SYSTEMIC POVERTY

Eradicating systemic poverty refers to the elimination of the economic exploitation of impoverished people through laws, policies, practices and systems that perpetuate an impoverished state.
Eradicating systemic poverty means confronting the systems that create and perpetuate poverty. This area of focus moves beyond the important acts of compassion listed in Matthew 25 — offering compassion to individuals who are hungry and thirsty — to address the factors that cause such outcomes for large groups in our society and world.
There is a saying: If one fish winds up on the shore, one may ask, “What’s wrong with that fish?” But if a school of fish washes up on the shore, one must ask, “What’s wrong with the water?” Solve the problem with the water and the fish can swim in safety. Our society focuses on the fish. We try to fix individual people who end up on the margins.
While it is important to respond with compassion to each person who is impoverished, the bigger question is: What is causing them to end up and remain there?
Jesus was not crucified because he was feeding the hungry and healing the sick. He was persecuted and executed when he “troubled the waters” — disturbing those with political, social and economic power. For example, when Jesus cast out a man’s demons and those demons drove a herd of pigs into the sea, this economic loss and tampering with the system caused some people to want Jesus to leave their community (Matthew 8).
Confronting systems is challenging work — systems develop powerful defenses.

READ

Defining Poverty

Understanding the Poverty Gap

Poverty Statistics

Stories of Poverty: A Discussion with the Presbyterian Mission Agency by Presbyterian Outlook

The Liturgy of Abundance, The Myth of Scarcity by Walter Brueggemann

Understanding Systemic Poverty by Presbyterian Mission Agency

6 Ways to End Hunger and It's Causes

The Wealth Gap is Killing the Poor by Joanne Lu

Cities with the Highest Poverty Rates by Self.inc

Either Side of Broad Street: Economic Inequality in Athens by GPR staff

Athens Clarke County Community Assessment 2017

How We Measure Hunger in America by Ash Slupski

Eliminating the Causes of Hunger by Presbyterian Hunger Program

WATCH

VIDEOS

What Does Poverty Look Like in America (1 min)

Working Woman Testifies about Reality of Poverty (4 min)

Eradicating Systemic Poverty (5 min)

Pain and Poverty in America (5 min)

Why is there still poverty in America? (10 min)

When living in your car is your last choice (17 min)

3 Steps to Strength-Based Community Building (17 min)

2017 Frontline documentary 'Poor Kids' (53 min)

2020 Frontline documentary 'Growing up poor in America' (53 min)

MOVIES

Poverty in the USA: Being Poor in the World's Richest Country (51 m

Invisible People (55 min)

Voiceless: A Documentary On Systemic Poverty (1 hr 12 min)

LISTEN

To Beat Odds, Poor Single Moms Need Wide Safety Net (6 min)

Struggling Families Lift Themselves Out Of Poverty (7 min)

Poverty Podcast: Reversals of Fortune (10 min)

Busted: America's Poverty Myths, a new series from On the Media

#1 The Poverty Tour (26 min)

#2 Who Deserves to be Poor (41 min)

#3 Rags to Riches (33 min)

#4 When the Safety Doesn't Catch You (26 min)

Redefining Poverty (47 min)

PODCASTS

City Limits: A Poverty Project

Busted: America's Poverty Myths

NOTICE

We are often asked to put ourselves in someone else's shoes. What does it mean to be poor? How does it feel? Could you survive poverty on a day-to-day basis? This virtual simulation challenges you to choose between real-life, equally agonizing alternatives. Pay for your mom’s medicine or keep the lights on? Cover the minimum on your credit cards or pay the rent? As players, you’re allotted $1,000 to live on for one month, and the game ends after 30 days or if you run out of money sooner. After completing the challenge, spend some time reflecting on the experience.

The simulation was created pro bono by ad agency McKinney for the Urban Ministries of Durham, whose mission is to provide food, clothing, shelter, and supportive services to its neighbors in need.

Test your ability to survive poverty

Did you make it through the month? If not, how far did you get?

What sacrifices or cuts did you have to make? How did you feel about making these cuts?

What was the most difficult decision you had to make in this simulation? Why?

Did you have power over your decisions? Explain.

What did you learn from this simulation? How did it change your understanding of what it means to be poor?

Was there a role that the church could have played to help you "survive" the simulation?