The Quaker William Penn wrote a striking line on social justice that reaches to the very depths of our conscience, does it not?
"If thou art clean and warm, it is sufficient, for more doth rob the poor."
William Penn, from Some Fruits of Solitude
Think of how many of our luxuries and our weapons and our expenses in the United States could totally eradicate all poverty.
Several years ago, one leader emphasized that only a small portion of what U.S. citizens spend on non-basic items could eliminate all the hunger in the world!
And consider that the many billions spent on weapons
could easily eradicate disease,
and hunger,
and inequality
in the
WHOLE
world.
In the Light,
Daniel Wilcox
2 comments:
Hello, Dan,
As usual, I will be the "thorn" that disagrees... Well, not completely. I do believe that as a country we could make better decisions on spending, but, as we have learned some time ago, these decisions hardly depend on the opinion of people like you and me.
Personally, I do not feel guilty about some small pleasures - like a once in a while cup of coffee at a coffee shop, a box of chocolates, or a treat for my cat. Had I saved that money and donated it to some charity, would it go to a good cause and help feed the poor? Don't think so. My suspicion is, it would have gone to pay the manager of the charity, and ultimately I would have paid for his coffee and chocolates instead of my own... When it comes to helping those in need, I strongly believe in face to face contact: I would rather buy a cup of coffee and a bagel for a woman on the street than donate a dollar a day to some charity organization which, in turn, will spend it on paperwork. Hope I did not repeat myself too much. :) Stay well.
Katya
Good morning Katya,
And I partially agree...We all need to carefully study where we donate because even famous charity organizations have been faulted in the last several years for misuse and waste of funds!
Thanks for the dialog,
Daniel
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