Bankruptcy Deadline Looms
Leveraging the Major Causes of Poverty
What is happening in all this is nothing that hasn't happened before. Money and power corrupts. Thought the founders of our country understood this, and took measures to provide accountability so that power and money would not become concentrated, over the last 200 years professional politicians have figured out ways around those checks and balances.
Corruption
One of the major causes of poverty is corruption. It tells us this in the Bible, and you can see it in history. Prov 30:14 There are people who take cruel advantage of the poor and needy; that is the way they make their living. TEV We see this today with how our banking system survives only by charging interest, and 75% of credit card profits come from the poor credit risks. The bankruptcy law only further tilts the advantage of credit card companies to lend more aggressively at high interest rates and transfer wealth from the middle class and poor, to their vaults. It doesn't matter that the wealth they are obtaining is depriving families of basic needs.
This is also true in our government. Our legal system has become overly complex, when the founders of our country intended it to be simple enough for laymen to defend themselves in court. Today, pro se litigants are tolerated at best, and are practically laughed out of courtrooms. The courtroom is now the territory of lawyers and judges, who legislate from the bench and establish relationships that provide legal advantages in courtroom disputes. Legislators pass laws disregarding constitutionality for the benefit of lobbyists, and expect the constitutional issues to be decided in courts. As a result laws are passed that deprive us of constitutional rights, and make it easier to deprive us of our property, and freedom. Prov 13:23 Banks foreclose on the farms of the poor, or else the poor lose their shirts to crooked lawyers. MSG Another scripture that reflects today's reality.
Calamity
In recent events, we have seen how natural disasters can wipe people's wealth out. What doesn't make the news is that 50% of bankruptcies are caused by some kind of serious medical problem. People lose jobs for medical reasons, and still rack up large medical bills. Congress sends us the message that we should plan ahead and be ready for these situations so that we won't have to file bankruptcy. That is good advice, but at the same time the Bible says this in Eccl 9:12, People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often caught by sudden tragedy. NLT In fact, our government was caught unaware with hurricane Katrina. It seems they need to take their own advice. Or we might consider that there are some things that happen that we could never be prepared for.
Hopelessness
In Ps 88:4 it says, I'm written off as a lost cause,
one more statistic, a hopeless case. MSG In all this, as it begins to compound, it is possible that a sense of hopelessness will grow. People who have lost the right to file bankruptcy to start over, after losing everything to a serious illness, natural disaster, or other sweeping calamity, will get caught in a perpetual cycle of poverty regardless of how much money they can earn. This is because lenders will be free to take full advantage of the situation and charge high interest and fees, which don't just cover their losses, but provide them with large profits. The people bearing this burden will find in difficult, if not impossible to pay off debts in their lifetime. When that happens, they lose hope of ever achieving their piece of the American dream. They literally become economic slaves. That hoplessness will create more poverty.
What Are We Going To Do?
There are many more causes of poverty, but it is clear that our government is now implementing policies and passing new laws that are creating poverty. The middle-class is being assaulted like never before in the history of our country. Power is being consolidated, and the constitution is given lip service. Money is being redistributed by the banking system, consolidated into the hands of a few.
Does anybody care enough to do something about it? If so what are you doing?
From a Biblical perspective on the current political and economic environment, here is what we are instructed to do:
Prov 31:8-9
Corruption
One of the major causes of poverty is corruption. It tells us this in the Bible, and you can see it in history. Prov 30:14 There are people who take cruel advantage of the poor and needy; that is the way they make their living. TEV We see this today with how our banking system survives only by charging interest, and 75% of credit card profits come from the poor credit risks. The bankruptcy law only further tilts the advantage of credit card companies to lend more aggressively at high interest rates and transfer wealth from the middle class and poor, to their vaults. It doesn't matter that the wealth they are obtaining is depriving families of basic needs.
This is also true in our government. Our legal system has become overly complex, when the founders of our country intended it to be simple enough for laymen to defend themselves in court. Today, pro se litigants are tolerated at best, and are practically laughed out of courtrooms. The courtroom is now the territory of lawyers and judges, who legislate from the bench and establish relationships that provide legal advantages in courtroom disputes. Legislators pass laws disregarding constitutionality for the benefit of lobbyists, and expect the constitutional issues to be decided in courts. As a result laws are passed that deprive us of constitutional rights, and make it easier to deprive us of our property, and freedom. Prov 13:23 Banks foreclose on the farms of the poor, or else the poor lose their shirts to crooked lawyers. MSG Another scripture that reflects today's reality.
Calamity
In recent events, we have seen how natural disasters can wipe people's wealth out. What doesn't make the news is that 50% of bankruptcies are caused by some kind of serious medical problem. People lose jobs for medical reasons, and still rack up large medical bills. Congress sends us the message that we should plan ahead and be ready for these situations so that we won't have to file bankruptcy. That is good advice, but at the same time the Bible says this in Eccl 9:12, People can never predict when hard times might come. Like fish in a net or birds in a snare, people are often caught by sudden tragedy. NLT In fact, our government was caught unaware with hurricane Katrina. It seems they need to take their own advice. Or we might consider that there are some things that happen that we could never be prepared for.
Hopelessness
In Ps 88:4 it says, I'm written off as a lost cause,
one more statistic, a hopeless case. MSG In all this, as it begins to compound, it is possible that a sense of hopelessness will grow. People who have lost the right to file bankruptcy to start over, after losing everything to a serious illness, natural disaster, or other sweeping calamity, will get caught in a perpetual cycle of poverty regardless of how much money they can earn. This is because lenders will be free to take full advantage of the situation and charge high interest and fees, which don't just cover their losses, but provide them with large profits. The people bearing this burden will find in difficult, if not impossible to pay off debts in their lifetime. When that happens, they lose hope of ever achieving their piece of the American dream. They literally become economic slaves. That hoplessness will create more poverty.
What Are We Going To Do?
There are many more causes of poverty, but it is clear that our government is now implementing policies and passing new laws that are creating poverty. The middle-class is being assaulted like never before in the history of our country. Power is being consolidated, and the constitution is given lip service. Money is being redistributed by the banking system, consolidated into the hands of a few.
Does anybody care enough to do something about it? If so what are you doing?
From a Biblical perspective on the current political and economic environment, here is what we are instructed to do:
Prov 31:8-9
8 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. 9 Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless, and see that they get justice.
NLT
Ps 82:3-4
3 You're here to defend the defenseless,
to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
4 Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
and prosecute all those who exploit them."
MSG
Prov 21:13
Ps 82:3-4
3 You're here to defend the defenseless,
to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
4 Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
and prosecute all those who exploit them."
MSG
Prov 21:13
13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.
NLT
NLT
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