This is the second in a series of posts discussing themes raised in The Hole in Our Gospel by Richard Stearns. Chapter 11 gives some interesting insights into the causes of poverty, and explains the problem with perception suffered by most Western donors. We tend to think that poverty is simply the absence of things, and we can solve it by giving money. However, “giving things to the poor does much more to make the giver feel good than it does to fundamentally address and improve the condition of those in need”.
Alternatively, we may think that the poor just need to acquire more knowledge or improved job skills so that they can work their way out of poverty. The problem is that lack of education is not the primary cause of most poverty. Poverty is typically caused by a combination of factors such as war, disease, ignorance, injustice, natural disasters, corruption and exploitation. It is only by treating the causes that poverty can be “cured”.
Poverty is highly complex, and there are no simple and quick fixes. According to Stearns, “When we prescribe on particular ‘pill’ because we see just one particular symptom, the poor never seem to get well.” There are too many “doctors” who prescribe “treatments” for them without really understanding their lives. “The poor are not lab rats on whom we can experiment with our pet theories.”