The Great Transformation \u2013 The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time<\/p>\n
By Karl Polanyi<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The other day the gaslight came on so I pulled up to the pump and filled the entire tank in my Toyota Camry for just over $25. I\u2019m the kind of guy that never notices gas prices, I just pull in when I\u2019m running low and top it off. But even I\u2019m aware of the few extra bucks in the monthly budget. The other day Liz and I were talking about how with gas prices this low it feels like we\u2019ve gotten a raise.<\/p>\n
The global and political affects of gas prices is the perfect case study to go hand in hand with Karl Polanyi\u2019s book, The Great Transformation. <\/em>The average US consumer is reaping the benefits from lower gas prices and it\u2019s not just the United States that is benefiting. Most countries rely on oil importers, not exporters, so the economic boom is having enormous effects on countries all over the globe.<\/p>\n I found it interesting to read Polyani\u2019s thoughts about free and self-regulating markets while also recently reading in the Wall Street Journal that \u201cIndonesia will scrap gasoline price subsidies starting Thursday as part of President Joko Widodo\u2019s push to free up more funding for infrastructure spending to help boost the economy.[1]<\/a>\u201d Also just a few weeks ago India announced they are looking at getting rid of their 22 billion dollar a year fuel subsidies for consumers as long as oil prices remain low[2]<\/a>.<\/p>\n While many global countries are benefiting from low oil costs, Shane Ferro wrote about countries that export oil and are severely hurting because of the drop in price. Ferro wrote, \u201cRussia<\/a>\u00a0has a currency crisis,\u00a0Venezuela<\/a>\u00a0has a full-on economic disaster in the works, and\u00a0Iran<\/a>\u00a0is reportedly having trouble funding Hezbollah in Lebanon. These problems are big enough to be political, as well as economic, problems for the leaders of these states.[3]<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Low oil rates point to the global tension that is currently going on. Polanyi hits on the tension that comes with any economic model but seems to point towards a possible end to this tension and a conceivable utopia. I\u2019m not so sure about utopia in this lifetime. I think this tension will always exist while corruption and greed find a way to play out in any economic system man creates.<\/p>\n So the question becomes how do Jesus followers live in this tension and allow economic flourishing while not coming at the expense of the poor. While Polanyi is dealing with economic concerns there seems to be a connection to MaryKate\u2019s book last week on power. I don\u2019t know the answer but just like last week\u2019s discussion about power, we should be using money as a way to lift up the needy and poor instead of just padding our pockets.<\/p>\n I\u2019m enjoying the few extra dollars in my monthly budget due to low gas prices but I know it comes at a cost to someone else. Such a difficult and complex process to understand, yet I don\u2019t want to remain a naive player anymore. Just like power, money in and of itself is neutral. It\u2019s how we choose to use money that can build up the Kingdom of God. I need more time to process Polanyi and think through my role and exactly how the Church should be involved. I\u2019m curious to read everyone else\u2019s thoughts.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n [1]<\/a> I Made Sentant, \u201cIndonesia Scraps Gasoline Subsidies,\u201d Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2015, accessed January 23, 2015,\u00a0http:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/indonesia-scraps-gasoline-subsidies-1420004528<\/a>.<\/p>\n [2]<\/a> Yep, E. (2015, January 4). Falling Oil Spells Boon for Most of Asia\u2019s Economies. Retrieved fromhttp:\/\/www.wsj.com\/articles\/falling-oil-spells-boon-for-most-of-asias-economies-1420398456<\/a><\/p>\n [3]<\/a> Shane Ferro, \u201c5 Ways a Low Oil Price Affects the Global Political Landscape Read More\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ways-low-oil-prices-affect-global-political-landscape-2015-1: Http,\u201d Business Insider, January 6, 2015, accessed January 23, 2015,\u00a0http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/ways-low-oil-prices-affect-global-political-landscape-2015-1<\/a>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Great Transformation \u2013 The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time By Karl Polanyi The other day the gaslight came on so I pulled up to the pump and filled the entire tank in my Toyota Camry for just over $25. I\u2019m the kind of guy that never notices gas prices, I just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4],"class_list":["post-3810","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-polanyi","cohort-lgp5"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3810"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3811,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3810\/revisions\/3811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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