For some time, fledgling parties on the political map have been centrist. After all, even the South African Communist Party is ensconced in the ruling alliance that is brought to you by Neoliberalism. Some of the ANC’s top cadres are from the SACP, which many believe would not fare well if it contested an election on is own. These ministers live in the same “fat cat” fashion that the ANC is known for – saying one thing about lifestyle audits and doing another (rather like Breshnev in the heyday of scientific socialism).
Then there are the trade unionists. They are said to be toying with the idea of forming a Labour Party for the next election, but again, they have been ensconced in the ruling alliance. Until recently when some principled unionists have raised the question whether they belong in a ruling alliance that espouses Neoliberalism.
Few are their voices – those diehard Leftists like Tony Benn of the UK, who died recently. He is remembered as “champion of the powerless. The British PM said: He was a magnificent writer, speaker, diarist and campaigner, with a strong record of public and political service.”
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said: “Tony Benn spoke his mind and spoke up for his values. Whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him, everyone knew where he stood and what he stood for. For someone of such strong views, often at odds with his party, he won respect from across the political spectrum. This was because of his unshakable beliefs and his abiding determination that power and the powerful should be held to account.”
This sounds a bit little like the trade unionist leader Vavi, who declined to be listed in the national executive council of the ANC. But such principled leaders are rare. Tony Benn was elected to the House of Commons at 25, but his parliamentary career seemed to come to an abrupt end in 1961 when his father died. As the new Viscount Stansgate, he was barred from the Commons so that he could take up membership in the unelected upper House of Lords. For three years he battled to change the law to allow hereditary peers to renounce their titles. Voters in his parliamentary district of Bristol West elected him once more, even though he couldn’t take his seat in the Commons. In 1963, the bill passed, and the Times of London declared, “Lord Stansgate will be Mr. Benn today.”
Benn favoured abolition of the monarchy, British withdrawal from the European Union, and any strike that was going, hadn’t changed. His image evolved from a demonized figure in the 70s and 80s to that often-treasured English archetype: the radical dissenter. Tony Benn renounced his aristocratic title rather than leave the House of Commons.
Enter the radical dissenter
While the parallels with principled Leftists are few among those running the incumbent alliance, a wave of populism is rising behind a new party called the Economic Freedom Fighters. They are led by a firebrand young leader called Julius Malema. There are some amazing parallels between him and Canada’s Tommy Douglas, who was regarded by many as its most influential citizen ever. He formed the first social democratic government ever in North America - the CCF stood for Co-operative Commonwealth Federation. It promoted co-op models - from agriculture to banking. The CCF party went on to win five consecutive provincial elections in Saskatchewan.
His roots were in the church – his career, which started as a Baptist minister, coincided with the beginning of the Great Depression. At that time, farming had not mechanized to the extent that it has since, so Saskatchewan was the third most populous province in Canada (900 000 people in 1930). It was populated by farmers from all around the world, who had converged on the Canadian prairies following the launch of Durham wheat in the 1890s - which could be grown at such northern latitudes.
As a man of the cloth during that era, he was no stranger to humanitarian assistance. He spent a lot of his time working with youth and the unemployed. As a pastor he wanted to fight for social justice as well, but his church forced him to choose between running for public office and the ministry. So he decided to run in his Weyburn riding for a new party called the CCF - in national elections. He was elected by his riding and cut his teeth in politics as an MP representing his constituency in the national capital, Ottawa.
Some amazing parallels with Julius Malema begin here. Both entered politics as youth. In fact, Malema was the leader of the ANC youth league and still has solid support from his core constituency – youth. However, like Douglas, his elders/bosses ran him out of the organization that he loved – so he decided to run for office on the merits of his own track record and convictions. His is the youngest of all party leaders, and by far the best speaker.
The EFF party was launched, symbolically, in Marikana. This is another striking parallel (pun intended). For it was the hostility towards miners of the police collaborating with mine owners – during a strike at Estavan, Saskatchewan – that had shook Douglas out of his complacency and comfort as a church leader, into the political arena.
When the CCF later decided to run a full slate of candidates in the provincial elections, Douglas decided to resign as a national MP and lead the party in his province. He ran on a platform of “public ownership”. This in not unlike the Economic Freedom Fighters, whose manifesto includes nationalizing some mines, and expropriating some farms. Thus its critics dubbed the CCF “Communize Canada through Fear”. Douglas responded that it rather stood for “Children Come First”.
His detractors tried to label him a Bolshevik, a Communist, and so forth. (One has to remember that the great excesses of Lenin had not yet come to light in the 1930s and Stalin had just come to power.) But he was not an ideologue - he was basically a kind, honest, forward-looking chap… a straight-ahead guy. He did not finish high school before entering an apprenticeship in the printing trade. But he completed his studies in order to enter seminary, where he merged the evangelical and social gospels.
Is Malema a Marxist? or a populist? If by “populist” one means a politician who listens to people’s grievances and builds their platform based on that, then the parallels with the CCF continue. Douglas called it “a struggle for economic democracy”. The EFF says that South Africa has gained political independence but not economic freedom. This is reminiscent of Douglas’s famous fable about Mouseland. The mice kept electing a government of “fat black cats”… when they could no longer bear it, they voted in a government – of white cats! (The order should be reversed when Malema’s re-tells the story!) Until finally one brave mouse came up with a radical new idea – why not form a government composed of mice? For which he is locked up by the cats. This parable concludes that while both mice and men can be locked up – you can’t lock up an idea.
This is very significant for both Douglas and Malema. The CCF government introduced agricultural cooperatives, credit unions, car insurance, minimum wage, paid holidays, unemployment insurance into Saskatchewan’s economy. Not to mention education for all and Medicare as part of its social security system. Quite frankly, while “scientific socialism” collapsed a few decades later, CCF ideas have become the gold standard of modern democracies.
Douglas never lost a provincial election. After five consecutive victories and the introduction of his flagship Medicare, he decided to move back into national politics. He became the first leader of the NDP – formed by merging the CCF (stronger in the west) with the Labour movement (stronger in the east). The same thing is now in gestation in South Africa. About half of COSATU’s members have already started withholding their dues from the ANC, and given notice of departure. That is distinct from the emergence of the EFF, and more ideological. Malema is leading a populist movement that is grievence-driven. Why not? South Africa is passing through tough times of high unemployment not unlike the “dirty thirties” in Canada. This creates conditions for the mice to ask: why do we keep voting in governments composed of fat cats?!
The NDP has never won a national election in Canada, though. Today it does form the official Opposition (second place) and it has formed governments in several provinces. In various minority-government scenarios, it has held the balance of power and used that to further people-centred causes. For example, Medicare went national under Lester Pearson while Douglas was leading the NDP, holding the balance of power in Parliament. You can’t lock up an idea.
The consecutive CCF governments in Saskatchewan were fiscally sound and eventually eradicated a heavy provincial debt that was inherited from the previous Liberals. There is no reason to suppose that the EFF cannot find creative solutions to gain more economic equality while at the same time being fiscally responsible. The two are not mutually exclusive. Douglas proved that to posterity. Yes it could mean increasing taxation, nationalizing some mines or expropriating some farms. Ultimately, the greater good must prevail. There is no need to completely abandon capitalism in exchange for socialism. Home-grown solutions in a mixed economy can work just fine. Nkrume said that Africa does not need to look to the East, or to the West – it needs to look ahead.
One great leap forward would be to reduce waste and corruption. Nkandla has become an emblem in this respect. As premier of Saskatchewan, the official car that Douglas used was a Dodge. He did not use a Cadillac. When asked what epitaph he would like on his gravestone, Douglas replied: “He loved people”. You cannot steal from people you love, or cheat them. Nor can you waste what belongs to them. He once summed up his credo by saying that what matters most is how we look out for each other, not how we look out for ourselves. This sounds very much like ubuntu. Neither Nkandla nor Marikana give the impression that the ANC loves the people. Malema is their new champion… in the footsteps of Tommy Douglas.
Malema was recently asked about his own “fat cat” lifestyle as leader of the ANCYL. He credibly answered that he had simply adopted the culture of the ANC. He added that the EFF abides by different guidelines and he now accepts that a bling lifestyle is inconsistent with the EFF’s pillars and goals. The CCF also made mistakes. Some of its experiments did not succeed. When he entered the fray of national politics, Douglas did not even always win in his own riding. Similarly, Malema may have to sit out a season in the EFF office, not in parliament, for legal reasons. He is young enough to absorb this - even if it is caused by government manipulation - and not too old to learn and change if it is not. Douglas was bitter the first time he lost in a riding, as that was new to him. But he got past it and moved on. You can lock up a mouse, and a man – but you can’t lock up an idea. Julius Malema is the only real contender on the Left in the 2014 election.
Tuesday, 15 April 2014
Sunday, 30 March 2014
Happy 90th Birthday!
My late mother said that my father had two loves – Medicine and Missions. In the language of Economics this might be for-profit and nonprofit – although both are service. Maybe some doctors are in it only for the bucks? But it can be a career of humanitarian service – as the Order of Canada awarded to my Dad attests. Perhaps the vignette that captures this best is that of a young graduate of medical school departing for the mission field in 1950? I was born a year later, in Belgian Congo. So I know whereof I speak!
Dad’s grandfather had gone to China as a missionary – with a guy called Hudson Taylor. In those days you left your wife and children behind – one of the sacrifices of mission work. So his son, my grandfather, became a Child Head of Household – to use the language of the AIDS pandemic. Yet when great grandfather returned from China, he used to pray every day, living in Toronto, that his progeny would become missionaries.
He had immigrated to Canada from Ireland. This Irish Catholic lad was converted to Protestantism at the Yonge Street Mission. Did he know about the great Irish missionaries of the Dark Ages, I wonder now? They were called the Peregrini. Like St. Columba going to Iona in Scotland. Others went to England, Holland, and as deep into Europe at St. Gaul. Unlike the missionaries of Hudson Taylor’s ilk, these guys left home for good. They basically emigrated as we would say today. But they were very well resourced, as they were from the aristocracy. This is ironic – they were well off, but they chose to serve… overseas.
These were the days when the candle of Christianity in Europe was burning low, barely flickering. But centuries earlier a European called Patrick had gone and converted the Irish. So it was their turn to return the favour, in the ebb and flow of missions. Similarly, missionaries from Africa are now refreshing American and British Christianity.
In yesterday’s Toronto Star there is an article about a British socialist – Tony Benn – who dies recently. It says that he will be remembered as “champion of the powerless”. Bear in mind the double entendre in quoting the following four paragraphs:
“Prime Minister David Cameron said: “He was a magnificent writer, speaker, diarist and campaigner, with a strong record of public and political service.”
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said: “Tony Benn spoke his mind and spoke up for his values. Whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him, everyone knew where he stood and what he stood for. For someone of such strong views, often at odds with his party, he won respect from across the political spectrum. This was because of his unshakable beliefs and his abiding determination that power and the powerful should be held to account.”
“He was elected to the House of Commons at 25, but his parliamentary career seemed to come to an abrupt end in 1961 when his father died. As the new Viscount Stansgate, he was barred from the Commons so that he could take up membership in the unelected upper House of Lords. For three years he battled to change the law to allow hereditary peers to renounce their titles. Voters in his parliamentary district of Bristol West elected him once more, even though he couldn’t take his seat in the Commons. In 1963, the bill passed, and the Times of London declared, “Lord Stansgate will be Mr. Benn today.”
“Benn, who favoured abolition of the monarchy, British withdrawal from the European Union, and any strike that was going, hadn’t changed. But his image did. He was over time transformed from the demonized figure of the 70s and 80s to that often-treasured English archetype: the radical dissenter.”
Is it hard to call a celebrated humanitarian missionary doctor a “radical dissenter”? Well I am thinking of his values. Going off to Africa in 1950 as a missionary did not exactly make you a card-carrying member of the Establishment! His own parents had mixed feelings about it, after all the sacrifices they had made to get him the best education available at the time, and after my grandfather’s challenges as a Child Head of Household.
Tony Benn renounced his aristocratic title rather than leave the House of Commons. A lot of people said he was crazy.
Thank you, Dad, for being a non-conformist when your values demanded it of you. Thanks for being a radical among Medicine Men. Thanks for being a dissenter when it comes to the worship of Mammon. Thanks for renouncing your perceived right to opulence in favour of professional and public service.
My mother remarked how lucky he was – to have two children… one a nurse married to a doctor, and the other a missionary. Both are modes of service.
And thank you, Father in heaven, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, full of grace and truth. He was in the world, which was made through him, but he was unrecognized. Perhaps because he was a radical dissenter? He also championed the poor and was a missionary from afar – our role-model of service.
Dad’s grandfather had gone to China as a missionary – with a guy called Hudson Taylor. In those days you left your wife and children behind – one of the sacrifices of mission work. So his son, my grandfather, became a Child Head of Household – to use the language of the AIDS pandemic. Yet when great grandfather returned from China, he used to pray every day, living in Toronto, that his progeny would become missionaries.
He had immigrated to Canada from Ireland. This Irish Catholic lad was converted to Protestantism at the Yonge Street Mission. Did he know about the great Irish missionaries of the Dark Ages, I wonder now? They were called the Peregrini. Like St. Columba going to Iona in Scotland. Others went to England, Holland, and as deep into Europe at St. Gaul. Unlike the missionaries of Hudson Taylor’s ilk, these guys left home for good. They basically emigrated as we would say today. But they were very well resourced, as they were from the aristocracy. This is ironic – they were well off, but they chose to serve… overseas.
These were the days when the candle of Christianity in Europe was burning low, barely flickering. But centuries earlier a European called Patrick had gone and converted the Irish. So it was their turn to return the favour, in the ebb and flow of missions. Similarly, missionaries from Africa are now refreshing American and British Christianity.
In yesterday’s Toronto Star there is an article about a British socialist – Tony Benn – who dies recently. It says that he will be remembered as “champion of the powerless”. Bear in mind the double entendre in quoting the following four paragraphs:
“Prime Minister David Cameron said: “He was a magnificent writer, speaker, diarist and campaigner, with a strong record of public and political service.”
Labour Party leader Ed Miliband said: “Tony Benn spoke his mind and spoke up for his values. Whether you agreed with him or disagreed with him, everyone knew where he stood and what he stood for. For someone of such strong views, often at odds with his party, he won respect from across the political spectrum. This was because of his unshakable beliefs and his abiding determination that power and the powerful should be held to account.”
“He was elected to the House of Commons at 25, but his parliamentary career seemed to come to an abrupt end in 1961 when his father died. As the new Viscount Stansgate, he was barred from the Commons so that he could take up membership in the unelected upper House of Lords. For three years he battled to change the law to allow hereditary peers to renounce their titles. Voters in his parliamentary district of Bristol West elected him once more, even though he couldn’t take his seat in the Commons. In 1963, the bill passed, and the Times of London declared, “Lord Stansgate will be Mr. Benn today.”
“Benn, who favoured abolition of the monarchy, British withdrawal from the European Union, and any strike that was going, hadn’t changed. But his image did. He was over time transformed from the demonized figure of the 70s and 80s to that often-treasured English archetype: the radical dissenter.”
Is it hard to call a celebrated humanitarian missionary doctor a “radical dissenter”? Well I am thinking of his values. Going off to Africa in 1950 as a missionary did not exactly make you a card-carrying member of the Establishment! His own parents had mixed feelings about it, after all the sacrifices they had made to get him the best education available at the time, and after my grandfather’s challenges as a Child Head of Household.
Tony Benn renounced his aristocratic title rather than leave the House of Commons. A lot of people said he was crazy.
Thank you, Dad, for being a non-conformist when your values demanded it of you. Thanks for being a radical among Medicine Men. Thanks for being a dissenter when it comes to the worship of Mammon. Thanks for renouncing your perceived right to opulence in favour of professional and public service.
My mother remarked how lucky he was – to have two children… one a nurse married to a doctor, and the other a missionary. Both are modes of service.
And thank you, Father in heaven, that the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. We have seen his glory, full of grace and truth. He was in the world, which was made through him, but he was unrecognized. Perhaps because he was a radical dissenter? He also championed the poor and was a missionary from afar – our role-model of service.
Thursday, 30 January 2014
In Word and Deed
One observer offered the following 19 reasons why he felt that Pope Francis I deserves the accolade as Man of the Year. I have left the 11 things he did in normal font, and put in red italics things he said to bring his influence to bear on Change. (This sometimes called public engagement or advocacy.)
1. He spoke out against frivolous spending by the Church
2. He invited a boy with Downs Syndrome for a ride in the Popemobile
3. He embraced and kissed a man badly scarred by a genetic skin disease
4. He denounced the judgment of homosexuals
5. He held a major ceremony at the chapel of a youth prison, and washed their feet
6. He urged the protection of the Amazon Rainforest
7. He personally called and consoled a victim of rape
8. He snuck out of the Vatican to feed the homeless
9. He auctioned his motorcycle to benefit the homeless
10. He acknowledged that atheists can be good people
11. He condemned the global financial system
12. He fought child abuse
13. He condemned the violence of the Syrian civil war
14. He redirected employee bonuses to charity
15. He spoke out against the Church’s ‘obsession’ with abortion, gay marriage and contraception
16. He called for cooperation between Christians and Muslims
17. He took part in a selfie
18. He invited homeless men to his birthday meal
19. He refused to send away a child who had run on stage to hug him
Our deeds or actions validate our words. The reverse is also true. That is, when leaders actually steal from the public purse, or waste resources, or think of their own benefits first with little regard for the plight of those who elected them, then no one listens to them. Thousands of years ago, Lao Tzu put it this way:
“A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. Fail to honour people, they fail to honour you; but of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say, ‘We did this ourselves’.”
It’s bad when a President says he likes it when women prostrate themselves before him. Worse yet when people despise him for being too top-down and centralizing.
Burkina Faso
In the language of the old Upper Volta, these words mean: “Land of upright men”. The country was re-named this by Africa’s Che Guevara, a young leader called Thomas Sankara.
This highlights his idealism. He was also creative… an accomplished guitarist, he also wrote Burkina Faso’s new national anthem. He said a week before he was assassinated: "While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas." He was right. His actions were stopped, but his ideas, idealism, creativity and innovation live on.
He was a military man, so when a military government was formed in Upper Volta in 1981, Sankara got his first taste of governance - as Secretary of State for Information. He rode to his first cabinet meeting on a bicycle! But he resigned the next year when he perceived the regime's anti-labour drift.
These were turbulent times with various failed and successful coups, but two years later, Sankara became President at the age of 33. The ideology of his Revolution was defined as anti-imperialist. He spoke in forums like the Oranization for African Unity against what he described as neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance. He called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt.
Here are some of the actions that validated his words and ideas for Change. They merit recollection (from Wikipedia):
South Africa is experiencing some political earthquakes. The tectonic plates are shifting, causing a future Labour Party to appear on the horizon. Organized labour is restless, uncomfortable in the ruling alliance. This is the second split – between Left and Neo-liberals. Another split has already emerged – along age lines. A new party called the Economic Freedom Fighters is the first one ever to be basically youth-led.
Sankara was consistent. How can you expect the working class and largely unemployed youth both to support a government that has gone mad in terms of waste and graft?
How can a government that ignores Corruption and spends billions that it can’t give account for (according to the Auditor General) to be a force for Economic Emancipation?
1. He spoke out against frivolous spending by the Church
2. He invited a boy with Downs Syndrome for a ride in the Popemobile
3. He embraced and kissed a man badly scarred by a genetic skin disease
4. He denounced the judgment of homosexuals
5. He held a major ceremony at the chapel of a youth prison, and washed their feet
6. He urged the protection of the Amazon Rainforest
7. He personally called and consoled a victim of rape
8. He snuck out of the Vatican to feed the homeless
9. He auctioned his motorcycle to benefit the homeless
10. He acknowledged that atheists can be good people
11. He condemned the global financial system
12. He fought child abuse
13. He condemned the violence of the Syrian civil war
14. He redirected employee bonuses to charity
15. He spoke out against the Church’s ‘obsession’ with abortion, gay marriage and contraception
16. He called for cooperation between Christians and Muslims
17. He took part in a selfie
18. He invited homeless men to his birthday meal
19. He refused to send away a child who had run on stage to hug him
Our deeds or actions validate our words. The reverse is also true. That is, when leaders actually steal from the public purse, or waste resources, or think of their own benefits first with little regard for the plight of those who elected them, then no one listens to them. Thousands of years ago, Lao Tzu put it this way:
“A leader is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him. Fail to honour people, they fail to honour you; but of a good leader, who talks little, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say, ‘We did this ourselves’.”
It’s bad when a President says he likes it when women prostrate themselves before him. Worse yet when people despise him for being too top-down and centralizing.
Burkina Faso
In the language of the old Upper Volta, these words mean: “Land of upright men”. The country was re-named this by Africa’s Che Guevara, a young leader called Thomas Sankara.
This highlights his idealism. He was also creative… an accomplished guitarist, he also wrote Burkina Faso’s new national anthem. He said a week before he was assassinated: "While revolutionaries as individuals can be murdered, you cannot kill ideas." He was right. His actions were stopped, but his ideas, idealism, creativity and innovation live on.
He was a military man, so when a military government was formed in Upper Volta in 1981, Sankara got his first taste of governance - as Secretary of State for Information. He rode to his first cabinet meeting on a bicycle! But he resigned the next year when he perceived the regime's anti-labour drift.
These were turbulent times with various failed and successful coups, but two years later, Sankara became President at the age of 33. The ideology of his Revolution was defined as anti-imperialist. He spoke in forums like the Oranization for African Unity against what he described as neo-colonialist penetration of Africa through Western trade and finance. He called for a united front of African nations to repudiate their foreign debt.
Here are some of the actions that validated his words and ideas for Change. They merit recollection (from Wikipedia):
- He refused to use the air conditioning in his office on the grounds that such luxury was not available to anyone but a handful
- As President, he lowered his salary to $450 a month and limited his possessions to a car, four bikes, three guitars, a fridge and a broken freezer
- A motorcyclist himself, he formed an all-women motorcycle personal guard
- He was known for jogging unaccompanied through the capital in his track suit and posing in his tailored military fatigues
- When asked why he didn't want his portrait hung in public places, as was the norm for other African leaders, he replied "There are seven million Thomas Sankaras"
- He sold off the government fleet of Mercedes cars and made the Renault (the cheapest car sold in Burkina Faso at that time) the official service car of the ministers
- He reduced the salaries of well-off public servants, including his own, and forbade the use of government chauffeurs and 1st class airline tickets
- He forced well-off civil servants to pay one month's salary to public projects
- He required public servants to wear a traditional tunic, woven from Burkinabe cotton and sewn by Burkinabe craftsmen
- In Ouagadougou, Sankara converted the army's provisioning store into a state-owned supermarket open to everyone (the first supermarket in the country)
- He redistributed land from the feudal landlords to the peasants. Wheat production increased from 1700 kg per hectare to 3800 kg per hectare
- His government banned female genital mutilation, forced marriages and polygamy; while appointing females to high governmental positions and encouraging them to work outside the home and stay in school even if pregnant
South Africa is experiencing some political earthquakes. The tectonic plates are shifting, causing a future Labour Party to appear on the horizon. Organized labour is restless, uncomfortable in the ruling alliance. This is the second split – between Left and Neo-liberals. Another split has already emerged – along age lines. A new party called the Economic Freedom Fighters is the first one ever to be basically youth-led.
Sankara was consistent. How can you expect the working class and largely unemployed youth both to support a government that has gone mad in terms of waste and graft?
How can a government that ignores Corruption and spends billions that it can’t give account for (according to the Auditor General) to be a force for Economic Emancipation?
John the Baptist – the Grinch who Restores Christmas
Jesus not only endorsed John the Baptist, it is possible that he discipled under his forerunner for a time, only to emerge later as a force in his own right. But the two were very different, as outlined in the following table:
John emphasized conversion – behaviour change. It was down-to-earth, practical stuff, none of the mysticism of St Paul’s reinvention of Jesus:
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
Share your resources with the poor, don’t overtax them or extort them. The well-to-do should be content – enough is enough.
The Patron Saint of Fundraising
In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens articulates his social comment on Christmas: "At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. ... We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”
That was 150 years ago! It was after the Industrial Revolution, but before the dawn of Consumerism. In a way, Christmas has been hijacked. It seems to be more of a celebration of Abundance than of the birthday of one who taught:
Congratulations, you poor!
God's domain belongs to you.
Congratulations, you hungry!
You will have a feast.
Congratulations, you who weep now!
You will laugh.
These beatitudes feature the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that are characteristic of Jesus. He and Charles Dickens were on one and the same frequency when it comes to the need for social justice and a preoccupation with the poor.
The Gap
A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000. The three richest people possess more financial assets than the lowest 48 nations combined. The combined wealth of the "10 million dollar millionaires" grew to nearly $41 trillion in 2008. Meanwhile, in 2001, 46.4% of people in sub-Saharan Africa were living in extreme poverty. Nearly half of all Indian children are undernourished, however, even among the wealthiest fifth one third of children are malnourished.
The Occupy Movement
The phrase "The 99%" is a political slogan used by protesters of the Occupy Movement. It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page in late August of 2011. It refers to the concentration of wealth among the top 1% of income earners compared to the other 99 percent; the top 1 percent of income earners nearly tripled after-tax income over the last thirty years according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report.
The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Wall Street movement were beginning to enter the national political debate. According to the CBO, between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% of Americans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreased by $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007 the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%. In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of $343,927. In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%.
Culture Jamming
This phenomenon is a form of protest. The term "jam" contains more than one meaning, including improvising, by re-situating an image or idea already in existence, and interrupting, by attempting to stop the workings of a machine. This was the vocation of the prophets, and John the Baptist was the greatest of them all.
We need to recover his message, which Jesus held in high esteem. In fact, not only was John a forerunner of Jesus but his Gospel of Repentance precedes the radical message of inclusion and tolerance that follows it – to the point of loving your enemies. It is predicated on John’s missive about sharing and contentment.
Gifts of the Magi
The practice of exchanging of gifts at Christmas is a kind of Mutual Fund. Everybody benefits! In some shops, 50% of annual turnover happens during the season of Christmas shopping. This is not to be confused with agape love or compassion.
Remember that this is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.
The Magi brought gifts to a baby lying in a manger. The New Testament never says that this was in a stable. It simply says that there was no guest room available. Mangers built from wood are not that different in size or shape from cradles. They are crude, but readily available in an agrarian setting. In today’s urban setting it might have happened that Mary laid Jesus in a cardboard box! The point is that they were not well-to-do.
So when the Magi came, it was a case of grown-ups who were wealthy and wise sharing with a poor and vulnerable child.
The Grinch who Restores Christmas
This is a call in the year of the Arab Spring, “culture jamming” and the Occupy Movement, to revise your gift-giving habits.
Beware the hype of advertising! Be content with what you have.
Follow the same star that the Magi did – to a humble setting where “Want is keenly felt”.
Don’t celebrate Abundance. Affluence is not something to rejoice in, when the disparities outlined above are on the rise.
The Cause of the Month
The annual round of climate talks began this week in Durban, South Africa. The big questions are said to be:
Don’t ask “What can Durban deliver?”
Ask what you can deliver, this month – to those where Want is keenly felt. That is where the road out of Global Warming begins.
John the Baptist was an ascetic
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Jesus was a lush
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John was based in the wilderness
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Jesus had an urban base – from Nazareth to Capernaum to Jerusalem
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John was reclusive and exclusive
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Jesus engaged, almost as a populist
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John called people to repent
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Jesus taught people to love their enemies
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John practiced baptism
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Jesus practiced inclusion and tolerance
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John disturbed public leaders
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Jesus disturbed religious leaders
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John was expecting an apocalyptic messiah and wondered if it was Jesus
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Jesus heralded the “reign of God” which could mean morality and ethics
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John emphasized conversion – behaviour change. It was down-to-earth, practical stuff, none of the mysticism of St Paul’s reinvention of Jesus:
“What should we do then?” the crowd asked. John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” “Don’t collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don’t extort money and don’t accuse people falsely—be content with your pay.”
Share your resources with the poor, don’t overtax them or extort them. The well-to-do should be content – enough is enough.
The Patron Saint of Fundraising
In A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens articulates his social comment on Christmas: "At this festive season of the year, Mr Scrooge," said the gentleman, taking up a pen, "it is more than usually desirable that we should make some slight provision for the poor and destitute, who suffer greatly at the present time. ... We choose this time, because it is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.”
That was 150 years ago! It was after the Industrial Revolution, but before the dawn of Consumerism. In a way, Christmas has been hijacked. It seems to be more of a celebration of Abundance than of the birthday of one who taught:
Congratulations, you poor!
God's domain belongs to you.
Congratulations, you hungry!
You will have a feast.
Congratulations, you who weep now!
You will laugh.
These beatitudes feature the dramatic presentation and reversal of expectations that are characteristic of Jesus. He and Charles Dickens were on one and the same frequency when it comes to the need for social justice and a preoccupation with the poor.
The Gap
A study by the World Institute for Development Economics Research at United Nations University reports that the richest 1% of adults alone owned 40% of global assets in the year 2000. The three richest people possess more financial assets than the lowest 48 nations combined. The combined wealth of the "10 million dollar millionaires" grew to nearly $41 trillion in 2008. Meanwhile, in 2001, 46.4% of people in sub-Saharan Africa were living in extreme poverty. Nearly half of all Indian children are undernourished, however, even among the wealthiest fifth one third of children are malnourished.
The Occupy Movement
The phrase "The 99%" is a political slogan used by protesters of the Occupy Movement. It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page in late August of 2011. It refers to the concentration of wealth among the top 1% of income earners compared to the other 99 percent; the top 1 percent of income earners nearly tripled after-tax income over the last thirty years according to a Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report.
The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Wall Street movement were beginning to enter the national political debate. According to the CBO, between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% of Americans grew by an average of 275%. During the same time period, the 60% of Americans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. Since 1979 the average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households has decreased by $900, while that of the top 1% increased by over $700,000, as federal taxation became less progressive. From 1992-2007 the top 400 income earners in the U.S. saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%. In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was $960,000 with a minimum income of $343,927. In 2007 the richest 1% of the American population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Americans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%.
Culture Jamming
This phenomenon is a form of protest. The term "jam" contains more than one meaning, including improvising, by re-situating an image or idea already in existence, and interrupting, by attempting to stop the workings of a machine. This was the vocation of the prophets, and John the Baptist was the greatest of them all.
We need to recover his message, which Jesus held in high esteem. In fact, not only was John a forerunner of Jesus but his Gospel of Repentance precedes the radical message of inclusion and tolerance that follows it – to the point of loving your enemies. It is predicated on John’s missive about sharing and contentment.
Gifts of the Magi
The practice of exchanging of gifts at Christmas is a kind of Mutual Fund. Everybody benefits! In some shops, 50% of annual turnover happens during the season of Christmas shopping. This is not to be confused with agape love or compassion.
Remember that this is a time, of all others, when Want is keenly felt, and Abundance rejoices.
The Magi brought gifts to a baby lying in a manger. The New Testament never says that this was in a stable. It simply says that there was no guest room available. Mangers built from wood are not that different in size or shape from cradles. They are crude, but readily available in an agrarian setting. In today’s urban setting it might have happened that Mary laid Jesus in a cardboard box! The point is that they were not well-to-do.
So when the Magi came, it was a case of grown-ups who were wealthy and wise sharing with a poor and vulnerable child.
The Grinch who Restores Christmas
This is a call in the year of the Arab Spring, “culture jamming” and the Occupy Movement, to revise your gift-giving habits.
Beware the hype of advertising! Be content with what you have.
Follow the same star that the Magi did – to a humble setting where “Want is keenly felt”.
Don’t celebrate Abundance. Affluence is not something to rejoice in, when the disparities outlined above are on the rise.
The Cause of the Month
The annual round of climate talks began this week in Durban, South Africa. The big questions are said to be:
- the fate of the Kyoto Protocol
- emissions reduction targets
- how to bridge the divide between rich and poor
Don’t ask “What can Durban deliver?”
Ask what you can deliver, this month – to those where Want is keenly felt. That is where the road out of Global Warming begins.
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