When the ear heard, it commended me
and when the eye saw, it approved;
because I delivered the poor who cried,
and the orphan who had no helper.
The blessing of the wretched came upon me,
and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy.
I put on righteousness, and it clothed me;
my justice was like a robe and a turban.
I was eyes to the blind,
and feet to the lame.
I was a father to the needy,
and I championed the cause of the stranger.
I chose their way, and sat as chief,
and I lived like a king among his troops,
like one who comforts mourners. Job 29: 12-16, 25
Anyone who has been following Robert Reich’s columns and radio commentary over the last few years knows he returns again and again to his deep concern about income inequality in the United States. His summary observation is that income inequality is now as bad as it was just before the stock market crash of 1929. The wealthiest one percent of the population in our country receives nearly 25 percent of total annual income. This contrasts with 1976, when they accounted for only 9% of wage income. When total capital resources are taken into account, the top one percent controls nearly 40 percent of our nation’s wealth. Or another measure Reich recently pointed out in the New York Times (Sunday Review, September 4, 2011, p. 6) is that the 5 percent of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37% of consumer purchases. This is particularly foreboding when one considers the role that consumer spending is expected to play in providing an uplift to our dismal economy. Our limping middle class has little disposal income with which to purchases goods and services. As Jon Stewart has noted, our country ranks somewhere in the low forties in income equality, slightly above Rwanda. What is truly ironic about this situation is that in time the rich will bring about their own ruin by ignoring the justice inherent in promoting more equal income distribution across our citizenry.
I believe that Reich is doing the Lord’s work as he preaches in season and out about the oppressive reality of our country’s current plutocracy. I thought of his tireless repetition of the income inequality theme when I read Job 29 recently. In it, Job pines for his days of prosperity and the recognition that came with it. But Job’s place of respect in his community was secured not by the vastness of his wealth, the number of his possessions, nor his prospects for earning compounded interest on his investments. No, Job was an honored person because he championed the cause of the poor and oppressed in their several manifestations. May Robert Reich never tire of preaching the injustice of income inequality. And may our present day plutocrats take heed and soon.
Anyone who has been following Robert Reich’s columns and radio commentary over the last few years knows he returns again and again to his deep concern about income inequality in the United States. His summary observation is that income inequality is now as bad as it was just before the stock market crash of 1929. The wealthiest one percent of the population in our country receives nearly 25 percent of total annual income. This contrasts with 1976, when they accounted for only 9% of wage income. When total capital resources are taken into account, the top one percent controls nearly 40 percent of our nation’s wealth. Or another measure Reich recently pointed out in the New York Times (Sunday Review, September 4, 2011, p. 6) is that the 5 percent of Americans with the highest incomes now account for 37% of consumer purchases. This is particularly foreboding when one considers the role that consumer spending is expected to play in providing an uplift to our dismal economy. Our limping middle class has little disposal income with which to purchases goods and services. As Jon Stewart has noted, our country ranks somewhere in the low forties in income equality, slightly above Rwanda. What is truly ironic about this situation is that in time the rich will bring about their own ruin by ignoring the justice inherent in promoting more equal income distribution across our citizenry.
I believe that Reich is doing the Lord’s work as he preaches in season and out about the oppressive reality of our country’s current plutocracy. I thought of his tireless repetition of the income inequality theme when I read Job 29 recently. In it, Job pines for his days of prosperity and the recognition that came with it. But Job’s place of respect in his community was secured not by the vastness of his wealth, the number of his possessions, nor his prospects for earning compounded interest on his investments. No, Job was an honored person because he championed the cause of the poor and oppressed in their several manifestations. May Robert Reich never tire of preaching the injustice of income inequality. And may our present day plutocrats take heed and soon.
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