Does Social Justice Matter?

 

Photo: David Cain

Crazy Commies

I've heard it before. All my life actually. Those of us who care about what happens to our fellow human beings and think we could be doing so much more are labelled radical, socialists, communists. There's more justification to our argument than you are willing to admit. 

Living in this world creates opportunities for all of us to do so much more. When you are called, will your heart remain cold as you keep it all for yourself? And to what end? What have you gained?

Verse of the day   If one member suffers, all suffer together with it; if one member is honored, all rejoice together with it. - 1 Corinthians 12:26

Voice of the day Personal involvement with innocent suffering, with the injustice others suffer, is the catalyst for solidarity which then gives rise to intellectual inquiry and moral reflection. - Peter-Hans Kolvenbach, SJ ________________________________________________________________ “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”  -Ghandi ________________________________________________________________ “Serve others. The unfailing recipe for happiness and success is to want the good of others. Happiness and success is when I see others happy. Happiness is a shared thing.” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu Sojourners recently shared an article about  "The American Recovery Plan, which lays out a bold and significant investment in the fight against COVID-19 and which has been passed by the House and is now in the Senate, is all three. It addresses the deep inequities of suffering from the pandemic including the racial and wealth disparities, meets immediate and urgent needs of the moment, and is supported by an overwhelming majority of Americans." -Sojourners Let me state something obvious. The act wouldn't be needed if the wealth generated in this country was more fairly and evenly shared. But that isn't the case. Pew research found that just prior to the pandemic, the wealth gap in the United States growing as the economy grew.  "Not all economic indicators appear promising. Household incomes have grown only modestly in this century, and household wealth has not returned to its pre-recession level. Economic inequality, whether measured through the gaps in income or wealth between richer and poorer households, continues to widen." The pandemic has made the situation worse. Can the American Recovery Act swing the pendulum the other way? TIME FOR SOME GOOD NEWS TO THE POOR BY JIM WALLIS Wallis concludes, "Passing the APR would be “good news” to the poor and those facing poverty; it’s also the pragmatic, popular, and, most importantly, principled thing to do. And it could be the beginning of doing much better to help people overcome poverty in America. And that would be good news indeed"