Website for the "Christian Left"

This is the place for secular issues.Discuss society and Politics, social action, the Christian identity and chruch's place in the world. We can also discuss science.

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KR Wordgazer
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Website for the "Christian Left"

Post by KR Wordgazer » Mon May 30, 2011 10:09 pm

I recently was made aware of this website:

http://americanvaluesnetwork.org/

I find that even though my moderate-conservative ideas really haven't changed much, the "center" in the US has moved so that I think I'm now to the left of it. I certainly agree with much that is on this site. Hmm.
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tinythinker
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Re: Website for the "Christian Left"

Post by tinythinker » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:31 am

A lot of it is a disconnect between what people think a policy represents and it's actual impact. I recall some analysis that Americans tend to favor the results of policies enacted by countries like Sweden in terms of our social welfare, yet we vote and have rhetoric that is miles from that kind of generosity. It's a false self-image. The last 30 years of deregulation, greed, and the erosion of labor unions and social safety nets fuelede economic growth benefitting the wealthiest but leaving wages stagnant for the rest, leading to the biggest wealth disparities since 1928. The middle class is broke and shrinking and can't sustain the spending needed to sustain the needed economic growth to spur significant gains in employment. They ran out of overtime hours, they maxed out their credit, they tapped all of their equity in their homes, and these sources of funds for spending, which our economy has been running on for three decades, have run out. Our economy is consumer based and the primary consumers are broke. The super-wealthy tend to invest more than spend, especially compared to the rest of us, and can do either in whatever part of the global market offers them the best deal. The less wealthy you are the the faster you will spend and you will do it more locally. This is why the trickle down model in economics is flawed without sufficient taxes on the high end of the earnings scale and incentives for more local investment, and it is therefore especially flawed in the way globalization is being structured and in the world of finance. But rhetoric is being misapplied and trumping reality in the currently popular and visible form of conservatism in US politics, which may be why you are feeling left behind.
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tinythinker
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Re: Website for the "Christian Left"

Post by tinythinker » Thu Jun 02, 2011 7:32 am

A lot of it is a disconnect between what people think a policy represents and it's actual impact. I recall some analysis that Americans tend to favor the results of policies enacted by countries like Sweden in terms of our social welfare, yet we vote and have rhetoric that is miles from that kind of generosity. It's a false self-image. The last 30 years of deregulation, greed, and the erosion of labor unions and social safety nets fuelede economic growth benefitting the wealthiest but leaving wages stagnant for the rest, leading to the biggest wealth disparities since 1928. The middle class is broke and shrinking and can't sustain the spending needed to sustain the needed economic growth to spur significant gains in employment. They ran out of overtime hours, they maxed out their credit, they tapped all of their equity in their homes, and these sources of funds for spending, which our economy has been running on for three decades, have run out. Our economy is consumer based and the primary consumers are broke. The super-wealthy tend to invest more than spend, especially compared to the rest of us, and can do either in whatever part of the global market offers them the best deal. The less wealthy you are the the faster you will spend and you will do it more locally. This is why the trickle down model in economics is flawed without sufficient taxes on the high end of the earnings scale and incentives for more local investment, and it is therefore especially flawed in the way globalization is being structured and in the world of finance. But rhetoric is being misapplied and trumping reality in the currently popular and visible form of conservatism in US politics, which may be why you are feeling left behind.
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KR Wordgazer
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Re: Website for the "Christian Left"

Post by KR Wordgazer » Tue Jun 07, 2011 12:28 am

Yes, I think you're right, Tiny. Here is a comment I posted on another website:

True benevolence and selflessness cannot be forced, but to have a truly just society, neither can the few be permitted to run roughshod over everyone else. The laws of the nation of Israel included required alms-giving, an extra tithe every few years that was ear-marked for the poor, requirements for land-owners to allow those in need to take part of the harvest free of charge, and a redistribution every 50 years in which those who had amassed wealth at the expense of the less fortunate, had to even things out.

I’m not saying we should imitate Israel’s laws– but how can we claim laws that promote greed and self-seeking in the name of “freedom,” are fundamentally more godly? Doesn’t the inherent selfishness in the heart of humanity, need some sort of boundaries? Are we really doing ourselves any good by refusing to curb the exploitation the poor and the corruption of our governing officials by the rich, to make the laws favor them more and more, at the expense of the rest of us?
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Re: Website for the "Christian Left"

Post by Metacrock » Thu Jun 16, 2011 2:30 pm

I don't know how this thread escaped my notice.
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