What’s the Problem?
When it comes to poverty alleviation understanding the problem is half the battle. The African-American scholar, Cornel West made he following statement regarding ghetto poverty:
“The most basic issue now facing black America: the nihilistic threat to its very existence. This threat is not simply a matter of relative economic deprivation and political powerlessness — though economic well-being and political clout are requisites for meaningful progress. It is primarily a question of speaking to the profound sense of psychological depression, personal worthlessness, and social despair so widespread in black America.”
This is not isolated to black America, of course. It’s for anyone, of any color, of any nationality found anywhere in the world. Poverty is more than a lack of resources, it’s a lack of relationship.
Steve Corbett and Brian Fikkert offer the following perspective about how we define poverty and how we approach poverty:
If we believe the primary cause of poverty is…
A lack of knowledge the we will try to educate the poor
If we believe the primary cause of poverty is…
Oppression by powerful people then we will work for social justice
If we believe the primary cause of poverty is…
The personal sins of the poor then we will attempt to evangelize and disciple.
If we believe the primary cause of poverty is…
A lack of material resources then we will give material resources to the poor.
While these are all parts of poverty, they aren’t the whole picture. If it were so easy, then any one of those approaches should have solved the problem by now. Consider Africa, where in the past 50 years over one trillion US dollars has been given for development, and yet it remains one of the most undeveloped regions of the world. Something is missing.
Poverty was not part of God’s original plan for mankind. Adam and Eve had everything provided for them in the Garden. Even though they had to do work, the work was a joy to them, their needs were provided for, and there relationship with God was not broken. Bryan Myers in his book Walking with the Poor: Principles of Transformational Development suggests that the roots of poverty come first from our broken relationship with God, and subsequently broken relationships with Self, Others and the Rest of Creation.
In this sense, “Poverty is the result of relationships that do not work, that are not just, that are not for life, that are not harmonious or enjoyable. Poverty is the absence of shalom in all its meanings” (Myers, 1999, 86).
It is from this premise, that poverty is defined by a lack of shalom and right relationship, that our series will continue. Until we learn to embrace our shared brokenness, our work with low-income individuals and communities is likely to do more harm than good. Even if you are materially rich, you experience the same lack when it comes restoring the four foundational relationships with God, Self, Others and Creation; this is what we call a “poverty of being” - which is universally shared regardless of your economic status.
This may all seem simple, perhaps even redundant, but it’s important that we spend this time on foundational concepts before we begin discussing how to approach poverty alleviation. Hang in there with us, and we’ll get cracking.
Bear in mind that we’re doing our best to distill entire chapters down to bite sized pieces, which, unfortunately is editing out loads of great content. I highly recommend grabbing a copy of the book, When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, and going deeper on these topics.
