Recently in Justice and Allocation of Scarce Resources Category

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?

WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos
OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE

We have looked at the allocation of health care resources in the United States from many different perspectives, highlighting the pros and cons of a system many (most?) claim is in crisis. We have also briefly looked at how other advanced industrial countries organize their health care systems and pay for it.

So what do you think?

Should everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first? Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? A private system? Public? Some mix of the two? Do we need massive change -- a complete overhaul? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

• "Who Would Jesus Deny?" (53 mb)

This blogsite posting will come due on Friday morning January 15th, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?

WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos

OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE

Do you think everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first?

Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? What do you think of the health care reform measures put forth by Governor Schwarzenegger or the Democratic candidates for president? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

• "Who Would Jesus Deny?" (53 mb)

This blogsite posting will come due on Monday morning November 19th, 2008 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."

HOW WILL YOU SERVE?

BONO

BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT

The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004:

The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy.

The truly great Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly, said, "If you want to serve the age, betray it."

What does that mean, "to betray the age"? Well, to me, it means exposing its conceits, it's foibles, its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.

Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will. Slavery was one of them and the people who best served that age were the ones who called it as it was-- ungodly and inhuman. Segregation was another one. America sees this now, but it took a civil rights movement to betray their age.

Fast forward 50 years. What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your life trying to do or undo? It might be something simple. It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it.

How might you, or might you not, "betray your age"? Is that a good idea? A bad idea? Both? Povery in the "developing world"? Some other "betrayal" of "our age"? Explore these ideas in this blogsite posting. Use this opportunity to speak to what makes you passionate!

This blogsite posting will come due on Tuesday morning May 30, 2007 at 8:00 a.m. Good luck!

"It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe
that every human life has equal worth."

HOW WILL YOU SERVE?

BONO

BETRAY YOUR AGE TO SAVE IT

The following is excerpted from the Penn State Commencement Address made by Bono, co-founder of DATA (Debt AIDS Trade Africa), and lead singer of U2, on May 17, 2004:

The biggest obstacle to political and social progress isn't The Establishment, or the boot heel of whatever you consider 'the Man' to be. It's something much more subtle: a combination of our own indifference and the Kafkaesque labyrinth of 'no's you encounter as people vanish down the corridors of bureaucracy.

The truly great Irish poet, Brendan Kennelly, said, "If you want to serve the age, betray it."

What does that mean, "to betray the age"? Well, to me, it means exposing its conceits, it's foibles, its phony moral certitudes. It means telling the secrets of the age and facing harsher truths.

Every age has its massive moral blind spots. We might not see them, but our children will. Slavery was one of them and the people who best served that age were the ones who called it as it was-- ungodly and inhuman. Segregation was another one. America sees this now, but it took a civil rights movement to betray their age.

Fast forward 50 years. What are the ideas right now worth betraying? What are the lies we tell ourselves now? What are the blind spots of our age? What's worth spending your life trying to do or undo? It might be something simple. It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe that every human life has equal worth. Could that be it? Could that be it? Each of you will probably have your own answer, but for me that is it.

How might you, or might you not, "betray your age"? Is that a good idea? A bad idea? Both? Povery in the "developing world"? Some other "betrayal" of "our age"? Explore these ideas in this blogsite posting. Use this opportunity to speak to what makes you passionate!

This blogsite posting will come due on Tuesday morning December 20, 2007 at 8:00 a.m. Good luck!

"It might be something as simple as our deep down refusal to believe
that every human life has equal worth."

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?

WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos

OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE

Do you think everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first?

Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? What do you think of the health care reform measures put forth by Governor Schwarzenegger or the Democratic candidates for president? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

• "Who Would Jesus Deny?" (53 mb)

This blogsite posting will come due on Monday morning November 19th, 2007 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."

ARE YOU YOUR BROTHER'S KEEPER?

WHEN PEOPLE SEE YOUR STORY, WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SEE?
"A working man that never gave up, and now... he fought all of his life. Now he still keeps on fighting for his life with hope and faith."
Joe Gallegos

OF HEALTH, RESOURCES, AND JUSTICE

Do you think everyone in our society should have equal access to limited health care resources? Should the better off be taxed at much higher rates to pay for treatment for the poor? As Karl Marx said, "Each according to his ability, each according to his need." Do you agree? Are we our brother's keeper? Should the State be the vehicle by which we equalize wealth? Or do you prefer a more individual approach? To take care of yourself and your family first?

Do you support universal health care such as seen in Canada, Great Britain, and France? What do you think of the health care reform measures put forth by Governor Schwarzenegger or the Democratic candidates for president? Do you think our current system should remain as is, with only small adjustments at the margins?

JOE GALLEGOS: A CASE STUDY

• "Who Would Jesus Deny?" (53 mb)

This blogsite posting will come due on Monday morning January 11, 2009 at 8:00 a.m.

"IT'S A SIN!"

FR. MIKE SEIFERT
"If you open the Scripture to anywhere you want, you will find that the poor are the blessed of God -- the poor are the preferred. The Lord blesses the nation that takes care of His poor."