h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A noble cause no doubt and one that should be supported wholeheartedly. However, lamentably, making poverty history is an aim that will never be realised. As Jesus said, we will always have the poor with us.

We may have poor, but poverty is not a nescessary outcome of having "poor" in our midst. Society, if structured to aid the "rightfully poor" - ie: those who are disabled, or ill etc.

The ideal is where everyone is given and education and an oppourtunity to earn a living - from there the "poor" and "ill" can be supported by social structures.

Poverty is an extreme outcome of so many factors - simple lack of money is not a solitary root cause. In Africa poverty has a number of contributors - most of which could be overcome by education and social stability.



Kosh

Two thoughts:

When Jesus said, 'The poor will always be with us' he knew a thing or two about human nature.

Gordon Brown believe that too.

Who is Gordon Brown? Never heard of him. Is he the brother of Dan?

Yes. The poor will always exist. It's our aim to make the lives of poor people easier and more comfortable. In the Bible, the poor had to be treated with respect, even so much as leaving food in the field after a harvest so the hungry and poor could snack on the remainder and wouldn't starve.

The Covenant.

That we will always have the poor with us is no doubt explainable by the relative aspects of poverty. There is no poverty today in the Western world that would equate with the abject poverty known in the same areas during past millennia.

With the rise of Christian charities and social revolution that enables virtually everyone today to have the necessities of life through government aid, we have little appreciation of the degree of poverty once known.

However, we ought not to label those who cannot afford the luxuries of life i.e. electronics, media comforts, private transportation etc. to be classified as poor.They may not be so prosperous, but as long as they receive the necessities of life, they cannot really be regarded as people in want.

RC