

He was the chair of a committee at a moderate sized church that had a big endowment. He was also the ceo of a corporation When they were in the process for looking for a pastor, he said

00:51:52.600 - 00:52:06.270

that they decided to dispense with the processes of finding a pastor that are outlined by the church. He hired a headhunter instead. When he was asked why , he said what we need is a new leader

00:52:06.650 - 00:52:19.790

. And when in my business, when we're looking to hire a leader, we get a headhunter, someone who knows what it's like to keep up with the business of this size, some will say that

00:52:19.790 - 00:52:37.070

what we need today as a church is a better way of branding ourselves more recognisable logo, better letterhead . or maybe a more precise mission statement to share our message. We're replacing the languages of councils that

00:52:37.070 - 00:52:53.640

are distinctive to our christian tradition with terms like boards , presbyteries, the very heart of representative decision making in our church are reducing their staffs, relying upon contract labor outsourcing if you will. And opting to

00:52:53.640 - 00:53:09.800

offer small start up grants for entrepreneurial ministries rather than funding full time positions for people called to religious vocations . Now, I realize that some of these efforts are made out of desperation. I realized the money

00:53:09.810 - 00:53:27.090

just doesn't seem to be there with the loss of moral ascendancy to which we could once appeal in both in our church. We are losing also offices and positions that were once designated in our church to work

00:53:27.090 - 00:53:45.640

for justice in both the church and in society. We're replacing way too many of these positions with volunteer networks that are loosely organized, organized around self selected , individualized interests in mission. I hate to say

00:53:45.640 - 00:54:05.610

this, but when churches exhibit the same scarcity, the same fragmentation adopt the same practices, focus on the same efficiency and even mimic the wealth inequality so evident in our nation and around the world. Then

00:54:05.610 - 00:54:27.460

I think we have a big problem is our church now too much a reflection of our own free market culture. From a theological perspective, the economy should reflect what we value most. Instead, the economy

00:54:27.460 - 00:54:45.150

appears to be determined, determining our values not only in society, but also in our church. As political philosopher Michael Walzer puts it, money has become such a dominant good that it drives all other evaluations

00:54:45.150 - 00:55:01.360

in our society. Last year, I gave a similar presentation about wealth, inequalities and the problems that we're facing today. One of the responses to that presentation came from a participant was this, I've tried

00:55:01.360 - 00:55:20.820

it Elizabeth. I've really tried it, but I hate to tell you, neoliberalism doesn't preach. The person was concerned about explaining the concept of neoliberalism as the root cause of wealth inequalities and the source for

00:55:20.820 - 00:55:37.800

the surge of wealth inequalities. Some of you may also share that concern. I want to emphasize that . I think it's of the utmost importance to name neoliberalism, the dominant economic ideology of our culture as

00:55:37.800 - 00:55:55.640

the root cause for the rapid acceleration of wealth inequalities not only from a social, economic and political perspective , but also from a theological one in the biblical tradition. The ability to name something carries with it

00:55:55.640 - 00:56:09.300

the power to control. One of the reasons that jewish people still today do not speak the name of God is because there is only one being one force , one source of infinite love and life, which

00:56:09.300 - 00:56:29.720

human beings cannot control or contain. And that is God alone. To avoid naming the problem clearly means that we allow our methods of wealth creation to be given the status of idols. Naming the driving force

00:56:29.720 - 00:56:45.750

behind the ethic of scarcity will enable us to seek a solution to the problems that we are facing. Although I am very aware that it will not be easy. I'm also very aware that it will involve

00:56:45.760 - 00:56:59.460

some loss, allow me just to end with a story. In 2010, my family and I had the opportunity to live in Debrecen Hungary for five months . Well I was there, I was teaching at

00:56:59.460 - 00:57:15.240

a full, full bright a Fulbright grant and it reformed university there. The Fulbright program prepared us by introducing us to some aspects of the culture in Hungary Attila Malik, who is a senior researcher and professor

00:57:15.240 - 00:57:30.770

at Corvinus University, described to us a kind of metaphor about Hungarian society, a society that has experienced great difficulties in the past and even today, he said that in Hungarian society we needed to know that

00:57:30.780 - 00:57:45.340

sometimes when one is seeking to address a problem, that the biggest gate through which one might go to address that problem is often closed and hungry. There are gates like those that you see on the screen

00:57:45.350 - 00:58:00.590

all over different communities. However, he also said that there is a popular saying among Hungarians that if at first the biggest gate is closed, you have to seek the little gate the way around the problem

00:58:00.590 - 00:58:17.790

to begin to solve it, keiichi koppu, I think that today and this afternoon my hope is that we can start to look for the little gate because it appears that with the overwhelming immense size of the

00:58:17.790 - 00:58:37.800

problems that we're facing, The biggest gate is closed to us. The economic ideology, market faith of our culture, I believe is incredibly limiting. We , as people of faith cannot allow the great mysterious

00:58:37.800 - 00:58:58.350

enough that God has provided in the whole creation to be reduced to an efficient strategic plan, outlining what we can afford where we are limited. God's grace provides enough. In our next conversation together this afternoon

00:58:58.370 - 00:59:17.210

, my hope will be to name and to claim a reformed theology of economy, which will lead us to embrace an alternative ethic, an ethic of enough . Thank you. Mhm. Yeah. Okay.