Acts 9:1-20 gives a notable example of how God recycles and makes new people. Unfortunately, our society is more interested in warehousing or disposing of people that cannot or won’t produce or conform to societies needs and wants. Kevin Bales’s book, “Disposable People”, tells a disturbing story of slavery from Pakistan and brothels in Thailand to the offices of multinational corporations. Mr. Bales describes how “when they’ve finished with their slaves, they just throw these people away. This is the new slavery, which focuses on big profits and cheap lives. It is not about owning people in the traditional sense of the old slavery, but about controlling them completely. People become completely disposable tools for making money.” This doesn’t bother many people because this occurs on the other side of the world from their comfortable homes. But the truth tells us that we are guilty of the same actions disguised in the name of government assistance and security.
We have created economic slavery by allowing generation after generation to be trapped in government housing, offering them substandard education which guarantees they will not grow, and giving them free “stuff” to keep them satisfied having to live in poverty, and teaching them that they can do no better and that they owe their existence to the government. We allow this to happen to keep a certain class of people dependent upon the government so they will continue to vote to secure more giveaways which keeps the politicians in power. Society has for many years taken the criminals off the street and warehoused them in facilities making little effort to teach these men and women how to function in society. They come out of prison having no skills, very little education, stigmatized by society as offenders, and even less chance to be successful.
Deuteronomy 15:11 reminds us “for there will never cease to be poor in the land”. This does not say society should have programs to keep them poor. Proverbs 17:5 tells us that “whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker: he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.” The social programs that intentionally keep people in poverty and refuses to educate the citizens is a mockery of what our country purports to be. I am a firm believer that crime, poverty, social unrest, and 90% of societal ills are a result of our educational system and the greed of our politicians. People say the government will pay for it all. The government has no money and produces no produce, everything the government has is taken from the citizens of our country. There is no such thing as a “free” anything. Someone or something is going to pay for whatever it is. Humans were not designed to receive handouts or to be dependent upon others. Everyone has self-esteem and an ego that is satisfied best when they are productive and worthwhile. Rather than spending billions on public housing and prison, we should spend on education, training schools, and career colleges that cater to those that need it most. This would break the generational cycle of poverty and create a new productive citizenry. Proverbs 14:31 is clearly stating “Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Makers”. Proverbs 19:17 states “whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed”. Helping those that need help is the right thing to do, but telling people they are being “help” to suppress them is wrong in many ways. Our government claims to be generous but the programs are damaging generation after generation keeping them ignorant and poor. Galatians 6:10 states “so then, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to everyone.”