America is a land that has always struggled with the issue of classism (meaning not only the division of our nation into economic classes but the discriminatory attitudes of one class towards another). We have struggled with classism more than most other nations because we attempt to hold two competing ideals in tension. The first ideal is equality. We are a nation of equals. Unlike much of the rest of the world in which it was always a given that there were two classes, the rich (who deserve to be rich and richer) and the poor (who deserve to be poor and poorer), America was created as a place where those class differences would no longer stand. Every citizen was given, by God, certain inalienable rights which meant we were all equal. The second ideal however was that one could rise above ones station and become as wealthy as one pleased (Mellon, Ford and Gates were examples of this second ideal).
Though we still see ourselves as a nation of equals the differentiation between classes is becoming more and more pronounced (meaning that since 1980 the top 1 percent of Americans have seen their share of the nation's income more than double while the bottom 90 percent have seen theirs shrink). This growing differentiation brings with it not only a sense of despondency for those at the bottom but a sense of entitlement for those at the top. I realize that when the word "entitlement" is usually used it refers to those on the lower end of the economic spectrum rather than the upper. Yet as the Wall Street meltdown demonstrated the entitlement mentality was alive and well among those who claimed to deserve large bonuses even thought their firms could not demonstrate any increase in income or profits which would warrant such bonuses (this was according to Kenneth R. Feinberg, President Obama's special master for executive compensation, as well as the New York Times).
So why is this kind of classism sin at work (meaning missing the mark)? It is sin because it divides us as a people. It divides us by jealousy emanating from those at the bottom and often by condescension from those at the top. I have heard many of those on the bottom rung of the ladder express the opinion that those at the top got there by cheating those below them, while I have heard those at the top say that the poor are poor because they are lazy. It is sin because it divides us by opportunity. Children who go through schools in our area are overwhelmingly college bound, while only 62% of entering freshmen in Detroit public schools will even graduate high school. It divides us by access to healthcare. One example is that patients of lower socioeconomic position are less likely to receive recommended diabetic services and more likely to be hospitalized for diabetes and its complications than those in higher income classes (and there are multiple other examples).
As someone with a degree in both economics and business (and having worked in the non-church world for a while) I understand some of the complexities of income (job) generation, distribution (pay) and management (keeping businesses alive). This means I know that there is no quick or easy fix to either income distribution or the classism that is generated by its disparity. However if we are called to be a community of Christ in which the needs and aspirations of all are equally important (since we are all children of God created in God's image) then part of our calling ought to be working toward a society in which the opportunity for meaningful work, decent income, education and health care is available for all. To pretend that some people are more deserving of these opportunities and benefits than others is to fall into the sin of classism. Needless to say in our current economic crisis this is a monumental task. Yet as the old saying goes, the longest journey begins with a single step. So the challenge before us begins by working on our own perceptions of the "others" who occupy income classes other than our own (either above or below) in order to see them as children of God deserving of all that this world and this nation has to offer…and then we can go from there.
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