Analysis, Week 5

The articles this week are meant to show that through various means, there are definite ways to alter the course of this world's systems. El Salvador is mentioned in three of my resources this week. It wasn't necessarily intentional when I started my research, except for the first resource, which documents how Francisco Flores, a native of El Salvador changed the governmental structure of El Salvador from inside the country. He believes that in order to change structurs such as this, that men and women from inside the country, must sacrifice great means in order to effect any change.
Flores believes that many countries, (not all) are poor because of policies from within those countries, and are not specifically caused from without, such as corporations in the U.S., using other countries and exploiting them to our own benefit. Although this does happen. The change came from within El Salvador, when Flores was elected president. South America has had sweeping changes in terms of electing leaders through a democratic system, who may enact change within those countries. The "peasant" classes in South America have continually not had a voice for years, but finally are wanting to end the inequality. Once the people of a nation have suffered enough, change will come. I believe that without sweeping changes in the structure of the government, it will repeat it's history. In the foundation of our country, those that structured the Consititution and the Bill of Rights, knew that they were making changes to separate from the structure of England. Although loosely based upon that system, our Constitution departed from many of their structures.
Our country has problems which effect the economy, which come from within. I added a resource to briefly look at the issue of gangs. Gangs contribute to a wide range of problems. Firstly, I mentioned the breakdown of the family structure, which gave rise to single parent households. It is difficult enough for a mother and father to raise a child, but becomes all the more difficult for those that do not have such a structure. In many young men and women, loss of this structure, gives rise to associating with a group of people, whom they identify with for "family structure". Many gang members will give their life for other gang members, as a parent would for their child.
The cost associated with gangs can not specifically be counted, due to abstract economic factors. Some of these may be, law enforcements (including overtime), state sponsored drug programs, survaillance at retail stores (security, camera's), auto theft (insurance rates). All these factors and more can be associated with gangs, which affect the overall cost of products, which we buy. Most crimes are associated with drugs, which are associated with gangs.
This is why I included some followers of Christ, who have not counted even theirs lives, in proclaiming the gospel. They probably had not thought that proclaiming the gospel to the poor can change the economics of a country. It can have a domino effect, in proclaiming the gospel to those who have "waged war," with the American way, it may bring social change.
When I say, the American Way, I am being facetious. Those that destroy the structure of the government, are decaying the country from within. Like Abraham Lincoln quoted years ago, "if this country is going to be defeated, it may come from within." I am not saying that inner decay of certain structures is not necessary to see that we are a flawed nation. Sometimes through these circumstances, serious change may happen. Nicky Cruz is effecting change by being the "mission church", to these El Salvadorian gang members. If we, including myself would not only think, but act, serious change would happen. The most important factor though is that not to destroy one group of people over another. What I mean for example, is opposing the war in Iraq, may be what one believes is the right thing to do. Is opposing the war though going to change the fact that young men and women are risking their lives for what they believe. Quesion is, is outwardly opposing the war, going to help those young men and women come to a closer knowledge of God? Thanks for the time.

Nicky Cruz

http://www.nickycruz.org/features/blog.htm
This is Nicky Cruz's blog, which had a link from his home page. Nicky Cruz became a follower of Jesus Christ through David Wilkerson's ministry in Brooklyn, NY. Cruz was a gang member in New York. Cruz's ministry now goes into the gang life in the U.S. and apparently into the El Salvadore prison system to minister to Mara Salvatrucha, which is the El Salvadorian gangs. Another person who counts not his life for the work of ministry.

Gangs

http://www.gangsorus.com/marasalvatrucha13.html
Gangs in the United States absolutely add to the economic factors attributed to the cost of living. I specifically added this synopsis of these El Salvadorian gangs, because they were on the front of the Sunday Los Angeles Times. This makes me think these gangs may be a problem in the U.S. Gangs add to the cost of law enforcement, drug prevention, and all other "taxed" services. I guess as Christians we need to get out there and live the gospel.

Poor Jews

http://www.ifcj.org/site/PageServer?pagename=TV_Isaiah&s_src=google_i58&s_track=google_i58
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews is an organization that brings together an extremely large number of Christians and Jews in the fellowship of dealing with issues that both groups of people feel. It does not disclude any other group of people, but focuses on these two, since the central theme is God in Israel.

Single parent families

http://www.nzbr.org.nz/documents/perspectives/perspectives-2004/Issue47.pdf
Jonathan Rauch commented in this article that, "marriage is displacing both income and race as the great class divide in the new century". Also Charles Murray commented that "welfare entitlements" as the great war on poverty has increased the economic vulnerability of those it intended to help...single mothers and children. Problem with the article, no conclusion.

Wealth

http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
Who rules America? Although the disparity is great between the total wealth ownership as opposed to the total percentage, the finding from 1922 to 1998 haven't changed, except for 1 to 2 percent. In terms of stock though, the top 1% of American households hold almost half the stock options for corporations, which has to greatest influence as to why the wealthy are so wealthy. It is not in terms of income, but in terms of wealth.

New Wealth

http://www.ml.com/index.asp?id=7695_7696_8149_6261_14832_14938
This article relates that the wealthy keep getting wealthier, but they are getting wealthier in most industrialized nations, including Latin America. Merrill Lynch researched this article and showed that the only reason Europe is not increasing at the same rate as the wealthy in the U.S. is because they place restrictive income tax policies, which limit accumulating personal wealth. The U.S. will soon follow the lead of Europe.

Nee

http://www.watchmannee.org/life-ministry.html
My blog resources would not be complete without a Christian who "bore the cross of Christ", with his entire life. Watchman Nee changed the face of China for the gospel of Christ. When the communist regime took over in 1952, Watchman Nee instead of running away, actually went back to mainland China to minister to the now persecuted churches. He was arrested, imprisoned, and executed in 1972. He gave all for the "cause of Christ."

Poverty/Latin

http://www.commondreams.org/views02/1128-02.htm
Some of these articles show that changes within a government must come from within, not so much from without. The people inside any specific country, when given the opportunity for change when pressed enough, will solicit the change. The poverty in South American countries is close to that of a "third world country." By electing officials who want to rid the governmental structure of corruption is a step in the right direction for these countries.

Paine

http://www.thomaspaine.org/Archives/afri.html

Issue of slavery as given by Thomas Paine. He shows a shock from the fact that some Christians are using scripture to enslave others. This was a problem with the states and should be addressed by the states.

Acton

http://www.acton.org/ppolicy/comment/article.php?article=293

I have used many articles written by The Acton Institute for Religious Liberty. This article may be the best I've seen. The ex-president of El-Salvador, Francisco Flores spoke to this organization concerning the effects of the guerilla warfare that has plagued his country from 1979 until 1992. Much of the war he stated was triggered by Catholics using the preachings of Christ to precipitate war. Many who were devout Christians turned to God, knowing that this was the only way to end the violence. Flores also stated that he doesn't buy into the philosophy that, "poor countries are poor, because rich countries impoverished them." He makes a firm stand against this philosophy, saying that wealth and loss of wealth, almost always comes from within that specific country, usually not from outside the country.

Analysis

This analysis is based upon this weeks articles. Each article is unique in the fact that it points out something about U.S. Economics. Specifically, I want to start by speaking about Abraham Lincoln. Although Lincoln knew that slavery was dividing this nation, he knew that bringing this nation together was the main focus in his administration. Lincoln absolutely wanted to end slavery, but he knew that just attacking the social injustices wouldn't end slavery, but laying the axe to the "root", would demolish the structure which gave rise to slavery. The confederate states wanted the ability to govern without the federal government's intervention. Although today we seem as though we have the opposite problem.
The structure today, which should have the "axe laid to the root", is the federal government. By providing for all the needs of the people, I believe that it had contributed to church organizations not being as heavily involved in solving some of the problems in terms of providing for the needs of the people.
Socialism is alive and well in the U.S. People no longer "need God" to supply for their needs when the government is big enough and powerful enough to do that. Lincoln once said that if this nation will ever be defeated it will come from within. That couldn't be more true. Without a strong family structure, this nation has developed into individuals providing for themselves. No longer do families pass down traits, including how to live well rounded productive lives. Without this structure any country is in "dire straits." I included the article on the Native Americans because the reservation system was I believe one of the worst prorams ever designed, next to inner city projects. Whenever a society isolates one group of people, causing segregation of that group, anger and bitterness will be close behind.
Community is essential to the existance of people. People can not have productive lives without the interaction of those around them. The Federal Governments answer is money, because it is not going to live the lives of those it is trying to help. What I mean is that, the only answer it can find is money. People don't like to be incovenienced, so they are not going to "get their hands dirty." That is why Christians absolutely need to. If followers of Christ don't love one another, then why should we love those with needs. This is actually an attempt to encourage those of us who want to make a difference, to love those that are in our lives every day. If we love those people daily, then those outside the church will see it.

Legacy

http://www.acton.org/publicat/randl/review.php?id=493

This article details how mainly the African American culture as told by Lee Jenkins, is to have a legacy in many area's, including to children. I wanted to include this, because as I believe there are not legacies being passed down from one generation to another anymore. Fifty years ago, a father held a responsibility to pass down to his children, character, work ethic, the family business. Although I understand that cultures change, the relationship in the familial structure should not change. Too much independance is not necessarily productive.

Casinos

http://www2.gsb.columbia.edu/divisions/finance/seminars/micro/fall_03/evans.pdf

Another long article, but details the gaming industry on Native American Reservations. The Federal Government has made it legal for these casino's to operate, outside of the influence of the states where they are established. Casino's in Connecticut, California, and New York, report revenue in excess of $4 billion. The final thought on this paper was the after 130 years on the casino's, Native Americans were among the poorest in the nation. Question: Will another ten to twenty years show that this was a huge mistake for Native Americans?

Consumers

http://money.cnn.com/2003/10/02/markets/consumerbubble/

Extremely informative that U.S. consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the Gross Domestic Product, and they state then that,..."nobody wants to see it falter." The Federal Reserve actually cuts interest rates, so that consumers can buy bigger houses and better cars. The federal government plays into the fact that consumers don't know when to say when. Consumer spending is a result of a bigger issue of an American Identity Crisis. Americans have lost their identities as people. Now it is based on people who need "things".

Federal Gov.

http://www.heritage.org/Research/Budget/bg1622.cfm

I included this article for two reasons. One, is that it lists some pork barrel projects given to the states through grants. One of them was the find out how well American's clean their dishes. I find this amusing. This article relates directly to the previous article, because it gives alternatives to the ballooning federal governments tax and spend philosophy. If American's have more disposable income, will Christians tithe more, and in turn could the church provide more services to those that need it, or would it not matter.

Spending

http://www.nd.edu/~dhungerm/Church_State_Substitutes.pdf

Article, although long is a well done paper on the effects of government spending in terms of poverty verses the spending done by the Church. Mainly the author uses the Presbyterean church as the main example. Very well written, and thorough. It concludes that with the increase in federal spending from the New Deal, church spending for the poor declined.

Apostle Paul

http://www.biblestudyinfo.com/paul/significance.shtml

I ofcourse wanted to include an article about the Apostle Paul's life, because it is important to know that one man's vision can change the entire world. Although Paul died alone in a prison, he had finished the work that Christ gave him to do. How many wars were averted, lives changed, and families restored, because they read the words of a man, 2000 years ago, who preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, not just in word, but in, "deed." Because of Paul's life, people came to know God, and their lives were changed. Maybe they stopped murdering, committing adultery, and they actually then cared for people in return. It seems as though this may be a good philosophy.

Lincoln

http://home.att.net/~rjnorton/Lincoln78.html

An exerpt from Abraham Lincoln's most famous quotes. Some of the quotes were quite shocking to me, since he is the one that I attribute as the one who, "freed the slaves," yet I see from his statements that his main concern was the Union of the states. He had one quote which was, "a house divided against itself cannot stand," in reference to the split in the Union. Lincoln realized that a half-slave, half-free Union would not stand. I initially looked into his quotes, because he once said, "if this country will ever be conquered, it will come from within." This means that if it will fall, this nation will be divided against itself.

Poverty

http://www.heritage.org/Research/PoliticalPhilosophy/BG791.cfm

Listing of the economic's of being "poor" in the U.S. Entitlements have given "poor americans" a lot of benefits. It gives a description of the comparisons between American poor and European poor. I am sure that the cost of living in the U.S. accounts for this fluctuation as opposed to some European countries though. This article also details how the Census Bureau doesn' count certain benefits, which the government gives to the poor, because they are, 'non-cash' benefits. Meaning they are benefits, but are not necessarily seen by the receiving person. Article is detailed, but only dissects the governments spending in relation to the poor.

Poorest

http://www.bbspot.com/News/2000/10/poorest_400.html

I actually couldn't believe that Forbes had published a poorest americans list. The last time the list appears to have been printed was five years ago. It probably didn't receive a lot of nice reviews because of the people listed were those who had lost a lot of money, due to investments that "went south." These people really are not the poorest people, because they had the money to invest in the first place. The only reason that I did add this article was the fact that these people had lost everything they owned. This country places an incredible emphasis on what a person has, or doesn't has. It gives American's identity, to "possess things". Even when those things are nothing, it is still an identity. It is extremely sad.

Richest

http://www.forbes.com/2004/09/22/rl04land.html

We have all seen Forbes magazine each year publish the list of the wealthiest in the world. This is a list compiled from 2004, as to who the wealthiest in the U.S. are. It also gives a brief synopsis of the philanthropic giving of each of the wealthiest, with Bill Gates giving away approximately 37% of his net worth. I think that this is great, but some of the organizations that had been given exhorbitant amounts of money, was the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. It had been given $60 Million. To me this doesn't seem like charity. I mean if someone gives $60 million, that is a lot of money. My question about this whole article is, "If all this money is given to charity, how come things are not improving in this country?"

Gospel is for the Jew and the Greek!
I attended the lecture at Payton 101 on 10/20/2005 and I do not want to go deeply into it, I just wanted to say a few things. Dr. Dauermann had an opinion about the Nation of Israel, which goes against most, actually all of scripture. God I believe is a covenant God, who does not change in His ways and His character. If Israel could have been established by anything other than faith in a God, who we do not see, then I believe God would have done this already. Abraham had to believe, Jacob had to believe, Joseph had to believe, Moses had to believe, Joshua had to believe,and out of their belief, God established this incredible nation.
God wants us to love Him freely, because He gave His love, absolutely, without question, freely to us. The scripture that was quoted was Hebrews 11, and, "...without faith it is impossible to please God." I think that the gospel should be proclaimed not in word, but with our lives, completely recklessly abandoning our lives for Jesus. Christ gave us His all and He wants us to do the same, except He made it not a burden, because of the Holy Spirit. I know this all seems very evangelical, but it is actually the opposite of evangelical, because it may cost people their lives, maybe not physically, but sacrificially.

Analysis

Mainly I would like to express the fact that I am sincerely wanting to see change in how we as Christians approach our life in God. I am a follower of Christ, first and foremost. I also believe that God operates in the places where we are, "poor in spirit,", which doesn't necessarily mean poor monetarily. In my life, I have had opportunities, but most of those opportunities meant nothing to me outside of true fulfillment in the life in Jesus. The riches of Christ are more pleasant to my life than any money. I am not at all downplaying the suffering of people all over the world.
The articles which I chose empower people through the means that they possess as followers of Christ. Some of the articles show the compassion showed the underprivaleged in the area's where these people lived. George Mueller didn't have to travel very far to see a deep need for providing food for the starving orphans in Bristol, England. He lived in Bristol, England, and although he traveled all over to world, preaching the gospel of Christ, he lived where he worked. Because he lived where he worked, this enabled him to find the needs of the people, and fulfill the needs of the people.
Last week I had mentioned the life of John Wesley. Also John Wesley worked where he lived. Sometimes I think that our thoughts are large, because then it would mean that I don't have to touch, hold, handle, and be involved in the everyday aspects of someone else's life. Jesus lived where he worked, in and among the people. If we look at the life of Jesus, some statements he made may seem mean, such as, "I only came for the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Matthew 15:24) What Jesus meant was not that He wasn't for the world, but he was sent for a specific purpose at that time. I think that today we would think that this was too small a thing. It wasn't global enough. I believe that people are sent all over the earth, but specifically for this project, I am focusing on U.S. economic issues, but a different method of effecting change. Not necessarily from a perspective of a new entitlement program, or eradicating big business, although from reading some of my group members' blogs, I have been educated to the need for change. I think the laws that have been established already, if enforced will be sufficient for change.
Sometimes some of the programs that we believe help people, do not help, but allow them to remain subserviant to a structure which does not enable them to be free. The articles I believe will enable some to think that in the light of the gospel of Christ. Meant for the "poor", but that they would not remain, "poor."
Some of the objectives raised to some of my articles may be that it is too simple, or how does this change the corrupt governments, including the corruption within our own government. I do believe that through men and women, sincerely attempting to change the governments structure, they may, but socialism has proved to corrupt, coup's do not usually work, due to the bloodshed thing, so maybe the problem is really a "spiritual one." I have personally seen though how one person, myself can effect natural change in an environment, so it is possible. The way I did it though was because I was in a position to effect change and was enabled to do so by the government. I was placed there for a purpose.

http://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=4881

I wanted to analyze the Cato's institute's article on government spending for mainly one purpose. That is to say that I believe that the way a government spends money is in direct correlation to beliefs of the spending habits of the people in the country represented. The U.S. is providing approximately $100,000 for each household destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Although I believe in government intervention and there is no cost associated with human life, wouldn't it just make more sense for the government to just build a Federal State of Louisiana. I am being slightly facetious, but where is the empowering of the people in Louisiana.

http://www.gmu.edu/departments/economics/wew/commentaries/02/may.htm

Walter Williams is an economist from George Mason University. Although this is a short article featured on PBS, which tend to be pro-societal change. Williams states that the more personal freedom the government of one country gives to it's citizens, the wealthier the country. The more a country dominates, through governmental policy, he stated, "the poorer the country." Although I didn't not research free market economies to those of greater government control, Williams may be on to something.

http://www.boundless.org/2002_2003/regulars/list_guy/a0000755.html

I know that some of these articles may seem very fundamental, but I am attempting to put together practical methods of changing society from the perspective of God first, through the power of Jesus Christ. This means that we as Christians have to lay aside all the things which we think will fulfill our lives. These five testimonies reflect how some younger students affected change in their immediate environments. If we all effected where we live, how great a change that would be.

http://www.sojo.net/index.cfm?action=magazine.home

Sojourners magazine opens articles which deal with the problems involved in many of the economic policies in this country. It also has editorials from Senators and others that are respected and realize of the need for social change. One of the editorials worth reading is by Sen. John Edwards.

http://www.uvm.edu/~sbross/biography/muller.txt

I definitely felt the need to add the story of George Mueller, who lived in England in the 1800's, building orphanages for the run-aways, and wandering children at that time in England. George had approximately 10,024 orphans during sixty years running the orphanages. He said that about 3,000 of those orphans came to have a relationship with God during that time. Also he had all of the monetary aspects of his ministry covered from start to finish, never worrying about the whereabouts of money.

http://www.acton.org/tfavs/alumni/2003/ctfavs2003/

This pastor from Ghana, Africa is giving a brief synopsis of a conference he attended in Connecticut, which spoke of idea's which address how Christian's are to relate to today's society. One of the thoughts was, "What does God want for His creation?" Since we are all created in the image of God, that means God wants us to peacefully co-exist. Interesting article, but leaves little ability to translate into action.

http://web.uct.ac.za/depts/ricsa/projects/publicli/poverty/theodoc.htm

I saw many good points in the article, but the one main pint I will address is the fact that it stated that 'hand outs' to the poor are not necessarily working. If one just feeds the poor, then the poor will remain as they are. It speaks of the fact that the church needs to come out of itself and feed the poor, with whatever means necessary. They believe that poverty is a fundamental human concern. The only problem I see with this article is in the fact that it believes that goverment programs can change the status of the poor. I think that the government is not the answer for all the problems for the poor. I do believe that the church can address more important issues for the poor.

http://www.habitat.org/how/christian.aspx

I think that most people have heard of Habitat for Humanity, but this is an excellent way for people to become involved in ways of improving the sub-standard way of living for a lot of poor in America. Although many may look at this organization and say, "What good can refurnishing a house do for someone?" I believe it can do many great things for that family whose home is being refurnished. I believe organizations such as this have a domino effect that then allows the family on the receiving end of the charity to bless another family. The web site, which is the official Habitat for Humanity web site, details how this effects the economy of the underprivilaged.

http://www.osjspm.org/cst/eja.htm

This article details the way that we as believers should be addressing the issues of economic disparity. The article come from a Catholic journal. I believe that this letter although addressed to Catholics, applies to all believers. It believes the basic premise that our life should reflect the glory of Jesus Christ in all aspects. This letter states the question, "Can we live in faith, without walking in faith in our everyday lives?" The answer is no. Not that doing acts of faith in the world has any bearing on a relationship with God, because it is still grace, but as James said, "Faith without works is dead." We need to bring both in our everyday life in God.

http://www.firstthings.com/ftissues/ft9408/shapiro.html

Article from 1991 detailing the long history of problems within the black and Jewish cultures. Although this article doesn't give any detail of disparities economically, it shows that both the Jewish people and African American's have been subjected to a long history of oppression. It also details the relationship in Brooklyn of the blacks and Jews, detailing the incident in 1991 in Crown Heights, where a black little girl was killed by a car, triggering anger among black residents which resulted in the death of an innocent Jewish research student.

Analysis

This is an analysis of the resources which I located to address the problem of the disparity in the some of the policies of the U.S. economy. Although there are differences between the rich and the poor in the country, I don't necessarily believe that pouring money from the Federal government into entitlement programs is always the answer. As the saying goes, "If you give a man a fish, he can eat for a night, but if you teach a man to fish, he can eat for a lifetime."
I think that some of the policies that the U.S. government has established have only contributed to those who never had any money, having some money, and then abusing the entitlements. I provided an article which addressed this issue, it was based upon a book written by Thomas Sowell. It gives a glimpse into the reality that just giving people something doesn't always help them.
Although, my focus was not primarily on these type of issues, when I was gathering resources. Here is an even better idea. Since I firmly believe that the gospel of Jesus Christ has absolutely without question changed peoples' lives and as I mentioned by quoting John Wesley's article, possibly prevented a bloody revolution, why not attempt to become involved in the people's lives, whom the gospel is intended. Although I don't believe that there are any one group of people more important to God, there are also those that God doesn't want excluded.
Also in commenting on some of my other team members' resources, I just want to say that I am learning new information. I don't alway's agree with the information, but speaking concerning some of these issues is important.
My resources also show that the policies of the U.S. are not that different from other countries. I showed a list of the minimum wage requirements in other "industrialized" countries, and I believe it shows that it is comparable to that of the U.S. It also shows how unions have affected exactly what happens in this country. I can say as a person who was a union member for almost eight years, they are great for job security, raises, and cost of living adjustments, not so good for taxes.
Getting back to the first statement I made concerning teaching a man to fish. If anything is going to ever happen in regards to narrowing the gap between the rich and poor, I believe that it has to happen by first changing a person's heart. It sounds very simple, but in reality it is.

http://forums.philosophyforums.com/thread/1959

This article speaks of the fact that the U.S. can not solely operate it's economy without the help of other major industrial nations. It gives examples of three other countries, Japan, Russia, and China, who once they pulled out of global commerce almost completely collapsed their economies. The article makes it clear that if the U.S. wants to maintain a stable economy, it cannot practice isolationist tactics of commerce. It can not stand alone, but must work closely with the economies of other nations.

http://gbgm-umc.org/umw/wesley/mission.stm

This article details the great preacher John Wesley's vision that all Christians not only need to be personally holy, but that holiness also included social holiness. The United Methodist Church which was founded upon these beliefs, practiced social concerns in regards to slavery and other issues which affected the people of that day and age. John Wesley also diverted a possible civil war by preaching the gospel to the peasant class, which thereby turned their hearts to God, and they did not revolt.

http://www.acton.org/publicat/m_and_m/2000_spring/stapleford.html

Article was written by the Acton Institute for Religion and Morality. The article details how numerous students at secondary institutions are taught economics, but also how it influences them. The article gives thorough insight into the fact that as Christians, we can not take the influence of Christ in terms of community, social justice, feeding the poor, out of our life. It warns against having a strict capitalist mindset.

http://www.jesus-institute.org/life-of-jesus-modern/jesus-poor.shtml

The Jesus institute brings to light how Jesus has preached the gospel to the poor. It shows numerous scriptures as to the fact that Jesus had compassion on those to whom no one else would show compassion. The call the His followers has not changed. The apostle Paul stated that, "God shows personal favoritism to no man," (Gal. 2:6) Although the gospel is to be preached to the poor, it needs to be shown to all men.

http://www.cambridge.org/aus/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=0521772532

This book details the inequality found in policies of economics in the U.S. It brings a Christian approach as to what is the responsibility of the Christian in working with these problems and finding out as to why the inequality exists.

http://www.acton.org/publicat/randl/article.php?id=211

This article by Greg West, documents C.S. Lewis' thoughts on materialism and how it has affected all aspects of our world. To paraphrase, C.S. Lewis states that materialism has taken God out of the lives of the people. He believes that the U.S. has believed that through it's policies it can make a "utopian" society based upon social engineering.

http://www.acton.org/publicat/randl/interview.php?id=210l

This article is in an interview with Glenn Loury concerning questions of race, economics, and other issues affecting the U.S. Loury makes it clear that he had a change, due to a relationship with Jesus Christ. He believes that just approaching the issues of economics from an intellectual standpoint will not completely solve the problem, because it will still not completely fulfill a person's life. Believes that the disparity between the rich and poor is closing, but the poorest poor, are still left behind.

http://www.koinoniapartners.org/History/Overalls.html

Clarence Jordan gives an insightful look at how the church needs to come out from the, ..."stained glass window,"...into the real world, where people are toiling everyday. Clarence grew up as a farmer and wanted to take a 'grassroots' approach to the proclaimation of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He believed that by the gospel, one could overcome the obstacles in his way. He believed Jesus was for the peasant class, because Jesus was a peasant in that day and age.

http://www.tsowell.com/Rednecks.htm

This book gives a history by Thomas Sowell, Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute of the governments role in promoting the the recidivism of the poor. He also details how this countries policies in terms of entitlements has limited the ability for people to work their way out of a "ghetto culture."

Minimum wage requirement-U.S./World

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimum_wage#Minimum_wage_in_the_United_States
This article gives an overall synopsis of the minimum wage requirements for most industrialized countries as well as the comparison to the U.S. It also gives some arguments in favor and opposed to the minumum wage. It shows little disparity as to the differences in wage earnings from one country to another. It also shows how strong the unions are in terms of collective bargaining agreements for wages.