My Personal Takeaway
As I read and try to understand concepts from Polanyi’s book, “The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origin of Our Time” I am convinced that it is a good reference, but my issue was that it will take more time to really read and understand it and to get relevant takeaway that can be applicable to my leadership journey. So, in the ‘Forward’ by Joseph E. Stiglitz, he noted that “the transformation of European civilization is analogous to the transformation confronting developing countries around the word today.” [1] From this implication, the transformation that took place in the Europe will be the same in the major countries. And what are some of these transformations that I could learn from, or for the least have some take aways.
One thing that caught my attention was the relationship between pauperism and utopia and the idea that they go hand in hand. In chapter 9, Polanyi stated that “the problem of poverty centered around two closely related subjects: pauperism and political economy…, it was, however, generally agreed among eighteenth-century thinkers that pauperism and progress were inseparable.” [2] I used to live in Portland area for about 20 years and I have seen how the problem of homelessness has grown till today. Before, they kind of hidden away, confined to some areas where they are not in close contact with the general public. They mostly make their homes under the freeway bridges and the overpasses, and mostly in the Downtown Portland area.
Today, if you walk in Downtown Portland, you can see them sleeping on the sidewalk literally or sleeping in their tents not only on the sidewalk and even in front of offices or stores. And not only in the downtown area but they are spread out in the metro areas. They are camping in groups, about several tents or several vehicles, or even campers. There now communities of homeless everywhere in Portland. I would say their communities are almost as common as the gas stations.
The Oregonian reported that Homelessness in Portland continues to be the main concern among voters. According to its (Oregonian) polling, it came in as 50% being named as the most important problem in the area.[3] This problem is not only affecting the city of Portland, but it is also spreading throughout the county in which the city is part of, that is, the Multnomah County. Just this month, the City of Portland and the Multnomah County Commissioners met to readdress this issue and to find re-evaluate why their plan was not working.[4] So, homelessness is one of the problems in Portland area, would this be safe to say that because it came with development, as Polanyi stated in Chapter 9 with regard to Pauperism and Utopia?
My home island is a very tiny that sits on an atoll, the population (currently living on the island) roughly about 300 people, adults including children. As I was growing up, the idea of homelessness was never heard of, nor imagined. It may be because of our way of living that is different.
By Western Standard of Living, our population is living in poverty. We may not live a luxurious life, but the Almighty sustains us. He provided us with daily food, and He restraints the ocean and the winds for our safety.
Here in Oregon, I have seen and known people from my islands and neighboring islands have become homeless. And again, would it be because of pauperism and progress goes hand in hand?
So, I have asked myself within this context; what is the leadership lesson, or takeaway from this idea that pauperism and progress goes hand in hand? I believe that there could be a lot of answers to this question. Upon reading Dr. Clark’s chapter 4, though it’s a bit difficult for me to fully comprehend, one section I believe to be important was the last part of of it. Dr. Clark says this at the end of his mapping, “We can now understand how Evangelicals moving into new economic environments sought to respond to the challenges of those environments and were able to use the tools of capitalist media to share new ways of constructing identity and relationship with others, society, and the market for island of social care.”[5] The concept ‘island of social care,” should that be the respond as we, Christian leaders, carry ourselves within this capitalistic environment and dealing with the need of the community that we are planted in?
[1] Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. Beacon Press. Kindle Edition.
[2] Ibid (p. 108).
[3] Bechky, Aviva. The Oregonian/OregonLive. https://www.oregonlive.com/politics/2024/10/homelessness-remains-clear-top-concern-for-portland-area-voters-oregonian-poll-finds.html. (accessed October 27, 2024).
[4] Ferrara, John R. City of Portland, Multnomah County get realistic about Portland’s homeless crisis. https://www.koin.com/news/portland/city-multnomah-county-get-realistic-about-portlands-homelessness-crisis/. (accessed October 27, 2024).
[5] Clark, Jason S. Evangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis.
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Noel Liemam
3 responses to “My Personal Takeaway”
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Hi Noel, I appreciated your observations in this post and had no idea that many Micronesians experience homelessness in the United States. That must break your heart. What are the main contributors to Micronesians’ struggles when coming to the United States?
Good morning, Elysse, and thank you for your respond to my post. Well, yes there are Micronesian citizens here in Portland that are experiencing homelessness. It is difficult to think about it because we know each other by name and even their families. For example, few of them are my family as well. Our population here is not in the thousands, but proportionately it is a lot for our numbers. I am not sure really sure for the reason why they become homeless since they do have family that they could move in to be with until they are back on their feet. One major contributor I could say is drugs and alcohol that leads to joblessness and then to homelessness. Thanks again, Elysse.
Hi Noel, you raise an important connection of the people from your home country were dependent on the land and sea for their livelihood. Polanyi’s book talked about not seeing pauperism until about the 16th century when people started to move away from the manor– where they were providing for themselves. Do you see any connection with the people living unhoused in Portland and not having a way to provide for themselves the way they could on an island?