THE GAME IS
RIGGED
By Jim
Jordal
“Woe to
those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write oppressive
decrees; to deprive the needy from justice, and to rob the poor among my
people of their rights, that widows may be their spoil, and that they may make
the fatherless their prey!”
Isaiah 10:1-2, WEB
It’s fairly
common knowledge now that the “game” is rigged, and it’s not in your favor.
Politicians crow about all the new jobs their efforts have provided, but few if
any admit that corrected for inflation, the average working class wage has
actually decreased over the past generation. And corporations brag about all
the new jobs they’ve created, but don’t want you to know that many formerly
well-paid jobs lost in the recession have been replaced by low-wage and part-time
positions with few or any benefits. Perhaps it’s as progressive columnist Jim
Hightower says: “Jobs aren’t the issue. Even slaves have jobs. The issue is wages.”
The game is
rigged by the ultra-rich so as to allow them to gain and keep the political and
economic power necessary to maintain their exorbitant wealth and life-styles at
everyone else’s expense.
They speak
of “trickle-down” economics and actually seem to believe that money gained by
the very rich does trickle down to the poor. That may once have been true when
capitalists lived near their workers and shared virtually the same interests,
but it’s not true today. Money invested by the very rich does not usually
create jobs. It is frittered away in high-risk casino capitalism and the many
exotic investment vehicles deliberately designed to pass any profits to the rich
and any losses to the people (You’ve
heard, no doubt, of the bailout of powerful Wall Street banks from
having to bear the full costs of their own greed and faulty judgment).
And how do
the rich manage to rig the game in their favor? Isaiah identified the process
above: “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees, and to the writers who write
oppressive decrees.” These evil laws and court decisions over the years have
emasculated the poor and seriously damaged the middle class. Some of these
unrighteous decrees take the form of tax benefits favoring certain power
groups; others are foreign trade agreements benefitting the U.S. while
destroying agriculture, forests, and rivers in developing countries; and others
are subsidies and grants given to favored businesses.
And who gets
hurt? Isaiah said it was the poor and vulnerable who are the prey of those
writing unrighteous decrees, or laws. They are deprived of justice because they
lack voices that will be heard in the market-place of public policy. They lack influence
in the halls of power, and are in great need of advocates to speak for them. Solomon
put it this way: “Open your mouth for the mute, in the cause of all who are
left desolate. Open your mouth, judge righteously, and serve justice to
the poor and needy” (Prov. 31:8-9, WEB).
It seems to
me that generic religion has a responsibility to speak out for the poor who
lack the power to speak for themselves. This means much more than the bestowing
of charity, no matter how copious or ever-present it is. It means speaking out
or advocating against the economic and political systems that create poverty
and oppression. It means crying out against injustice wherever it exists. It
means yelling “foul” when you see widows and orphans oppressed by those having
more clout or power. And it means peaceably yet firmly resisting those who
cannot see that the game is rigged, and thus continue to support the very
systems that destroy them.
If churches
are the supposed custodians of morality, then perhaps we should begin acting as
if this were so. If we believe in Jesus then perhaps we should begin doing as
he said. And if love for our neighbors is as important as Scripture indicates,
then maybe we should begin loving the vulnerable enough to stand in solidarity
with them.
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