Study guide
s we live into the 21st century, our nation is under- going dramatic changes in social and economic life. Many people are working harder just to stay even, and
security is more tenuous in employment and retirement. Yet statistics show that the wealthiest among us are doing better than ever. Is there a better way?
By Robert C. Blezard
Inequality: Economic and income A
Exercise 1: The golden rule Jesus teaches: “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you ...” (Matthew 7:12). • How does the “golden rule” fare in today’s market econ- omy? In fact, what might be the “rule” that governs the marketplace? • How would you like to be employed? Paid for your labor? Fairly taxed? Given health care? Assured retirement? • What responsibilities would you shoulder in return? • How can the church work to help ensure that you—and all God’s people—are treated that way?
Exercise 2: Problem of the poor • How has our church (nationally) and your congregation (locally) responded to the needs of the rising ranks of poor people? • As worthy and necessary as it may be, is charity the solu- tion to poverty? • What would help lift families out of poverty once and for all? • Discuss the role education, training, employment and opportunity play in poverty. What are the trends in those four areas?
Exercise 3: Job shifts • How has employment changed in your community or state in the last 50 years? • What kinds of jobs were available for those with just a high-school diploma in 1964? In 1989? Now? • What kind of income and pension could someone have expected with a job in 1964? In 1989? Now? • What has happened? Where did the good jobs go? Who benefited from the shifts? Who lost?
Exercise 4: The American dream • In a single sentence define the “American dream.” • What are its underlying assumptions about work, ambi- tion, honesty, success and prosperity? • Are those assumptions valid today? • Why is the American dream harder to attain now than in generations past? • What economic and social shifts have affected the Ameri- can dream?
Exercise 5: Income inequality Data show that the gains in the U.S. economy over the last 30 years have disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, whose incomes have soared while middle- and working-class families have treaded water. • When the economy grows, is it only because of the wealthy? • Should gains in the economy be shared across the eco- nomic spectrum? • Is it fair when a rising tide lifts only the big boats? • How can a democratic society help ensure that wealth is shared equitably? • Discuss the role of government, business, churches and faithful Christians in this issue.
Exercise 6: Public vs. private • Which interest is our market economy designed to pre- serve more: What is good for an individual or what is good for everyone? Explain. • For the well-ordering of life and society, when should the public good be considered above the individual good? • When should the individual good be placed above the pub- lic good? • In an economic order, what is a healthy balance between public and private good? Why is balance necessary? • How can Chris- t i ans help to re s t o re a n d maintain that balance?
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www.thelutheran.org (click “study guides”).
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Author bio: Blezard is an assistant to the bishop of the Lower Susquehanna Synod. He has a master of divinity degree from Boston Uni-
versity and did subsequent study at the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg (Pa.) and the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia.
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