1. Associated Text: Given that we are a Jesuit Institution of higher education, in a
leadership class, and focusing on ―Leadership in Justice‖ this week, I thought it was only
appropriate to choose an Ignite topic that focuses on the worlds greatest injustice:
poverty.
2. Associated Text: Now, before I present to you about this topic, I will say that poverty is a
multifaceted phenomenon. There are a variety of individual and social factors that
contribute to it. In essence, there is no one single answer to solve this injustice.
However, I believe that it’s up to us as leaders to alleviate it’s effects.
3. Associated Text: According to the CPI, for a family of 4 to be considered living in poverty
they need to collectively earn less that $22,000 a year Most would argue even 22,000 is
low-balling it. To put it in perspective, if you work a minimum wage job, 40 hours a
week,… you’re still only making a little over $15,000… or about a third of the price of
Loyola.
4. Associated Text: The United States has one of the highest poverty rates of any
developed country. About 50 million Americans are in poverty – and of those 50 million,
20 million are in deep poverty. These families make less than 11,000 a year.
Okay so think about that: $11,000 a year. That’s living on less $8 a day—or about the
same as a Chipotle burrito.
5. Associated Text: And of
the all the impoverished,
about 60% are ethnic
minorities. This only
further perpetuates the
wrong stereotypes.
Even our very own Windy
City has a higher poverty
rate than New York or LA.
To make matters worse,
Chicago also has the
highest poverty rate of
African Americans than
any other major US city.
6. Why Does Poverty Happen?
The first Theory:
Poverty as Meritocracy – it is the individual’s personal failure not to deliver him or
herself from poverty.Simply – you get rewarded because you work hard, and
therefore if you don’t get rewarded, it’s because of you’re not working hard enough.
Examples would be: Lack of ambition, dependency on welfare, or the culture of
poverty passed down by parents
10. Whatever your may feel about the causes of poverty, I think we can all agree that it
affects everyone: whether it be you are a taxpayer or have personally experienced
or witnessed the effects of poverty. The injustice of poverty isn’t a poor person thing,
a black thing, a girl thing, or an urban thing: poverty is the responsibility of
everyone.
11. Remember earlier when I said that 50 million people live in poverty? That’s only 15% of
our population. That means for every person that is in poverty there is almost 6 people
who aren’t in poverty. 6 people who collectively have the resources to help provide
someone at least a minimum standard of living.
12. Here, we can see that most Americans don’t know how unequal the distribution of wealth
is. Clearly, there is a large misconception in our society. But, what if every 6 people
helped out the impoverished person. Would the poorest Americans still be marginalized?
13. “None of us can completely
flourish, unless each of us
flourish”
Many of us in this room are in Greek life, or at least have a sibling, or a best friend. You
would never let your brother or sister or friend live in poverty, right? So why act
differently towards another human being? And according to catholic social thought, we
know that ―none of us can completely flourish, unless each of us flourish.‖
14. Everyone here is in this room because they either have the resources, intelligence,
creativity, athleticism, education, or privilege to be here: you have some skill-set to offer.
But, those skills don’t actually mean anything unless you use them for positive social
change, unless you’re leaving this world a better place than when you left it.
15. yola we often focus on being ‖men and women for others.‖ But, what’s the point of going to
expensive Jesuit University unless you’re going to do so?
ow that one of the key ingredients to personal happiness is described as making a differenc
the lives of others: the most fulfilled people are the ones who are the most selfless.
16. Now you’re probably all wondering why I would chose this topic for my ignite
presentation. I mean, poverty isn’t typically used to fire people up. If anything, it’s
probably something most people would rather not talk about at all.
17. You see, ignoring something that makes you uncomfortable won’t make it go away, or fix
it.
- I’m talking to you about poverty because I choose to realize that there are extreme
inequalities in our society. I believe that a big part of being a socially responsible leader
is exposing injustices to others, in hopes that they too might take action.
18. You can make a difference, you can be one of those 6 people.
So, are you going to accept that our society is filled with inequalities?
And most importantly, that it is up to us as leaders to resolve these problems?
Notes de l'éditeur
Given that we are a Jesuit Institution of higher education, in a leadership class, and focusing on “Leadership in Justice” this week, I thought it was only appropriate to choose an Ignite topic that focuses on the worlds greatest injustice: poverty.
Now, before I present to you about this topic, I will say that poverty is a multifaceted phenomenon. There are a variety of individual and social factors that contribute to it. In essence, there is no one single answer to solve this injustice. However, I believe that it’s up to us as leaders to alleviate it’s effects.
According to the CPI, for a family of 4 to be considered living in poverty they need to collectively earn less that $22,000 a year Most would argue even 22,000 is low-balling it. To put it in perspective, if you work a minimum wage job, 40 hours a week,… you’re still only making a little over $15,000… or about a third of the price of Loyola.
The United States has one of the highest poverty rates of any developed country. About 50 million Americans are in poverty – and of those 50 million, 20 million are in deep poverty. These families make less than 11,000 a year. Okay so think about that: $11,000 a year. That’s living on less $8 a day—or about the same as a Chipotle burrito.
And of the all the impoverished, about 60% are ethnic minorities. This only further perpetuates the wrong stereotypes. Even our very own Windy City has a higher poverty rate than New York or LA. To make matters worse, Chicago also has the highest poverty rate of African Americans than any other major US city.
The first Theory: Poverty as Meritocracy – it is the individual’s personal failure not to deliver him or herself from poverty. Simply – you get rewarded because you work hard, and therefore if you don’t get rewarded, it’s because of you’re not working hard enough. Examples would be: Lack of ambition, dependency on welfare, or the culture of poverty passed down by parents
Any strategy to reduce intergenerational poverty has to be centered on work, not welfare--not only because work provides independence and income but also because work provides order, structure, dignity, and opportunities for growth in people's lives. – Barack Obama
The Second Theory is Structural Violence: This theory says that Poverty is the result of social and economic structures that favor one group and create barriers for others. Basically, There are inequalities in our country that prevent people from rising out of poverty. Examples of this would be: poor public schools, racism, sexism, or unequal distribution of wealth.
“Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe. – Frederick Douglass
Whatever your may feel about the causes of poverty, I think we can all agree that it affects everyone: whether it be you are a taxpayer or have personally experienced or witnessed the effects of poverty. The injustice of poverty isn’t a poor person thing, a black thing, a girl thing, or an urban thing: poverty is the responsibility of everyone.
Remember earlier when I said that 50 million people live in poverty? That’s only 15% of our population. That means for every person that is in poverty there is almost 6 people who aren’t in poverty. 6 people who collectively have the resources to help provide someone at least a minimum standard of living.
Here, we can see that most Americans don’t know how unequal the distribution of wealth is. Clearly, there is a large misconception in our society. But, what if every 6 people helped out the impoverished person. Would the poorest Americans still be marginalized?
Many of us in this room are in Greek life, or at least have a sibling, or a best friend. You would never let your brother or sister or friend live in poverty, right? So why act differently towards another human being? And according to catholic social thought, we know that “none of us can completely flourish, unless each of us flourish.”
Everyone here is in this room because they either have the resources, intelligence, creativity, athleticism, education, or privilege to be here: you have some skill-set to offer. But, those skills don’t actually mean anything unless you use them for positive social change, unless you’re leaving this world a better place than when you left it.
At Loyola we often focus on being ”men and women for others.” But, what’s the point of going to this expensive Jesuit University unless you’re going to do so? We know that one of the key ingredients to personal happiness is described as making a difference in the lives of others: the most fulfilled people are the ones who are the most selfless.
Now you’re probably all wondering why I would chose this topic for my ignite presentation. I mean, poverty isn’t typically used to fire people up. If anything, it’s probably something most people would rather not talk about at all.
You see, ignoring something that makes you uncomfortable won’t make it go away, or fix it- I’m talking to you about poverty because I choose to realize that there are extreme inequalities in our society. I believe that a big part of being a socially responsible leader is exposing injustices to others, in hopes that they too might take action.
You can make a difference, you can be one of those 6 people.So, are you going to accept that our society is filled with inequalities? And most importantly, that it is up to us as leaders to resolve these problems?
