…. such as Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, etc. to plant seeds, not needs?
The Chicago Tribune article titled, Mayor calls on well-heeled audience to fight poverty, reported the mayors appeal for help “in addressing deeply entrenched poverty in Chicago”.
The Purpose of This Post
Is to suggest an ancient remedy for both city government and “the well heeled” to help solve the problems of poverty that will benefit both the rich and the poor by planting seeds and not needs.
King Solomon
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender. (Proverb 22:7)
The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, but poverty is the ruin of the poor. (Proverb 10:15)
One person gives freely, yet gains even more; another withholds unduly, but comes to poverty. (Proverb 11:24)
What’s My Point?
Asking for help from wealthy is not new in history. The Bible records numerous verses to advise the wealthy to believe that they were blessed by their Creator to gather wealth and a duty to help the poor.
If a city grows in prosperity, so do the property values. And if a city grows more weeds of poverty, eventually all city property loses value and violence spreads. Or in other words, the poor become more desperate and may engage in criminal means instead of work.
My point is seeds being planted in a field of weeds will not take root to bloom unless the fields are cleared of weeds.
What is needed is to clear the weeds and make the area more fertile so what is planted will grow and prosper.
How to accomplish in a city requires wisdom, cooperation, vision, and hard work by both the government and residents both wealthy and poor..
For Example
There are presently 55,000 abandoned homes (weeds) in Chicago.
To restore them requires the money to buy the seeds (materials) and skilled labor to plant (build or rebuild) fertile fields (homes,).
The city controls education or a means to train people with the skills needed to restore both abandoned and to upgrade more livable existing buildings. The city also needs to find a way to speed up the legal demolition of unsalvageable buildings.
The wealthy need to donate and invest the money (seeds) needed to purchase materials needed to restore both abandoned homes and any homes that are below livable conditions.
The residents need to be willing to learn the skills and work hard to prosper.
A plan is needed to reward workers. For example, the homestead acts helped provide incentives for early settlers in the West. The land would become theirs if they agreed to farm and live for a minimum period of time. A similar plan that would credit workers to be credited to reward them for their labor.
In My Opinion
There is another proverb that explains why the wealthy hates giving money to the government.
Those who work their land will have abundant food, but those who chase fantasies will have their fill of poverty. (Proverb 28:19)
When wealthy see their tax money or donations being used to pay high government salaries and benefits rather than provide incentives to work, seed requests fall on deaf ears. However, if they see results of their seed money prosper, they know they will also benefit as the above ancient. Proverb 11:24 states.
What is needed is a wise long-term plan that requires cooperation and wise city leadership, skilled unions training apprentices guidance, a plan for workers to earn credits for the hard work and time they expend to be used to purchase and reside in restored homes.
Mayor Lightfoot is wise to ask the wealthy to help provide the seeds to clear out the weeds and both the wealthy and the poor residents will in time regrow, prosper, and hopefully own the homes they restore.
In other words, plant seeds, not needs.
If Interested
Read the Source Links below.
You Decide
Wise or foolish ancient proverbial advice available in the. Bible for use by rich and poor to live side by side and prosper together
Rich and poor have this in common: The LORD is the Maker of them all. (Proverb 22:2)
Regards and goodwill blogging
Source Links
Chicago Tribune
Plant Seeds not Needs
Bible Verses About Helping Others
https://www.biblestudytools.com/topical-verses/bible-verses-about-helping-others/
Reckless Abandon of 55,000 Homes
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/assets/interactive/abProp/vacantResponsive.html
Previous Posts
Poor vs Wealthy
Rudy u Martinka 
if the U.S can print money for whatever crisis there is, and increase the national debt when it wishes, why doesn’t it tackle the issue that way, it’s not as if the 20 trillion national debt is going to be repaid in any case, so why prolong the suffering of those in need, at a time when Biblical prophecy is coming to fruition, it makes complete sense, as the story of the loaves and fishes tell us, when we share there is always more love, and it becomes self help in the end. Unfortunately, politicians with big political friends who are money conscious about everything, measure everything in those terms, and in a nutshell, are only giving comfort to demons, amen.
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Bwcarey
Interesting comment. It might be plausible if there was a means to balance the books.
For example, I wrote a post to suggest death taxes which in essence is a means to allow for incentives to accumulate wealth and comforts or pleasures for those who have the desire and talents to work and become rich.
If interested read the post and the link. You may have a valid idea, However, there must be a means to balance meaningful debt with uncontrollable debt or the value of money will become hyperinflated or the interest on the debt exceeds the tax revenues.
Same as you need balance of people working to grow and prosper using limited assets vs. people consuming more than is available.
In other words, same as the song verse implies: Love and marriage, can’t have one without the other.”
Regards and goodwill blogging.
https://rudymartinka.com/2019/04/10/the-national-debt-americas-ticking-time-bomb/
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well said Rudy, but if you think about the fairness of the current system, there has to be steps made to lift those at the bottom, at least to give them the hope, that there is change coming from the top, where most of the restrictive laws originate from. Those who have the most should be the first to reach out. When the Spirit is moved, it can become a great source of continual positive change, amen
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bwcarey
Another interesting comment you made. “Those who have the most should be the first to reach out. When the Spirit is moved, it can become a great source of continual positive change, amen.”
Frankly though, in my opinion, from what I am observing about the super rich for the most part, the Spirit may have to perform a miracle or some other means to provide an incentive for the super rich to volunteer their treasures.
Sadly, sometimes I wonder if the Spirit creates disasters to create incentives for everyone to unite and work together with a common purpose.
I hope I am wrong. However, one thing is certain, when the dollar implodes, it will be a disaster for both rich and poor same as a fire or flood does not discriminate or favor people on an island.
“No man is an island.”
Regards and goodwill blogging.
.
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@bwcarey
Two problems.
1. As a taxpayer, I find your proposal for deficit spending horrifying. Our government does not have a shortage of money. The problem is spending. Deficit spending is recipe for hyperinflation. The more money our government prints, the less worth our money has. Money printed without restraint is not worth the ink, paper, capital, and labor needed to print it.
For example, we use to have copper pennies. Inflation made the copper in a penny worth more than a penny. So the pennies started disappearing from circulation.
2. Bad assumption. Will more government spending solve “the problem”? No.
Corrupt government is the root problem of poverty in places like Chicago. Do we want to fix the education system? Then we have to admit a Socialist education will not work properly. Instead of running the schools for the sake of the children, politicians run the schools for their own sake. Currently, they use the schools to finance government employee unions for the sake of a kickback, campaign contributions and volunteers. Instead of properly educating children, they sell access to those children to the highest bidders. That’s why we have nonsense like sex education and transgender restrooms. What has nonsense like that have to do with creating a disciplined, properly educated labor force?
Bottom line: If I were a rich guy, I would be very careful of having anything to do with area managed by a corrupt government. Why put your money within the reach a den of thieves? Why throw good money after bad?
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You have a point Tom, but those at the bottom of the ladder, are those most likely to end up in the low end of life’s offerings, the pen, and in there, the one fact that outshines them all, is the lack of literacy and education of those incarcerated, As John Grisham says, the U.S. has the highest rate on prisoners in the entire world, and whether you like it or not, access to education is one of the major reasons, giving assistance beyond the norm for those that are going to cost the taxpayer even more, as they get older, seems a wise proposition, just an idea. There is more at stake than plain economic thinking, thanks for your comments, the more ideas are discussed, the closer you get to finding the core issues that need addressing, amen
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bwcarey, Tom
If I discern your comments correctly, both of you have valid concerns which beg the next questions.
What is not being taught in education, and why won’t the super rich or average Joe have no incentives or desire for responsibility or duty to help the poor?
Frankly, the answers are in plain sight in my opinion.
We are not teaching religion in our schools.
The rich believe it is foolish to give their hard-earned money to be spent in a foolish manner that is absent incentives for the poor to want to work, or have an opportunity to work or be trained in a skill to end their needs for help from anyone..
.
The result is when you throw seeds (money) into a patch of weeds ( unfertile areas pf minds and bodies) nothing will grow and prosper.
And the cycle of rich and poor will continue same a maker of clay pots into nothing of value unless it is formed into something of value with skilled hands, minds, and wise leaders..
In other words, in my opinion, if we never wise up and continue to teach ever subject under the sun except religious values that instill duty to want to help the poor, or for the poor to not want or need to keep spinning around in infertile fields of poverty, the spin taking place in the USA will continue to turn out meaningless political solutions.
And if we continue to listen to politicians who can not discern what failed in the past versus what worked since the beginning of time, we will be in for another meaningless ride on a circle of foolish repeat follies.
Or as the Bible verse states, “In the beginning there was nothing, let there be light.”
In my opinion, we voters and politicians in the USA are circling back to the beginning, or spinning around in darkness again ignoring the light that our founders of our Nation envisioned.
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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well said Rudy, maybe they should re brand the word Religion, and simply call it wisdom teaching, and since it all leads back to God, how can anyone find offence, while satisfying everyone’s ideas, a solution Solomon would himself agree with, be blessed.
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bwcarey,
Religion is teaching both of God’s blessings, wisdom and love.
And anyone who studies and discerns wisdom will lead him or her to meaningful love in their lives.L
A person will never be truly wise or ever discern or quench true love in life until he can discern the meaning of this verse.
. Many waters cannot quench love, neither floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would be utterly condemned. (Song of Solomon 8:7).
In other words, the stream won’t flow in a meaningless path same as “love and marriage goes together like a horse and carriage.”
Regards and goodwill blogging.
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There are many who praise God, and their are many religions; since they all have the God, the competition between religions can cause rancor, and in some minds, justifiable wars, allowing wisdom to lead, breaks down many barriers, hope your day goes well. as regards love, it’s a journey not an obsession, amen
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@bwcarey and Scatterwisdom
Statistics can be meaningless. Highest rate on prisoners? Assuming we really do have the highest rate on prisoners, is that a bad thing or actually a good thing? Is the number of people we have in jail what we should worry about or whether we have the people locked up we need to lock up?
Is charity the responsibility of government or an individual responsibility. Think about the power we give a politician when we give him the power to redistribute the wealth. Our leaders are suppose to protect our right to own property. When we give our leaders the power to redistribute the wealth, we create a conflict of interest. We have empowered the same people we want to protect our right to property the right to take our property away and use it to buy the votes of other people. That situation that is not going to have a good outcome.
Should we use our government to ensure that poor children receive a good education? Frankly, I think is a bad idea. Unfortunately, many state constitutions include the right to an education. Does that mean that government should own and operate schools? Why? Private schools work, and, unlike public schools, we don’t have to prohibit private schools from teaching religion and wisdom. We just have to verify parents choose the schools their children attend.
Therefore, instead of government providing everyone a “free” and costly education, it would be much more effective (and reduce the potential for corruption) if we just subsidized the education of poor children.
School choice using education vouchers is the most straightforward solution.
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it’s a good point Tom, hard to disagree with, in relation to those incarcerated, it’s well known that literacy levels among them is the lowest in the population, and if you look at the future, it would be preferable to have better literacy levels than high prisoner levels. In a large population justice can be very strict, in order to cope, but diverting resources to the lower levels of society instead of pushing ambition levels, would have a longer benefit for all included, as regards politicians, i often wonder why the U.S didn’t adapt the ideas of JFK, who wanted the government to fund elections, in order to create a better opportunity for those with political ambitions to get their say, rather than the money gathering method that is used, in order to keep the race between two candidates, hope your day goes well, there is a lot of change going on everywhere, and it seems to be pushing everyone to alter their opinions, amen.
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@bwcarey
I don’t disagree with your goals, but the end does not justify the means. Using the government for social engineering is not ethical, and it will not work.
https://citizentom.com/2020/02/22/when-other-people-become-our-toys/
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Tom, bwcarey/
I linked your comment and blog article to a new post.
bwcarey,,
I wonder if the changes being proposed that you commented will in time lead to another repeat of government social engineering failure in history if absent the core Biblical engineering values?
https://rudymartinka.com/2020/02/23/king-solomon-blog-why-do-we-need-more-immigrants/
Regards and goodwill blogging
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