Poverty Cycle

The cycle of poverty has been described as a phenomenon where poor families become trapped in poverty for generations.

Because they have no or limited access to critical resources, such as:

·         Education

·         Financial services

Subsequent generations are also impoverished/misfortunate.

There are multiple cycles of poverty- based on, among other things,

·         Economic

·         Social

·         Spiritual, and

·         Geographical factors

Many cycles overlap or perpetuate new cycles therefore any attempt to depict the cycle of poverty will be far more simplistic than realistic.

The figure below shows- in very simplistic terms- how a cycle of poverty related to hunger keeps a persona or household poor in one of the world’s developing countries.

Absolute Poverty vs. Relative Poverty

What is Poverty?

It is having no power, no control of your life and you live life as if it is your last. A country may not be able to support itself economically and so can lead to war or civil unrest. Poverty is often experienced by certain people of society e.g. certain social groups.

Absolute Poverty

Absolute poverty measures the number of people living below a certain income threshold or the number of households unable to afford certain basic goods and services.

Relative Poverty:

Relative poverty measures the extent to which a household’s financial resources falls below an average income threshold for the economy. Although living standards and real incomes have grown because of higher employment and sustained economic growth over recent years, the gains in income and wealth have been unevenly distributed across the population.

Factors that influence poverty:

• Child poverty
• Environmental factors
• Gender Equality
• Homelessness
• Lack of Food
• Maternal Health/Diseases

Social Justice- "Catholic Themes" (Part 2)

Rights and Responsibilities:

-          Human dignity and a healthy community can only be achieved if human rights are protected and responsibilities are assigned and met. Everyone has a right to life and a right to objects required for human decency ex. Food, shelter, employment, health care, education. Contributing to the availability of these rights is everyone’s responsibility.

Role of Government:

-          The state has a positive moral function; the government is a representative of a community’s opinion and helps promote human dignity, protect human rights and build common good. People have a right and responsibility to participate in political institutions.

Questions:

1.       Every human’s fundamental right is to have a life, and a right to objects required for human decency.

2.       The role of the government in maintaining human rights is to promote human dignity, protect rights and build common good.

3.       We (the community) are responsible for assisting the government in achieving its goals.

Economic Justice:

-          The economy serves people. All workers have a right to work, have decent and fair wages, and to safe working conditions. They also have a right to organise unions, economic initiative, and private property.  However, it is not right to amass excessive wealth when other lacks the basic necessities of life.

Stewardship of God’s Creation:

-          The goods of earth were created by God, and they were intended to be valued by everyone. We have a responsibility to care for goods as stewards not mere consumers. How we treat the environment is a measure of our stewardship, a sign of our respect for God.

Questions:

1.       The rights of the worker are to have a decent wage, work in a safe environment, organise unions, own private property and have economic independence.

2.       A union is the act of joining together- a community or alliance.

3.       People’s economic limitations should be not to amass wealth when others are in need and lack bare essentials.

4.       God’s gift are intended for us (everyone)

5.       A social mortgage is the conditions in which humanity uses the goods and services created by God.

A steward is someone who values the gifts God has provided us.

A trustee is an organisation or person which manages possessions and goods of another for their benefit.

6.       One measure of our stewardship is how we treat the environment.

Promotion of Peace and Disarmament:

-          Catholic teaching promotes peace as a positive, action-orientated concept. In Catholicism, there is a close relationship between peace and justice. Peace is dependent upon right order among humans.

Participation:

-          Everyone has a right to be involved in the economic, political and cultural life of society. It is a demand of justice and of human dignity that all people are assured participation in the community. It is wrong for an individual or group to be excluded from this.

Global Solidarity and Development:

-          We are all one family. Our responsibility is to accept one another regardless of national, racial, economic and ideological differences. We are called to work for justice; real development must be human development. It must respect personal, social, economic and political rights and must avoid extremes of underdevelopment and super development.

Questions:

1.       Catholic teaching shows us that the requirement to maintaining peace is the fruit of justice and is dependent upon right order among humans.

2.       It is wrong to exclude people from participating in society because it is breaching their rights, and we must respect others’ opinions.

3.       Our global responsibilities are to accept one another regardless of differences and to work for justice.

Social Justice- "Catholic Themes" (Part 1)

Social Justice:

Social Justice concerns itself with our responsibility to ensure that all people are given a ‘fair go’; equality within society

Some issues that social justice aims to cover are:

-          Poverty

-          Child Labour

-          Refugees

-          Homelessness

-          Hunger

Dignity of the Human Person:

Belief in the inherent pride of the human person is the foundation of all Catholic social teaching. Human life is sacred, and the dignity of the human person is the starting point for a moral vision of society. This principle is grounded in the idea that the person is made in the image of God. Each individual is the clearest reflection of God around us.

*Human dignity is the foundation of Catholic Social teaching.

Question 2: Human dignity is self respect and pride in oneself and others, as we are all made in God’s image.  If someone is concerned with social justice issues e.g. poverty, child labour, they do not have as much dignity and self respect.

-          A moral society is one that is ethical, fair and respectful of others. It tries to give everyone equality.

Common Good and Community:

The human person is sacred and social; we live, grow and achieve together and all humans must be valued in society. We realise our dignity and rights through our relationship with others. Human dignity can only be realised and protected in the context of relationships with wider communities.

*Common good is the services and goods in society we all have access to e.g. roads

Option for the Poor:

The moral test of a society is how it treats its most vulnerable members. The poor have the most urgent moral claim on the conscience of the nation. A healthy society can only be achieved if it’s members give special attention to those with special needs.

Society must consider ad help the poor in society, governments must help the poor (end the poverty cycle- no job= no money=no house=crime /poverty=no way out)

1.       A community I am a part of is the Stella Maris community, the Australian community, or for other examples: sport team community, suburb community, church group

2.       The Stella community is sacred and social because it makes you feel as if you belong or you are a part of something, you are educated, you form friendships.

3.       The major test of a moral society is to give special attention to those with special needs, democracy and equal distribution of wealth from taxes i.e. to roads, hospitals

4.       To look after the poor, our community (Sydney) looks after them through donations/charity, the dole (social security) and public housing.

Gender Equality

Who it affects:

This issue effects women in general; but more so women in third world countries where women are not able to participate in the same things as men.

A summary of the background of the issue and Definition:

Gender Equality refers to the equal value of men and women and their contribution to society. It allows each gender to overcome prejudice and have fair opportunities in life. Approximately 70% of the world’s poor people are female.

In Third world countries, women are treated poorly in terms of education, health, or legal rights.

In the past more so, but it still occurs in undeveloped countries where women are often paid less than men, forced to marry, not given the same education opportunities (which restricts their ability to make a living), forced to work as a slave or sexually abused.

Details about the issue/ why the situation occurs:

The physical qualities and historical responsibilities of men and women (ex. hunters and gatherers) attribute to why there is inequality between genders.

In many countries women aren’t given or able to gain any power in the government which makes it difficult.

Gender inequality in education and health can also be explained to an extent through their religious preference and culture, country and location, and civil freedom and rights.

What can be done about the issue (who is currently doing something?):

• International Women's Day, 8 March, highlights the access to equal rights and their participation in the political and economic issues of the world.
• International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, 25 November, draws attention to the issue of violence against women and encourages actions against it. 
• The United Nations Millennium Development Goals  is to promote Gender Equality
  and empower women. This is to be achieved by no later than 2015.
• The Australian Agency for International development is working with other countries to address gender inequality.

These agencies are working towards the common goals of:

• Economic independence for women
• Support so women can balance work and family across the life cycle,
• Freedom from discrimination, harassment and violence.
• Access to equal rights, choices and opportunites as men.

Lady Justice

The time-honoured symbol of justice in the West is the Lady of Justice (adapted from Greek and Roman mythology) depicted as a blind-folded woman with a scale in one hand and a sword in the other. She was orignally derived from Themis, a titan goddess, known as the goddess of justice over mortals She was depicted as carrying scales in one hand, a sword over the other, her eyes covered; very simialr to modern interpretations of Lady Justice.
The blind fold symbolises her objectivity and un-biased opinion and judgement; she believes justice should be provided "without passion or prejudice": she considers only the facts, the scales represent equality, and the weighing of factors to render a decision: too much weight/evidence on one scale, shows the realtive innocence or guilt. The sword shows authority, power and the concept of the finality and rapidness of justice.

Introduction to Social Justice

The protection of the rights of all human beings irrespective of:

• race
• colour
• creed/religion
• nationality, or
• language

It is central to any concept of justice.

Justice can be defined as:

"the morally correct state of a person and their affairs"

From a practical point of view, justice demands

• equality
• objectivity, and
• fair dealing



Social Justice

Definition:
Social Justice is the presence of equal rights, fairness and moral uprightness on a social and global scale.

Semester 1- Social Justice