start from the fact that poverty is the daughter of civilization. The primitive economy represented a model of distribution and fulfillment of basic needs of the individual. In the history of Western civilization poverty, though certainly not what we mean today, as such, is a phenomenon that has changed in appearance, residence and size, but that has always accompanied man from pre-capitalist societies until the new globalization.
The concentration of land in Athens in the fourth century BC pushed small farmers to migrate abroad or poured into the city without any qualification and labor warranty. This situation created a chasm between the few rich and many poor, going to be the mass of unemployed people who have dealt the decisive blow to the stability of the subject city-states. "
poor peasants and slaves lived in the overcrowded of the imperial Rome. They lived in poor hygienic conditions in the islets and the answers given by the problem were, as always in these cases, the prosecution of crime along with incentives to citizens' security-rich syndrome encirclement.
The free peasants, in a later period, ended up working in the land of feudal lords who expressed that creating a society inhabited by many servants and a few rich men. The Middle Ages is also the moment in which, however, under pressure from San Francisco and orders pauper in general, for the first time are the foundation of the works of mercy. The poor were officially placed under the responsibility of the parishes through the institutionalization of poverty as a political problem created by the promulgation of the Poor Law of Elizabeth I in 1601.
The ongoing urbanization of the city certainly exacerbated the already difficult conditions of the poor in Europe, also exposed to epidemics that raged across the continent. The autocracy was replaced by the feudal system that kept intact the pattern of concentration of wealth in a few privileged groups of increasing urban and rural poverty. None of these stages of poverty is comparable to that which came to be the subject of scientific inquiry and statistics and that developed after 1848. The poverty that comes closest to what we know today is the one which develops in the post-industrial revolution with the demolition of the Old Regime and the victory of the bourgeoisie.
The Enclosure acts in Britain opened the door to the accumulation of capitalist lands, prohibiting their common use. The story was linked to poverty, overpopulation and unemployment, which hit the urban underclass, the army of reserve labor daughter of industrial development, which was used to keep the costs of production from the capitalists giving us visions of Dickensian cities and suburbs.
However, we have different definitions of poverty. The multiplicity of meanings over the years attributed to the same phenomenon, allows us to better identify the characteristics of this condition. Despite what must surely be aware that any definition and approach to the concept of poverty is absolutely arbitrary and changeable over time and space. Just think what it was for our grandparents poverty and what it is for us today.
work for example, that today is an easy indicator of income that would prevent the individual out of poverty has meant for many, from Cicero to Jeremy Bentham, a neck strain. A tool that is for those who need to provide support through what has been called wage labor, and enters fully into the circle of the poor, which in this case are people who have no other aim in life than to forget the basic needs of the rest.
religions through their holy books have always dealt with the issue of poverty in times by defining and classifying even the levels of poverty like the Koran. There is a common feature among all classifications, that is always considered the idea of \u200b\u200bpoverty as a free individual choice.
the poor to Christianity are the face of God and the kingdom of heaven is their home, so much so that the importance of poverty as a vector a journey of redemption unfolds in the vote that is done to Christ introduced the monastic orders. Devote himself to poverty in the name of a detachment from material goods is widespread in all cultures and religions and not only among the three great monotheistic sisters. From Buddhism to Hinduism until the principles of Taoist and Confucius, the highest rank to which all should strive for is its detachment from the world understood as a rejection and contempt of passion and ownership.
The lasting nature of poverty and its changing forms of stratification has meant that scientific and social care for them and that the political agendas of governments understood the always within them.
The century-old debate on poverty has led to its classification into two categories, absolute poverty and relative poverty.
absolute poverty we mean when we talk about the state of deprivation by an individual or a group of individuals who are considered basic human needs such as water, food, sanitation and housing and access to education and information.
To express in figures the concept of poverty must define a set of products and services that meets the needs fundamental. Then, using the lowest prices, the changes in minimum wage in relation to the different economies of consumption linked to family size.
This creates a threshold are considered poor and those who are under it.
The second concept, that of relative poverty defines a type of poverty to be linked with the context in which it appears.
In other words, the absolute value is related to the average standard of living, usually identified by calculating the per capita consumption or average income. The concept of poverty relative is not comparable to that of inequality across society as a whole because it seamlessly on to a position above or below average. Poverty as a result of uneven distribution and poor access to resources and services includes within it the dimension of inequality.
The ethical and political debate started with the publication of A Theory of Justice (John Rawls, 1971), has given the green light to a debate is not yet concluded on the issues of justice, poverty and individual freedoms. The vision rawlesiana gives us a thought experiment by imagining a group of men, covered from what the "father" of political philosophy defined as the "veil of ignorance," unaware of their characteristics, their role in the world and their attitudes in relating with each other and are faced with the problem of the choice of principles to underpin community life.
individuals, Rawls argues, would be forced, even disregarding the other, to choose the criteria of fairness and equality. The imbalances are allowed when they go to improve the conditions of the disadvantaged. The natural conclusion is that to improve the status of the poor is improved sequentially society.
Authors such as Dahrendorf estimate the number of chances for life, or the opportunities granted to every citizen, as an indicator of true democracy. The text of Dahrendorf, (book-key political liberalism), inevitably leads to a harsh criticism of the welfare state, found guilty of offering the "results" and not the means to implement effectively control the lives of individuals living there.
extreme liberalism of "valid permit" that marks the thought of Robert Nozick leads the author even further, prompting him to declare the required rights of a person, without regard to the consequences. Equality paradoxically stifle the process of individual improvement is only possible in the presence of an unequal and cancel the 'self-esteem. The 'minimum' is what can be more easily accepted. Another type of state, interventionist and intrusive, interferes with freedom of the individual rather than protect it.
Amartya Sen elaborates the concept of absolute poverty include a basket of goods and services and assessing the minimum level of poverty according to the so-called "right control of food, "according to the rights that an individual or group may have to legally claim the right to access and control goods and services of the" basket ". The legal element of this reflection is fundamental, Sen stressed the difference between the "food availability" and "allocation" of the same.
The revolutionary character of the study lies in looking to the Sen poverty not as a deprivation of property, but as a phenomenon can be analyzed in terms of "capacity". We must think about poverty in terms of failure in achieving certain "core functions". Doing so would undermine the importance of the goods. In a large western city there are thousands of homeless people but not for lack of homes simply because they did not get the award for the well-house. Accessibility to goods leads to a broader debate on human rights and the concept of poverty extends to that of democracy.
The European welfare state rather than improve it went completely in crisis. Heart attack by neo-liberal policies of deregulation and inaugurated by Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher in the early 80 'was definitely overwhelmed by the fall of the Soviet bloc which sealed the victory model "Washington Consensus".
different vision of society different approaches to poverty.
Paradigms of two different approaches can be represented by England on one side and France and Italy on the other.
The English tradition see the individual as a person who freely decides to integrate into society. The relationship between the individual and society is therefore a first choice of subject. Ensuring a level playing field for all, social justice is not an issue on the political agenda, since it is not contemplated the possibility of exploitation being guaranteed the "free choice".
The poor are therefore those for physical disability, mental or because of welfare state policies which are dependent on self-exclude from society.
solidarist The tradition of Italy and France, steeped in Marxism and Christianity, presents the idea of \u200b\u200ba social order as a result of common bonds and values \u200b\u200bthat enable people to live together: the collective consciousness. The State must preserve this "pact" collectively and inserted into the hole left between the individual and social responsibility, the land where there is a risk of social exclusion.
The Anglo-Latin dichotomy has been overcome within the European Union (thanks to the French leading role in the unification process), where the latter approach has prevailed.
Poverty is no longer detectable and then below a certain threshold, since many people can it falling regardless of the condition in which they are due to illness, loss of social status or corporate restructuring. The new poor are no longer the unemployed that allowed the capitalists to keep wages low for the remaining workers. The impressive number of unemployed no longer justify the theory of workers subject to Marx. The new poor are not necessary for the production process. The old battles "third world" for the defense of poor countries by multinational corporations is to be transformed into demand for investment by the United Nations and governments. The new poor in fact are not exploited within a production process in which they were still included but are completely cut off and thus make explicit the replacement of the concept of poverty with that of "social exclusion".
The researchers found that 80% of global wealth is owned 20% of the population. An analysis very effective to open the door to new ideas and solutions and also consider the downside. The world needs to work so far has had only 20% of its population to act as a guide.
Poverty as a "social sin"
short story of a Theology of Liberation.
It 'true that the infinite creativity of the poor and surprising and is perhaps for this reason that philosophers, economists, writers, revolutionaries and theologians are "lovers" of the poor and have dedicated books, studies, and sometimes even their lives. On second thought the poor societies have been and continue to be a fantastic open-air laboratory in which to study and experience and where not coincidentally have developed some of the most revolutionary ideas in absolute order of the economy, politics, religion and literature.
do not mean in any way in this short text to attribute a character eugenics positively to the poverty of a large fresco painting experience solidarist scattered around the world, but deal briefly with a unique experience within the Catholic Church brought the poor as a central focal point of your living the Gospel message and to reflect the potential power of the poor as a vector of change of a larger social landscape.
detachment from material goods and the stripping of wealth as a necessary condition to get closer to God really were a common denominator for all religions. Rather, the need for abandonment of wealth had apostles in all religions, without never prevail as mainstream within them.
"Blessed are you poor, for yours is the kingdom of God"
says in the Gospel Jesus of Nazareth, one of the first to propose the poor as protagonists and candidates at the winners of the big game life. The sentence of the speech of the Beatitudes as a shell burst and its echo still resonates today, although many try to cover it, and not too far from the brightly lit streets of the city-northern hemisphere. However, in addition to promises great rewards after death there were those who wanted to read the Gospel message and the figure of Christ as a real incentive for the poor to fight and earn a decent living on earth as well as a kingdom of heaven in the hereafter.
The open discussion in the 70s in South America after the publication of "Historia de una Política y Salvacion de Liberación Theology" by Gustavo Gutierrez has opened a debate that has deeply shaken the Catholic Church and involved mainly in Latin America a growing number of bishops, theologians and priests.
Liberation theology is not born by chance in those years and in Latin America. Between the '50s and '60s populist governments of characters as the Brazilian Vargas Peron of Argentina, Mexico and Nicaragua's Somoza Cardenas - to name just the most famous - had pursued an unbridled industrial development, financed almost entirely with foreign capital, bringing great benefits to the nascent industrial bourgeoisie and marginalizing all the rest of the population, mostly peasants, who were beginning to concentrate in the suburbs of mega-cities to live in shacks and build what we now know as favelas.
The Cuban revolution of '59 meant for South America and winning a first attempt to distance itself from economic dependence of foreign powers and in particular the United States, a nation has always been dominant in the continent defined by Monroe "our backyard".
revolutionary movements that call attention to the fathers of decolonization - Jose Marti, Simon Bolivar, Emiliano Zapata - began to develop across the continent while raising support to these groups from the community rural, students, workers. The Church could not stand at the window in this process, we participated in it divides between different positions. Cardinals, bishops and prelates in most cases fed the consent to fascist regimes and torturers like that of Pinochet in Chile, while others, such as the Peruvian theologian Gustavo Gutierrez in his book on Liberation Theology, began to promote a new interpretation of Christianity. The Latin American Church, for its history and its power, is in any case, part of spiritual life, if not least economic and political life of the peoples of the continent. The reading of Gutierrez is included in the South American context in a "liberation" as we shall see.
The collapse of the populist regimes and consequently the development model they proposed has offered the best excuse possible to formalize the practices related to that from now on I will call shortening Laplace transform. The marriage between the instances of Marxist-Leninist movement and the more progressive member of the Church led him to establish a common objective: the social and political liberation in the name of a future and possible release of man.
The sum of all the texts and reports presented at numerous conferences programmatic lead us to extrapolate some of the most striking conclusions of the Laplace transform:
• The situation in Latin American, which you can easily extend to the entire Third World, clashes with the project God's relation to the poor and why poverty becomes a " social sin."
• Poverty is not a factor and there are endemic persecutors to be punished and be freed as well as victims seeking justice.
• The liberation and salvation of man also include the political, economic and social individual.
***
The arguments that arise from this language and theological reflection led those discussed who have helped to formulate a "political agenda" of the commitments to be taken in daily practice:
• You have to ask at the side of the poor who are "the suffering members of the crucified body of Christ" and become aware of the difference between wealthy and poor societies.
• peaceful struggle to gain and / or maintain democracy by identifying the real enemies of the people to achieve a social and economic change.
• The logic of capitalist speculation and profit must be fought by the creative spirit and supportive man.
• E 'to be a struggle to create a "new man" a man "liberated."
• The teaching of the Gospel must be freely accepted by the individual only after the church has done to create conditions for a dignified life.
The election of John Paul II dramatically scaled the dynamism and strength of the Laplace transform that was receiving significant contributions from many bishops and theologians as well as gaining widespread popularity. The Pope In his speech during the first pastoral visit to Mexico said the foreignness of the Church of Rome to the vision of a "revolutionary Christ" and requested the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, a study on the TDL. The Congregation (then chaired by a young Joseph Ratzinger) strongly condemned two studies
theses Gutierrez and his companions, opposed in particular the references to the Laplace transform postulates Marxists and other political practices. Leonard Boff, Brazilian theologian prominent member of the Laplace transform, was sentenced at respectful silence and then the veto imposed by John Paul II to attend the Earth Summit decided to abandon his vows.
Oscar Romero, Bishop of San Salvador and supporter of the Laplace transform, unsuccessfully asked the Vatican official recognition for all those priests and bishops in Latin America who fought peacefully and with the power of the Gospel message in order to improve society in where they lived. A recognition that required by Romero that never came. Arriving two bullets that went from side to side as he celebrated Holy Mass at the Cathedral of San Salvador.
Basically we can conclude by noting that the Laplace transform has been defeated in its quixotic battle two-faced: one with the Church of the buildings and the exploitation of the landlords first and then the multinationals.
However, instances of which echoed still walk through the Andean continent.
They walk through the testimony of men who have given their lives in the name of social engagement as the only way to eternal salvation. Walking tall among the Sem Terra in Brazil, were sung in the palaces of marble from the floors of the old dictators where Indians are beginning to enter presidents, chairmen and presidents of women workers.
echo in the hearts of those who, even before you raise a flag with the image of God, and shut himself in his own self, believes in Man.
A man to be freed.
• Bibliography: Gustavo Gutierrez , History, Politics Theology y Salvacion de una de Liberación "1970
• Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith , Libertatis Nuntius "1984
• Leonard Boff ," charisma and Higreja poder "1981
• Franciscan Movement," the Franciscan Sources "1977
• Luke the Evangelist The Gospel according to Luke
