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Thursday, March 12, 2009
::Rants-Global Financial Crisis? Been thinking allot about the GFC (Global Financial Crisis) or the US term, GFM (Global Financial Meltdown). I have been thinking about it because since I returned from Bangladesh in January, I have found myself thinking about the many people who I met in that country who's lives are affected far more dramatically, than people here in Australia.
It is a difficult conversation, because you can easily find yourself comparing misery with misery. That is not my intention. Having been made redundant three times in my life means I am aquainted with the pain that financial uncertainty brings. However, in each situation, we were ok. We have an incredible series of safety nets to fall back on in times of financial distress in a place like Australia. Not so in Bangladesh. The nation is very poor, and so many individuals I met face pretty bleak futures, because of the GFC. However, the thing I found most difficult to cope with is the term we give the phenomenon. Global: Well, that's a no brainer. Financial: it effects all kinds of financial systems, or the various parts of the one global financial system. Crisis: hmmmm, this is where it gets interesting. In the early 2000's, George Bush had his administration use the term "Climate Change" as oppossed to the aforementioned "Global Warming". The term "Global Warming" alarmed people, as it probably should! So the administration, in a master stroke of spin, had the crisis "rebranded". Enter: Climate Change. Sounds more like a holiday than a crisis requiring attention. The same treatment has been given to the GFC. To call it something benign like the Global Financial Crisis takes attention away from two very important issues. The first is that it is not a crisis in the sense that this thing appeared from out of nowhere like some random act of nature. Due to the incredibly unregulated financial markets in the US, financial institutions were able to act in an incredibly cavalier fashion, essentially lying to existing regulation authorities (including the international markets) in order to appear more profitable than they actually were. In short:
The second issue that went through to the keeper is the one of international trade. For decades, the World Bank/International Monetary Fund has been telling the governments of developing countries that if they want loans and investment, then they cannot prop up failing businesses. If a business or corporation fails in their country, they just need to let the market do it's work, which effectivley means, indigenous corporations fail and international (read corporations from places like the USA, UK, Australia and the like) move in and take up the market share. Failing businesses and corporations in developing nations means incredible pain for workers in parts of the world that do not have the kinds of safety nets that places like the USA, the UK and Australia do. So, the "GFC" hits, US car manufacturing companies begin to fall over and what happens, they go to their government and ask to be bailed out with tax payer funds. The American senate responds with packages. So the USA effectivley declares to the world that there are two sets of rules, one for developing nations (who have no negotiating power and have to accept the raw deal given them) and one for developing nations (who have the power to do whatever they want). The net result of all of the above, is that the communities and the individuals who are most vulnerable, are those in developing countries, and specifically, those from poor communities. I have been struggling, particularly during this time of Lent, to know how I as an individual follower of Jesus, can somehow respond to this incredibly overwhelming set of unjust systems that wreak havoc on poor communities. As I have contemplated a response, one thought was to share it with others. And so I have. Grace. Labels: Culture, Discipleship, Faith, Justice, Theology, Trade Thursday, November 13, 2008
::Rants-http://www.climateofchange.tv/
I forgot that I could actually embed this video in my blog post so you don't have to travel off to another site to see it. This is Tear's latest video. I really urge you to check it out. The "twist in the tail" is climate change from the perspective of poor communities. Very much worth 6 minutes and 18 seconds of your life. Labels: Discipleship, Environment, Justice, Theology Tuesday, November 11, 2008
::Theology-Christians and Climate Change I am a little excited and optimistic these days that Christians are beginning to realise the importance of Climate Change as an issue and many I know are even beginning to act upon it.
At Tear Australia, one of the reasons we think it is important is because the group of people who are often *the* most vulnerable to climate change are the poorest communities on the planet. With that in mind, Tear have released a new resource for the Australian (and broader) Christian community to give them some resources around Climate Change from perspective of it's impact on poor communities. Check it out here if you want more information. Labels: Discipleship, Environment, Faith, Justice, Theology Monday, November 10, 2008
::Rants-Good facilitation I was reminded of what good facilitation is yesterday. A colleague of mine, Kate Conway, from Tear Australia lead missio Dei through a process of thinking about (a) how a community disciples kids and (b) how as part of the discipleship process, we can help kids learn about God's love for all the people in the world and how we can be practical in helping to make a difference.
After about one and a half hours, we had over 80 simple ideas that we could implement with our kids as families and households, and as a church community. ALL of the ideas came from people in the community. The brilliance was that Kate was able to draw out what many of us already knew. This is *good facilitation*. Labels: Children, Discipleship, Family, Justice, Leadership Wednesday, July 30, 2008
::Politics-A change in mandatory detention laws? I was pretty excited to get this email from the Tear Changemankers network. Here is an excerpt...
If you are interested in getting involved in activity like this, check out http://www.tear.org.au/getinvolved/change-makers/ We still need to lobby the minister for immigration, letting him know that we are aware that he is trying to see this law changed, and to continue to encourage him to take this positive action. Check out the website for how to get involved in that too. Labels: Asylum Seekers, Celebration, Discipleship, Justice, Refugees Sunday, July 27, 2008
::Rants-Reflections on the UNOH Conference
I spent last Friday at Surrender 08 conference. Then on the Sunday, some of us from our community, missio Dei spent the day there also. It was a great time to reconnect with some old friends in the radical discipleship movement, as well as a time of making some new ones. It is a time/place/space where, if I may borrow a phrase that Marcus Curnow often cites, I feel I am with "my people". As a matter of fact, Marcus was there! I am coming to appreciate how calling a special time to come together to hear stories old and new, and to be inspired again, can be quite important. Lisa and I came away recommitting to being more intentional about our attempts to live a life of mission, committed to embracing those who live on the edges. So did a few of the missio guys also. It was a wonderful time. Two of the highlights for me are as follows:
Labels: Discipleship, Justice, Missiology, Pneumatology, Spirituality, UNOH |
Ideas have a mind of their own, and when they get together, woa, what a party!
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