Hug, James E., S.J.

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Conversations on Jesuit Higher EducationVolume 45 Article 23April 2014Talking Back: The Real and Urgent ConversationsWe NeedJames E. Hug S.J.Follow this and additional works at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversationsRecommended CitationHug, James E. S.J. (2014) "Talking Back: The Real and Urgent Conversations We Need," Conversations on Jesuit Higher Education: Vol.45, Article 23.Available at: http://epublications.marquette.edu/conversations/vol45/iss1/2348 ConversationsIn “Ending Absolute Poverty”(Conversations, Fall 2013 (44),pp. 32-33), Stephen Rowntree,S.J., asks whether “Redistributionor Economic Growth” can do it.His position, in short, is that end-ing absolute poverty requireseconomic growth.Rowntree’s presentation andassumptions overlook several criticalrealities that shape our lives today,making them both inadequate and dan-gerous. Here are four points to get our“conversation” to a more fruitful spacefor serious education and research,along with an invitation. 1. Globalization. Over the past severaldecades, national economies havebecome more and more intertwined, sothat we now have one global economy.It is no longer possible for a poor coun-try to address absolute poverty by sim-ply launching a growth strategy to endthat poverty. It must enter the global-ized system and play by its rules. Socialactivists, including Nobel economicslaureates, have long demonstrated thatthose rules are rigged in favor ofwealthy nations and corporate powers.This has two immediate implica-tions. First, we need to consider econom-ic strategies and plans within their globalcontext. As economic actors, we are allglobal citizens. Second, we need toexplore structural changes to the globaleconomic system to make it more peo-ple-centered, common-good focused,and supportive of universal justice.2. Power. The global economic systemis not rigged in favor of the wealthy byaccident. With wealth comes power –political, social, cultural. The systemworks the way it works because thepeople and organizations with wealthhave the power to make it work thatway. Rowntree highlights the achieve-ment of Western countries where amajority are well off and a minoritypoor as the model for the poorest coun-tries to emulate, using fast growth togrow themselves out of mass poverty. This model, however, is beginningto look like the dying phase of econom-ic development as we know it. The gapbetween the wealthy and the poor isgrowing nearly everywhere. Upwardmobility is disappearing in the U.S.: theeconomic gains of the last three decadeshave gone to the wealthiest one percentor so of the population while the middleclass is shrinking and workers’ incomesare stagnating or eroding. Similar dynam-ics are emerging in China, India, Brazil,and South Africa. The Arab Spring beganbecause masses of people lost hope thateconomic growth would be shared wide-ly. Wealth brings social and politicalpower that is used to consolidate wealthby those who have it. This situation issocially unsustainable. 3. Ecological Limits and ClimateChange. The challenge of povertytoday must always be addressed withinthe context of our awareness of plane-tary constraints. There are two dimen-sions we must be aware of. First, the human community isalready overusing the planet’sresources. In 2012, “Earth OvershootDay” (the day we began to use more ofthe earth’s resources than it can renewin a year) fell on August 22. Each yearthat day comes earlier than the yearbefore. The pattern is clearly unsustain-able. We must end poverty, but over thelong term that can happen only throughredistribution and a reduction ofresource overuse globally. Second, the type of economicgrowth that we currently produce – con-sumption driven, fossil-fuel based, glob-ally competitive – is steadily warmingthe planet, contribution to climatechange that further impoverishes thealready poor and threatens to destroylife as we know it on earth over the nextcentury. We must find creative new sus-tainable patterns of development.4. Catholic Social Tradition. Jesuithigher education is part of a strongCatholic social tradition that for fivedecades has called humanity to deal withpoverty as a global issue. In Caritas inVeritate, Pope Benedict XVI describedglobalization as revealing God’s call tocreate one human family living sustain-ably in peace on our limited planet. Wehave a religious calling to address pover-ty and all the urgent social problems weface in global solidarity. These four contextual realities framethe urgent conversation, education, andresearch needed to create a just and sus-tainable future. I am planning to set upworking groups on the website ofAcademics at Jesuit Universities andSchools (www.ajus.org), a new initiativeto facilitate global networking. Pleasecheck it out and consider joining ourconversation. ■The Real and UrgentConversations We NeedBy James E. Hug, S.J.Talking BackJames E. Hug, S.J., is the presidentemeritus of Center of Concern.00621_conversations #26   12/13/13  5:38 PM  Page 481Hug: Talking Back: The Real and Urgent Conversations We NeedPublished by e-Publications@Marquette, 2014

Talking Back: The Real and Urgent Conversations We Need

https://epublications.marquette.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1875&amp;context=conversations

Talking Back: The Real and Urgent Conversations We Need

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