Living the Ch 7and8

“You gave me clothing”

Read about poverty in Las Vegas and how a group of young people

responded on page 198-199

What do you think the students meant by trying to “see the face of Christ in each person who visited?”

Life on the edge

Poverty~the experience of not

having the basic things one needs to live a full and

dignified life1. The nearness of death2. Marginalization3. Living on the edge4. The cycle of poverty5. Barriers to full development

Break up into 5 groups and then explain each one of theseto your classmates. Pages 200-201

Maslow’s hierarchy of needs

page 202

• Look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs choose which 3 are the most important to you. How would you life be different if you could not fulfill these needs?

Poverty in the world’s wealthiest nation

• Together let’s read the stories from Pat Schneider on page 204-205.

• How are the characteristics of poverty evident in these stories?

Issues of poverty in the US

Hunger:• Chronic hunger• Starvation• Malnutrition• Food insecure

Homelessness:• More than

750,000 on any given night

• Literally homeless

• hidden homeless

Inadequate Education •What allows you to do your best work as a student?

Why?

• Low wages, high costs• Government aid • Physical and mental health

issues• hopelessness

Poverty in the world’s poorest nations

• More than half the worlds pop. Lives on less than $2 a day

• 1.1 billion people do not have access to clean drinking water

• 2.6 billion lack access to basic sanitation

• 1.8 million children die annually as a result of disease caused by unclean water and poor sanitation

Issues of poverty in the world poorest nations

Hunger- more than 1 billion do not have access to the food/water they need

Inadequate Education-114 mil do not receive a basic

ed.-584 mil women around the

world are unable to read HomelessnessMany of the worlds homeless are refugees-people displaced from their homes by wars of political persecution.

AIDS-2/3 of the worlds new AIDS cases and deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa AIDS spreads twice as quickly among uneducated girls More that 40 percent of African women do not have access to basic education

Global Poverty is not Inevitable

• there is enough food in the world • 13 billion could meet the

nutritional needs of the world’s poorest people– Does that seem like a lot?

The Legacy of Colonialism

• By 1914 Europe, its colonies and its former colonies (like the US) controlled 84% of the earth’s land surface

• Colonization was meant to enrich European powers– How did it impact colonies?

Barriers to development

• Relationships set up during colonization still hurt folks today

• Many countries still rely on the sale of crops (ie coffee) to survive

• Survive=just get by • Land used but not to support local

communities

The trail colonialism leaves

• A tiny # of people continue to control the majority of land, resources, and political power in these poor nations (which leads to Govt policies that favor the rich)

Foreign aid

• US less than 1% of the federal budget

• Projects or purchases that benefit the interests of the donor country

Discrimination• Religious and ethnic minorities are

more likely to be impoverished than other groups

• Indigenous peoples and women often suffer from prejudice even if they are not the minority.

The Debt Crisis

• -poor countries owe billions in loan repayment to banks and wealthy countries

• Paying interest on these loans takes money from social programs the could help eliminate poverty

• Poor people receive little benefit from these loans while carrying the biggest burden from them

Feeling overwhelmed? Discouraged?

• Just ignore it…• Oh wait, what would Jesus do?

– Recognize the dignity in all people – Respond with compassion

…And then what?

Wait to find out in the next chapter!

Chapter 8

Living the good life part

2

living simply.

Choices that our JOYdeepen

focus on essentials

wealth gap

• The richest 10% of the world’s population own 85% of its wealth.

• The poorest 50% own barely 1% of its wealth.

• This difference between the wealthiest and the poorest people is known as the wealth gap.

Poverty of beingprevents us from developing our full potential as images of God

• Living Crazily

• Stuff is not enough

• Forgetting our call to community

• Forgetting the limits of creation

• Forgetting our true identity– consumerism

The world would be better offif people tried to become

better.

And people would become better if they stopped trying to

be better off.

For when everybody triesto become better off,nobody is better off.

But when everybody triesto become better,

everybody is better off.

Everybody would be richif nobody tried

to become richer

And nobody would be poorif everybody tried to be the poorest

And everybody would be what he ought to be if everybody tried to bewhat he wants the other fellow to

be.

Learning to Share

• People > than stuff– Human rights– Option for the poor

• The earth is God’s gift to all

• We are called to care for God’s creation

• The Catholic Worker believes/ in the gentle personalism/ of traditional Catholicism.

• The Catholic Worker believes/ in the personal obligation/ of looking after/ the needs of our brother.

• The Catholic Worker believes/ in the daily practice/ of the Works of Mercy

• The Catholic Worker believes/in Houses of Hospitality/ for the immediate relief. of those who are in need.

• The Catholic Worker believes/in the establishment/ of Farming Communes/ where each one works according to his ability and gets/ according to his need.

• The Catholic Worker believes/ in creating a new society/ within the shell of the old with the philosophy of the new, which is not a new philosophy/ but a very old philosophy, a philosophy so old/that it looks like new.

What can you do…

• Page 251

• Other ideas?