Inconvenient Truths: Impediments to Justice for all







"The truth is staring you in the face" was the words sometimes used by my high school tennis coach as he opined on the difference between a winner and a loser.  The winner always takes the bull by the horns and, by any means necessary, finds a way to win. The loser does the opposite, he's always running from the truth.


If indeed there is some value in the Biblical words stating that the "truth shall set you free" than maybe society should take note of the facts on the ground and start winning the divers battles that help to determine a fair and just society as oppose to one that perpetually pits the haves against the have-nots.



 . . . when will a Christian nation 
get their heads out of the ground 
and began to face dire facts that
can and should be corrected? . . .






How can a truly Christian society proclaim freedom when so many of their inhabitants are 'clinging to life' in the land of opportunity?


What are the facts?


Well I must unblushingly borrow from the fact-bin of some researchers, scholars, and other people in the know present, keeping in mind, and at the same time, that facts are public information when the public i the one that is directly affected by outcome of those facts.  So here you have Bill Quigley, a noted law professor and writer along with Sam Schmitt, a capable law student, making a case about social justice by laying out some bare facts in a recent article entitled:  A Social Justice Quiz.


Here's a sampling from 13 cited facts total:


  • The combined pay of the top 299 CEOs is enough to support 102,325 average jobs.  Source: Corporate Paywatch.

  • The median net worth of white households in the US is $97,900.  Source: Economic Policy Institute.

  • Except for eleven counties in Illinois and another eight in Puerto Rico, there is no county in the US where a one bedroom fair market rate apartment is available to a person working full-time at the minimum wage. Source: The National Low Income Housing Coalition.

  • The typical worker must earn $18.46 an hour to rent a two bedroom apartment.  Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition.

  • In the last numbers reported, the top 1 percent had net worth 225 times greater than the median or typical household’s net worth, the highest ever recorded.   Source: Economic Policy Institute.

  • The rate of incarceration per 100,000 people is: USA 730, Russian 534, Iran 334, China 122, Iraq 101, and Germany 86.  Source: International Centre for Prison Studies, University of Essex. 


Now if the above are indeed truths, based on empirical research, then the real problem is not that they can't be fixed, but just the opposite, they can be fixed but the blinding glare neutralizes any meaningful action.  In other words they are inconveniently in the way doing business as usual.



"In 2011, the black   
unemployment rate averaged  
15.8 percent--twice the white
 average of 7.9 percent.

"Even during good economic
 times, the black

 unemployment rate is typically
 twice the white rate".






Would you imagine that the national minimum wage is $7 per hour and you can't even qualify for a two bedroom apartment because your wage is less than 50% needed to qualify?  What about living in  a free culture where most Black men are destined to serving time or being caught up in the justice system in a country that brags about its democracy?
The other component in the article from the list above showing that the median net worth of white households in the US is $97,900 is that the median net worth of black households is $2,200.  




Yes, you read that right.


One would should be compelled to ask when does the real discussion began?--based on historical and quantifiable facts.  If you would, when will a Christian nation get their heads out of the ground and began to face dire facts that can and should be corrected?  Unfortunately the answer would have to be based on a arguable fact, oddly enough, probably never.  


Yet, there is hope if man's insatiable appetite for brain power and intellect in conquering the world and all therein is suddenly transformed beyond the frailty of mental empathy to higher plain of spiritual empathy unshackled by disinterestedness and grounded by love.  Maybe not enough lately, but it has historically happened.  And, when it has happened they were the factual moments and outcomes that help in defining what human caring and healing are all about.
My book gives a personal journey where humans must start doing the right thing before it's too late: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1672518334.. In a nut shell, I am on a mission to tell people that we are in the 'last days' as earthlings where everyone will meet up with their maker and meet-up with those who have already left us. Yet, the final destination may not be what you were expecting because you never prepared for your life journey after earth. Your 'bucket list' were only bound to the physical world.

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