{"id":416,"date":"2014-01-25T08:14:32","date_gmt":"2014-01-25T08:14:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/beta.dminlgp.com\/?p=416"},"modified":"2014-10-28T16:59:15","modified_gmt":"2014-10-28T16:59:15","slug":"first-world-problem-or-global-problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/first-world-problem-or-global-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"First World Problem or Global Problem?"},"content":{"rendered":"

We often complain about the trivial things that inconvenience our daily routine (i.e. we got whole milk instead of soy milk in our coffee order; we forgot the power cord to our GPS and now we have to rely on our brain to get us to our destination; the wind blew the cable out and now we can\u2019t watch our \u201cspecial cable show\u201d and we have to resort to regular television programs.) \u00a0These inconveniences have been known to be called \u201cfirst world problems.\u201d\u00a0 According to the Urban Dictionary, the term first world problems is defined as \u201cproblems from living in a wealthy, industrialized nation that third worlders would probably roll their eyes at.\u201d[1]<\/a> Yet, the reading for this week, is not about first world or third world problems. It is about a global human problem!<\/p>\n

In reading Collateral Damage:Social Inequalities in a Global Age<\/em> I could not ignore the emotions that were stirring up inside of me. Emotions such as anger, anguish, distress, frustration, deep sorrow and compassion because of the injustices and disparities that people experience in our world, our nation, our communities, and right next door to us.<\/p>\n

Bauman writes that the population at the bottom end of the social distribution of wealth and income is encapsulated in the imagined category of the \u201cunderclass.\u201d[2]<\/a> He defines this population as one that has no function to be performed, as in the case of the working or professional class, nor a position occupied in the social whole, as in the case of the lower, middle, or upper class. Hence a population that is in the society, but does nothing to contribute to the survival or well-being of society. Perhaps a population that one may consider to be invisible, disposable and worthless.<\/p>\n

Martin Espada, an English professor at the University of Massachusetts, \u00a0states that the poor people are in danger\u2014-it is dangerous to be poor.[3]<\/a> He goes on to say that it is dangerous to be black.\u00a0 It is dangerous to be Latino.[4]<\/a> Yet for those who live in \u201cgated communities\u201d the poor people become the dangerous strangers. Gates and fences often are used to keep the dangerous strangers out and keep the insiders safe and secure. \u00a0The fence separates the \u201cvoluntary ghetto\u201d of the high and mighty from the enforced ghettos of the low and hapless.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Urban dictionary, the ghetto is an impoverished, neglected, or otherwise disadvantaged residential area of a city, usually troubled by a disproportionately large amount of crime.[6]<\/a> The ghetto is usually associated with the poor and the poor life. There are no fences and gates in the ghettos. Yet, you know when there has been a shift in a disadvantaged neighborhood because you begin to see fences and gates. A neighborhood that was once deteriorating suddenly becomes a \u201cgated community\u201d because the privileged have moved in and the poor have been forced out.<\/p>\n

In her song, Ghetto<\/em>, India Arie tells us that we all live in the ghetto:[7]<\/a><\/p>\n

There are places in Havana
\nThat remind me of Savannah
\nParts of West Virginia
\nThat might as well be Kenya
\nParts of New York City
\nParts of Mississippi
\nParts of Tennessee
\nLook like another world to me<\/p>\n

Ghetto, Might as well be another country
\nBarrio, Might as well be another country
\nWhen you look around
\nYou live in another country, too
\nToo\u2026Too\u2026Too\u2026Too<\/p>\n

To be hungry in L.A.
\nIs just like starving in Bombay
\nHomeless in Morocco
\nIs a shelter in Chicago
\nRight around the corner
\nJust down the road
\nRight before your eyes
\nRight under your nose<\/p>\n

The Ghetto
\nMight as well be another country
\nBarrio
\nMight as well be another country
\nWhen you look around
\nYou live in another country, too
\nToo\u2026Too\u2026Too\u2026Too<\/p>\n

Now the dictionary says
\nThat the ghetto is place
\nOf minority and poverty and overpopulation
\nWe live on this Earth together
\nAin\u2019t no separation
\nWhen you\u2019re looking down from outer space
\nWe\u2019re just the human race and the world is a\u2026<\/p>\n

Ghetto
\nIt\u2019s in every place in every country
\nBarrio
\nIt\u2019s in every place in every country
\nWhen you look around
\nDo you see your brother?
\nWhen you look around
\nIt\u2019s a small world after all
\nWhen you look around
\nYou live in another country, too
\nToo\u2026Too\u2026Too\u2026Too<\/p>\n

Ghetto, Jamaica is a Ghetto
\nGhetto, Japan is a Ghetto
\nGhetto, America is a Ghetto
\nGhetto, Slovakia is a Ghetto
\nGhetto, South Africa is a Ghetto
\nGhetto, Brazil is a Ghetto
\nGhetto, Israel is a Ghetto
\nGhetto<\/p>\n

Jesus said, \u201cThe poor you will always have with you\u2026\u201d But this does not justify ignoring the needs of the poor. \u00a0We often spend more time worrying about the danger in every stranger that we rob ourselves from spending time in the company of strangers\u2014in the company of our neighbors.\u00a0 \u201cWho are the poor in our communities? Who are the poor in our churches?<\/p>\n

Have some of our churches become \u201cgated communities?\u201d Have we forgotten to love the least of these? Have we forgotten that the spirit of the Lord has anointed us to preach good news to the poor? Have we forgotten to invite the stranger in to feed, clothe and visit the stranger? Have we forgotten to love our neighbor? Have we forgotten to treat others as we would like to be treated? Have we excluded the stranger\u2026the poor? Have we caused \u201ccollateral damage?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

[1]<\/a>The Urban Dictionary, \u00a0http:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com \u00a0\u00a0(Accessed 1\/23\/2014)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[2]<\/a> Zgymunt Bauman, Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age<\/em>, (Malden: MA, Polity Press, 2011) 3.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[3]<\/a> Zgymunt Bauman, Collateral Damage: Social Inequalities in a Global Age<\/em>, (Malden: MA, Polity Press, 2011) \u00a06.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid., 6<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 62<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[6]<\/a> The Urban Dictionary, http:\/\/www.urbandictionary.com<\/a> \u00a0\u00a0(Accessed 1\/23\/2014)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

[7]<\/a>Ghetto<\/em>, http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=eMZKPxAnYIQ<\/a> (Accessed 1\/23\/2014)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We often complain about the trivial things that inconvenience our daily routine (i.e. we got whole milk instead of soy milk in our coffee order; we forgot the power cord to our GPS and now we have to rely on our brain to get us to our destination; the wind blew the cable out and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"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":[],"class_list":["post-416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","cohort-lgp4"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416","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\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=416"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1742,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/416\/revisions\/1742"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}