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 \u201cNineteenth-century civilization has collapsed\u201d(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:
\n1.\tAmerican Civil War
\n2.\tAbolition of Slavery
\n3.\tWomen\u2019s Suffrage Movement(2)<\/p>\n
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, \u201cThe 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.\u201d(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, \u201cThis considers the forces at work in economic history, and the actions of human beings as actors in response to those forces.\u201d(4) I inspectional read this looking for a connection. The connection for me was the poorhouse. <\/p>\n
The Poor<\/p>\n
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, \u201cMany 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.\u201d(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 \u201cpoor\u201d worth noting, Polanyi writes, \u201cthe gentleman of England judged all person’s poor who did not command an income sufficient to keep them in leisure.\u201d(6) He further defines it as, \u201cHence the term \u201cpoor\u201d meant all people who were in need and all the people, if and when they were in need.\u201d(7) And he continues, \u201cPoor was thus practically synonymous with common people.\u201d(8)<\/p>\n
Homeless Employment<\/p>\n
\u201cThe 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.\u201d(9)<\/p>\n
In my early years, my fruitful 20\u2019s, 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\u2019s 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 \u201cDress for Success,\u201d 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 \u201cseen\u201d and \u201cheard\u201d?<\/p>\n
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.
\n2. Stephen, \u201cThe 19th Century Timeline: Key Events That Shaped History – 19th Century,\u201d Semilla de Botjael, August 13, 2023, https:\/\/19thcentury.us\/what-important-events-happened-in-the-19th-century\/.
\n3.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.
\n4. Jason Paul Clark, \u201cEvangelicalism and Capitalism: A Reparative Account and Diagnosis of Pathogeneses in the Relationship\u201d (DMIN diss., George Fox University, Newberg, 2018), 58. Digital Commons @ George Fox University.
\n5. 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.
\n6.Ibid.,91.
\n7.Ibid.,91.
\n8.Ibid.,91.
\n9.Ibid.,91.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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