19th Century, 20th Century, and Today
I picked up The Great Transformation; The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time and I went straight to the back of the book looking for some insight before I began to read. The first thing that I read was Karl Polanyi (1886- 1964), I said a prayer that this book would be easier for me than the last. The first line in the book is “Nineteenth-century civilization has collapsed”(1). For clarification the nineteenth century spans from January 1, 1801, through December 31, 1900. I did a quick google search on the most crucial events of the 19th Century. Here are the top three that I found:
1. American Civil War
2. Abolition of Slavery
3. Women’s Suffrage Movement(2)
I got excited because I absolutely love history. I majored in History and the 19th century is such an important period of time. I know that 19th and 20th Century historical analysis can be page turners. I moved forward with the reading and after the first chapter, my excitement dissipated. I realized that this was not going to be a page turning historical read. It may have been this statement that change it for me, Polanyi writes, “The crucial point is this: labor, land and money are essential elements of industry: they also must be organized in markets: in fact, these markets form an absolutely vital part of the economic system.”(3) I realized that this was going to be another challenging read for me. This is not just about history but about economics, industry, and market. Dr. Clark states, “This considers the forces at work in economic history, and the actions of human beings as actors in response to those forces.”(4) I inspectional read this looking for a connection. The connection for me was the poorhouse.
The Poor
My Mama used to say that we were going to eat us into the poorhouse. She was jokingly referring to the ever-increasing grocery bill during the summer months. My siblings and I had very active Summers and we had the appetites to match it. She was always smiling when she made this statement, so I always laughed because it sounded funny. I never knew that it was a real thing. The explanation of the poorhouse(s) made me extremely sad. What was equally as heartbreaking was the understanding of how our current system of dealing with the unemployed, underemployed, unhoused and elderly has a historical basis. Polanyi states, “Many parishes had no poorhouses; a great many more had no reasonable provisions for the useful occupation of the bale-bodied; there was an endless variety of ways in which the sluggardliness of the local ratepayers, the indifference of the overseers of the poor, the callousness of the interests centering on pauperism vitiated the working of the law.”(5) This made me think about how we care for the unhoused. In many cities homeless shelters and services are a priority. There are city planning summits that designate a significant portion of the time to homeless services. And there are cities that do not prioritize homelessness. I believe that how we treat our neighbors that are in need really shows where our values lie. I found this explanation of who was considered “poor” worth noting, Polanyi writes, “the gentleman of England judged all person’s poor who did not command an income sufficient to keep them in leisure.”(6) He further defines it as, “Hence the term “poor” meant all people who were in need and all the people, if and when they were in need.”(7) And he continues, “Poor was thus practically synonymous with common people.”(8)
Homeless Employment
“The aged, the infirm, the orphans had to be taken care of in a society which claimed that within its confines there was a place for every Christian. But over and above, there were the able-bodied poor, whom we call the unemployed, on the assumption that they earn a living by manual work if only they could find employment.”(9)
In my early years, my fruitful 20’s, I worked as a Homeless Employment Program Coordinator. My job was to develop an employment program for San Francisco Homeless by connecting them with a very vast and wealthy list of business owners that were willing to give them a job. I approached it with the enthusiasm of a 25-year-old determined to change the world. The first 3 months were magical, I placed everyone in our client base. It was with great pride that business owners employed this first group of clients. They were people that were deemed homeless because they did not have a stable address. If you were living on someone’s sofa, you qualified for homeless aid. After that group, it was more challenging. The clients were living in their cars, or in shelters or on the street. The business owners became less likely to offer employment to this group. I worked hard to find public showers, obtain clothes from “Dress for Success,” assist with transportation costs, and lots of interview prep. But some were extremely difficult to place in jobs, the divide between the two worlds was just too vast for some of the business owners. It was easier for them to write a check. After a point, they stopped taking my calls altogether. The program eventually dissolved as the funder decided that this approach was not sustainable. I always wondered what happened to those that were never helped. Sadly, the unhoused (homeless), the poor, the common people, the needy, often become the forgotten. How can we do better as Christians? Are there informal systems in the Church that perpetuate this economic divide? How do we make sure that everyone is “seen” and “heard”?
1.Karl Polanyi, Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Fred Block, The Great Transformation the Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston, Mass: Beacon Press, 2014), 3.
2. Stephen, “The 19th Century Timeline: Key Events That Shaped History – 19th Century,” Semilla de Botjael, August 13, 2023, https://19thcentury.us/what-important-events-happened-in-the-19th-century/.
3.Karl Polanyi, Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Fred Block, The Great Transformation the Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston, Mass: Beacon Press, 2014), 75.
4. Jason Paul Clark, “Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship” (DMIN diss., George Fox University, Newberg, 2018), 58. Digital Commons @ George Fox University.
5. Karl Polanyi, Joseph E. Stiglitz, and Fred Block, The Great Transformation the Political and Economic Origins of Our Time (Boston, Mass: Beacon Press, 2014), 91-92.
6.Ibid.,91.
7.Ibid.,91.
8.Ibid.,91.
9.Ibid.,91.
About the Author
Jonita Fair-Payton
8 responses to “19th Century, 20th Century, and Today”
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I listened to a talk that described “work houses” as basically prisons for the poor forcing hard labor on them, just so they could earn a meal. The way you connected history with our contemporary ways of “dealing” with the poor, the houseless, those in need was helpful to me as I continue to wade through this book and Jason’s work! I’m still wading!
Kally,
I understand, these last few readings have been different and challenging. I am disturbed and saddened that the systems of how we treat the poor have not changed that much. Perhaps they have evolved in some ways, but we need to do better. “We” as a Church and “We” as a People…need to do better.
Jonita, the excellent questions you are asking at the end of your post could be the pre-cursor to someone’s NPO: “Are there informal systems in the Church that perpetuate this economic divide? How do we make sure that everyone is “seen” and ‘heard’?” Maybe an NPO statement could be pulled out from the following: A local church wants each of its members to flourish (relationally, emotionally, physically, etc.), but members experience informal internal systems in the church that affect their ability to (how would you fill in the blank here?). Underlying causes could be…(lack of advocacy, complex systems that prevent diaconal care, unwillingness to come alongside marginalized populations in the church, no clear pathway(s) toward vocational stewardship/discipleship, etc.)? What might be some other underlying causes that seem to be part of the problem?
You quoted Polanyi: “the gentleman of England judged all person’s poor who did not command an income sufficient to keep them in leisure.” I’m thinking Dr. Clark’s “islands of social care” expressed among local Christian communities could help with a counter-narrative.
Travis,
I like the way you connected Dr. Clark’s “islands of social care” as a counter narrative. Your deeper dive into my questions and presenting them as possible NPO statements is brilliant. I had not thought of them in this way. I would love to see this as someone’s project.
Your post and particularly your comments about the poor house got me thinking about how the Bible portrays the poor. I had a professor in college who frequently talked about how polygamy in the Old Testament was God’s protection of the poor, especially poor widows who would have little hope of survival. Then this verse came to mind: “Do not exploit the poor because they are poor and do not crush the needy in court, for the LORD will take up their case and will exact life for life.” (Proverbs 22:22-23)
I’ve often struggled with the way the modern church portrays the poor when the Bible clearly shows that God has a special place in his Kingdom for the needy, the orphans and the widows.
Kim,
Your comment, “I’ve often struggled with the way the modern church portrays the poor when the Bible clearly shows that God has a special place in his Kingdom for the needy, the orphans and the widows.” says it all. How do we miss this? How do we lose sight of treasuring the things that God holds dear? I try to not meet this with disappointment, but it is difficult. We should strive to love and treasure what God loves and treasures.
Jonita,
I also was fascinated by the poor houses. I was watching a video of child labor and was greatly saddened by the fact that Capitalism was rolling over those “common people.”
I wish I could say those days are done, but just this year, underaged unaccompanied immigrant children were found to be working for “cleaning” companies that took on cleaning contracts with major businesses. The big businesses had no idea that these cleaning companies were using under aged immigrant children (so they say).
Capitalism without reigns or guard rails is a real danger. Unfettered, the “have nots – Like Palestine” will rise up against the “haves.”
Somehow we need to find a balance between too much state restrictions and the flow of creative capitalism that brings wealth to the ‘common folk.’
Shalom…
Russell,
This is deplorable, “I wish I could say those days are done, but just this year, underaged unaccompanied immigrant children were found to be working for “cleaning” companies that took on cleaning contracts with major businesses.”! The idea that the “common people”, the poor, are dispensable is maddening. I agree with you, that we need to find a balance. I’m just not sure what it is or how we institute it. I feel like we have operated under the have’s and the have not’s for so long, that finding a more humane and just way of operating in society is not possible. That makes me feel hopeless and sad.