Remember the poor
Has not the food been cut off before our very eyes (Joel 1:16)
The answer for most of us is No. For a time it may have looked like the shelves were empty, but we had food in the fridge and store cupboard, enough to keep going until the shelves could be restocked.
For some. though the answer is Yes. When pasta and baked beans and sliced bread disappears, they cannot simply turn to couscous and smoked salmon. No, they go hungry. But this is nothing new. The rich in our society have more than enough. The poor have not enough.
It was ever thus. At times of higher tax on the wealthy, overall we are a bit poorer, but the poor are much better off. At times of low tax on the rich, the GDP goes up but the wealth gap rockets and the poor become destitute. That's not political, it's just an observation. If you measure good government by growth in GDP then you inevitably end up with an underclass. And without great care, at times of national crisis, it's the poor and weak that suffer most.
Here's an example. I know of a company that has decided to compensate people who are struggling at this time by giving a 50% bonus on any extra hours worked above normal weekly load. This looks generous, but who does it benefit. The poorest? Well probably not. They are usually working all the hours they can to make ends meet. The families? Not them either. Without the support of the childcare offered by schools and nurseries, they cannot spend more time at work to benefit from the extra money. The sick? Again no. Indeed this company is not even paying those forced to self isolate when a family member is ill. You have to be sick yourself to get paid, and you obviously don't benefit from extra hours of work then. Those in unstable employment? Yet again no. If you are on a zero hours contract then there is no such thing as extra hours, so you could work 100 hour weeks with no benefit. The wealthy? Oddly, yes. The people to benefit are the already well off. It is those without children, and so with fewer costs, who can do the extra hours. Those who were only working part-time because they could afford to do so, can now work earn more money. Those with stable employment contracts, can now benefit from the sizeable bonus.
It is a large business. It needs the people who can to work extra hours to compensate for those who can't. It has to make a profit. But in such a system the poor always suffer. And without great care and thoughtfulness they suffer even more.
So if you have a moment, please remember this. There are some in our society who are going hungry now, who were not going hungry a few short days ago. The food banks are busier than ever as those in insecure work lose all of their income in a matter of hours. We are not in a famine. The food is coming back into the shops. But children are hungry. The homeless are starving. The sick and the vulnerable have nothing to eat.
So if you have spare time or money from that holiday not taken, or that meal out not eaten, or all those hours in the car not driven, here's some ways to give for UK residents:
Look nationally: there's a Go Fund Me page 'Help Foodbanks Feed People During Coronavirus' or go direct to the Trussell Trust https://www.trusselltrust.org/
Or look locally: foodbanks around West Dorset include https://www.sherbornefoodbank.org/ or https://www.ycstyeovil.org.uk/the-lords-larder/
And if you need food:
Look locally and talk to someone you trust like the local headteacher or vicar, or contact the nearest foodbank directly and they will help you find out how to get a referral for food parcels.
Nationally the Trussell Trust will point you in the right direction
The answer for most of us is No. For a time it may have looked like the shelves were empty, but we had food in the fridge and store cupboard, enough to keep going until the shelves could be restocked.
For some. though the answer is Yes. When pasta and baked beans and sliced bread disappears, they cannot simply turn to couscous and smoked salmon. No, they go hungry. But this is nothing new. The rich in our society have more than enough. The poor have not enough.
It was ever thus. At times of higher tax on the wealthy, overall we are a bit poorer, but the poor are much better off. At times of low tax on the rich, the GDP goes up but the wealth gap rockets and the poor become destitute. That's not political, it's just an observation. If you measure good government by growth in GDP then you inevitably end up with an underclass. And without great care, at times of national crisis, it's the poor and weak that suffer most.
Here's an example. I know of a company that has decided to compensate people who are struggling at this time by giving a 50% bonus on any extra hours worked above normal weekly load. This looks generous, but who does it benefit. The poorest? Well probably not. They are usually working all the hours they can to make ends meet. The families? Not them either. Without the support of the childcare offered by schools and nurseries, they cannot spend more time at work to benefit from the extra money. The sick? Again no. Indeed this company is not even paying those forced to self isolate when a family member is ill. You have to be sick yourself to get paid, and you obviously don't benefit from extra hours of work then. Those in unstable employment? Yet again no. If you are on a zero hours contract then there is no such thing as extra hours, so you could work 100 hour weeks with no benefit. The wealthy? Oddly, yes. The people to benefit are the already well off. It is those without children, and so with fewer costs, who can do the extra hours. Those who were only working part-time because they could afford to do so, can now work earn more money. Those with stable employment contracts, can now benefit from the sizeable bonus.
It is a large business. It needs the people who can to work extra hours to compensate for those who can't. It has to make a profit. But in such a system the poor always suffer. And without great care and thoughtfulness they suffer even more.
So if you have a moment, please remember this. There are some in our society who are going hungry now, who were not going hungry a few short days ago. The food banks are busier than ever as those in insecure work lose all of their income in a matter of hours. We are not in a famine. The food is coming back into the shops. But children are hungry. The homeless are starving. The sick and the vulnerable have nothing to eat.
So if you have spare time or money from that holiday not taken, or that meal out not eaten, or all those hours in the car not driven, here's some ways to give for UK residents:
Look nationally: there's a Go Fund Me page 'Help Foodbanks Feed People During Coronavirus' or go direct to the Trussell Trust https://www.trusselltrust.org/
Or look locally: foodbanks around West Dorset include https://www.sherbornefoodbank.org/ or https://www.ycstyeovil.org.uk/the-lords-larder/
And if you need food:
Look locally and talk to someone you trust like the local headteacher or vicar, or contact the nearest foodbank directly and they will help you find out how to get a referral for food parcels.
Nationally the Trussell Trust will point you in the right direction
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| Home baking in our household, before the yeast disappeared off the shelves |
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