Bread Blog

Following up to Robin's blog post: The Missing Question

Fellow Bread blogger Robin Stephenson and I had the same idea to write a blog post about the missing question at the first presidential debate.  So here are my two cents.

I am among the 108,000 people who signed a petition to have moderator Jim Lehrer include a question about global poverty in the debate between presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain on Sept. 26.  I was disappointed, but hardly surprised, that the question was not asked.  It seems that global poverty is frequently swept under the rug during the political discourse.  And I've written about this before in the Bread blog. 

It's taken the ONE Vote 08 campaign, where thousands of volunteers show up at rallies to ask questions, for the presidential candidates to give the issue at least some lip service.  Often candidates are quick to recognize ONE Campaign t-shirts and praise the young (and not-so young) people for their dedication to ending global poverty and disease.  But it often seems to stop there.   

It's not that the presidential and congressional candidates are not concerned about poverty-focused development assistance and world hunger and poverty.  They're just not making an effort to bring it to the top of the agenda.  It's been left up to us to push for them to try to ensure that these issues at least get some attention alongside matters related to Iraq, Iran, Israel, Russia, Georgia and China.

There are other debates coming, and hopefully the question will be asked.  As Robin points out in her blog post, our next opportunity is the Oct. 7 debate moderated by Tom Brokaw.

And we're doing the same thing with the congressional races. Hundreds of Bread for the World members around the country are also bringing the question about hunger to congressional candidates through the BEAT 08 campaign.

Just ONE question.

Friday, September 26. 2008, the two presidential candidates met for their first debate.  It was unfortunate that not one question was asked in a foreign policy debate of the candidates on global poverty.  We hope in the future debates they will be asked "Just ONE Question" on global poverty.

Your Gift of Citizenship

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees hypocrites!  For you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith.  It is these you ought to have practiced without neglecting the others.”  MATTHEW 23: 23-24.

Photo by Eric Munoz

    Recently members of the Bread for the World Institute traveled to Ethiopia and saw first hand the devastation of extreme hunger.  In Sub-Sahara Africa too many of God’s cherished children suffer from too little access to the food required to survive.  As recently pointed out in Institute Notes, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) has released new estimates that in 2007 the number of hungry people in the world has increased by 75 million.  In Sub-Saharan Africa where the average person spends upwards to 80% of their income on food, the sky rocketing prices of basic grains are leading to devastating hunger.  In the U.S., increased food prices have hit hardest those with low incomes and those who are looking for work
    Biblically, over and over again, God calls us through his prophets and Son to speak up for the widow and the orphan; to not “neglect the “matters of the law”. In 1 Corinthians 8 we are told, “To each is given the manifestation of the spirit for the common good.”  We can easily view that our citizenship, where we have the freedom and responsibility to influence our elected officials, is just such a gift to be used for God’s good.  As Christians we must use those gifts to remind our leaders through questions on policy, letters of advocacy, and our combined voices that we have a moral imperative to improve the lives of poor and hungry people.
    Bread for the World has launched the Bread Election Action Team against Hunger – or “BEAT Hunger ‘08.” Over 1,000 activists have joined their voices so far to infuse the election with dialog about hunger and poverty both at home and abroad.  We are using our gifts of voice and citizenship by attending candidate appearances around the nation and asking each candidate about their policies on issues that affect the poor and hungry. We must demand real solutions to injustice to see a real change.

Third World Inequality in America? You bet.

Image via Wikipedia

Reuter's published an editorial yesterday about the distribution of wealth and income  in the United States.  The article compared the distribution inequality to that in the developing world.

Today, the United States has the largest gap between rich and poor of any Western industrialized country. In terms of equitable distribution of income and wealth, the U.S. is closer to Iran, Argentina or Mexico than to Canada or Germany.

With the elections less than 100 days away, this should be a huge issue for the presidential candidates and local elections.  But, when was the last time you heard either presidential candidate talk about the growing gap between the rich and the poor in our nation? Food stamps are going out at record levels this year.  This is a wake up call.

Here at Bread, we're mobilizing by launching BEAT 2008 - Bread's Election Action Teams Against Hunger 2008.  Stay tuned for the official launch.

The article goes on to say:

Poverty and inequality are not usually subject of wide debate in the United States but this is an election year which might mark the beginning of a change. A poll this month by TIME magazine and the Rockefeller Foundation showed that 85 percent of Americans are unhappy with the economy and think their country is on the wrong track. TIME termed the percentage unprecedented.

The poll also showed a striking shift of sentiment towards the role of government in solving the country's problems. More than 80 percent favored public works projects to create jobs and 70 percent advocated government programs to help those struggling to survive in a sinking economy marked by falling home prices, foreclosures, and sharply higher prices for fuel and food.

   

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