Poverty Cannot be Eliminated by Charity Alone - Jason Christensen
7/21/10
An Economy That Serves The People
Mike Callicrate is a patriot. His love for country is evident just in talking to him. It’s not demonstrated with a bumper sticker on his truck or a flag hanging outside his home. Mike’s patriotism is found in his effort to build community by restoring America’s prosperity through fair markets and a just economic practices.
Callicrate is an independent rancher with operations in St. Francis, Kansas. Mike has seen firsthand the devastating impact of corporate consolidation of our agriculture economy, unfair trade laws, and the shipping of manufacturing jobs overseas.
In the pursuit of profit for shareholders and the like, Callicrate believes we’re being short-sighted. This is evidenced in the number of manufacturing jobs in the rust-belt that have disappeared to places overseas. The result: urban/suburban poverty. The advent of industrial agriculture — quickly and cheaply produced food — has killed the small, independent farm. The result: rural poverty.
“The reason we have so many people living in poverty is due to the tremendous concentration of power & wealth in country and globalization has left so many people outside of the economic system,” according to Callicrate. He believes we’ve got to get back to doing things on the most local level much in the way of distributism as suggested by G.K Chesterton. ”We’ve got to have an economic system that serves the people and not the people serving the economic system.”
Also, if you’d like to learn more about the issues affecting our economy and how you can become involved, check out an organization that Mike is highly involved in, The Coalition for a Prosperous America.
From the road,
Jason
User Comments
Comment by
on 2010-07-29 20:21:40 Tom, A good question, but I just want to recognize that Bishop Hanifen did celebrate Mass with us and joined us for supper in Castle Rock, CO.
Comment by Sam Swearngin/sswearngin@sbcgl on 2010-08-07 17:07:24 Think Global, Buy Local.
Comment by tom Whittaker/
on 2010-07-22 08:57:21 Great blog, Jason! I appreciate the effort in your, and Mike's, analysis.
One question: In now nearly 2500 miles, eight states, and I-don't-know-how-many dioceses, how come not a single bishop has been to any of the functions of C4C, a NATIONAL Catholic Charities anti-poverty program?
Comment by Mark Dufva/
on 2010-07-24 08:50:23 Great interview Jason. Question for discussion: How do we slow down globalization? That train has left the station. It was stated that we can't have prosperity and globalization simultaneously. I believe we must figure out how to do both. I simply don't see any end to globalization. Perhaps a discussion about fair globalization that allows for prosperity, especially for the poorest among us.
