Faith Meets Life: Hoarders: Intervention needed

Rose Cora Perry, in the last issue of the Interrobang, questions our conventional assumptions about money and “accumulation.” We have become a culture of hoarders. Her article suggests that our economic system (capitalism), with a focus on efficiency, rationalization and profit, can lead to at least two problems.

First: disillusionment. We may feel that we will be happy if we can only get the latest gadget or enjoy an exciting vacation. However, it often happens that such things don't make us happy but simply increase our appetite for more and even harder-to-acquire items.

Second: exploitation. Our drive for more and more results in, among other things, the degradation of human life. Many people around the planet are driven from their lands into factories and, especially in the developing world, appalling work situations. Not only are human beings exploited, but the global environment is in real danger of being devastatingly altered. And if the environment is in danger, so are we all.

Perry hits the target dead on. She argues that some kind of intervention is needed. We need to re-examine the core values that shape our lives. She talks about alternative moral standards, perspectives and beliefs that touch us beyond our desires for more stuff. She talks about prayer and about being grateful for all the things the universe has bestowed on us. “Whether it be religious, spiritual or philosophical in orientation, I think humans, as a species, need to get back to a place where life directives are driven by a defined moral code as opposed to the plan of action that will prove most lucrative.”

I think it would be great if more of us consider what Perry has said.

In the Jewish and Christian Bible, there is a very strong emphasis on the responsibility each person has to care for their neighbour. This idea of mutual responsibility appears in other faiths and approaches to life. It seems to be built into the moral fabric of ordinary human thought and desire. But it is expressed nowhere as clearly as in the teaching of Jesus. “Love your neighbour as yourself.” (Jesus is here quoting from the “book” of Deuteronomy, part of the Jewish “Bible.”)

In other words, God has created all of us to take care of each other, especially to have an eye for the most vulnerable. But more than that, there is a vision here not only of mutual responsibility but of love for every human being. Obviously, then, exploitation is forbidden. It is immoral because it violates that for which we have been created.

Secondly, according to the same Jewish and Christian Bible, life is a gift from the creator. This is, I think, in line with what Perry implies when she says that we should be thankful for what “the universe” has given us.

I would go a couple of steps further. Since the world is a creation, we are not its owners and we must not destroy it. Human beings are called to be the stewards of the home we have been given. It has plenty for all of us. But some of us, through capitalism and other means, have become hoarders.

Perry's opinion piece opens the possibility for a rich conversation on community, the meaning of work and education, spirituality, justice, and care for the environment. It even, I think, opens the way to consider repentance (“change” is the meaning of the original word) and redemption when much seems hopeless.

Someone once said that most of us, when we are shown the truth, dust ourselves off and carry on as if nothing has happened. I think that the truths Perry has brought forward call for a response — a response that can bring hope, that goes beyond the ephemeral satisfaction of conventional hoarding and helps us towards a greater degree of mutual care and stewardship.

Editorial opinions or comments expressed in this online edition of Interrobang newspaper reflect the views of the writer and are not those of the Interrobang or the Fanshawe Student Union. The Interrobang is published weekly by the Fanshawe Student Union at 1001 Fanshawe College Blvd., P.O. Box 7005, London, Ontario, N5Y 5R6 and distributed through the Fanshawe College community. Letters to the editor are welcome. All letters are subject to editing and should be emailed. All letters must be accompanied by contact information. Letters can also be submitted online by clicking here.