"in a world of finite resources I am wealthy at someone else’s expense"
Is it possible that there are not enough resources in our world to sustain middle class life as we know it? Are there enough resources in our world for every person in Canada, the USA, China, India and Africa to have a stainless steel sink, a car in the driveway, electric lights, indoor plumbing with its prerequisite use of water, pumps, filtration and waste disposal? What about Large screen TV’s and digital cameras? Where would we put the waste and by products of juice boxes for every child, batteries for every toy, disposable picnic plates and plastic garbage bags?
Could the dream of middle class lifestyle be a fabrication of capitalistic consumerism?
Middle class living may not be achievable.
From a basic supply and demand concept there may not be enough to go around. We know, of course, that if demand increases and supply decreases we have a price increase. That very cycle alone could out price the middle class.
The death of the middle class may be just around the corner in North America.
Jesus, the great prophet, said that we would always have the poor. Maybe Jesus understood supply and demand economics better that we do.
Here is some good news. There is actually enough wealth currently available in the word to alleviate poverty. It is, however, hoarded in the hands of very few people.
As Christians ( defined here as a follower of Christ, not a religion) Jesus calls us to account for our wealth. He challenges us to make certain our wealth is available in caring for the poor. He never defines what wealth is, or how much is too much. He does challenge us to make certain our wealth is available so that we can care for others.
The availability of our wealth in ministering to the poor is at the core of a life of simplicity. Imagine what each of us could do if we simplified our lifestyles. We could each use the left over wealth and follow Jesus into the desert place of poverty, and bring new life and new hope. We might not even miss our afternoon cappuccino at Tim’s.
