Economic Justice
Some talk today about the evils of governments gone awry or of multi-national corporations taking over the world. These are just transparent human made institutions. A corporation or government doesn’t rally exist in a spiritual sense – we make them up and give them life through our individual participation in them. Participation as humans with human spirit. Corporations and governments don’t make decisions – humans do – either as individuals or groups, but they are not stripped of their human spirit when they step into their roles as corporate or government officer. Nor are they stripped of their human responsibilities when they do so.
The wealth that exists in the world exists because human capital exists. Each and every human has needs. Those needs create economic demand. Each human also has the ability to produce. That ability produces supply. When supply satisfies demand wealth is created. The more people inhabit the planet, the more economic wealth is created. The world economy can be likened to a jar of water. Each of us puts in some water simply by existing and each of us takes out a bit just by satisfying our basic human needs.
Economic inequalities arise because we all put in the same amount of water. We all need about the same amount of food, etc. for basic survival. In the end though, we all do not draw out an equal portion of water because of our differing desires for material things.
We believe this is our call – to adopt an attitude towards life that once our basic contextual needs are satisfied – we need to stop drawing water from the jar. We must do this to ensure enough is left over so everyone is at least able to draw out their basic needs. Elizabeth Ann Seton said it so beautifully, “Live simply that others may simply live.” All the mistakes and successes of our past have brought us to the present. Peoples were repressed and denied and that has created horrible inequalities of human spirit. We must ensure not only that all are given an opportunity, but all feel they have a true opportunity.
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