I stumbled across an article today because the title caught my eye. SWAZILAND: A Tale of Two Countries details the astonishing imbalance of wealth in Swaziland, a country in which the richest 10% countrol over 50% of the country's income. It cites this imbalance as an indicator of "inequality worse than in Brazil or South Africa, and beaten only by Namibia."
There's a lot of rhetoric flying around this election season about whether or not "spreading the wealth around" is a good thing or a bad thing. Some see it as a moral imperative, called for by Amos and Isaiah and Jesus. Some see it as a brutal attack on Amercia's core principles of democracy and capitalism. Some have hissed the "s-word" -- socialism -- and tried to stoke the fires of fear.
As always, I don't think it's as simple as "this or that." I think, here in my small, out-of-the-way blog, that God's reign begins with both philosophies working in tight harmony. The empowerment of capitalism, it's promise of enriching those who find solutions to the problems that plague us, must be embedded in a deep and abiding love for the "least of these" that transcends economics or politics.
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