30 Days
I came across musician, Natalie Grant's Facebook page and found she posted about a woman who
"lost her job and has come on very hard times. The bank is foreclosing on
her house. She wants a place for her little grandchildren to continue
to come...She's asking God for a 30-day extension on the foreclosure...".
The post was a sobering reminder that this is the story of thousands of Americans who, through decreased wages and work availability, have faced foreclosure. Homes they worked for, raised families in and paid taxes on, set to be taken by the same financial institutions whose myopic fraud largely led to this tragedy. I cannot fathom the stress these people go through, but I'm disgusted at a financial system which treats them as commodities. A poignant example of this was when the urban housing department (HUD), boarded up homes in New Orleans, with full support of the Mayor, after Katrina. A group called the Yes Men, which poses as people representing powerful institutions, claimed to represent HUD at a meeting with the Mayor present. They announced HUD would reopen all public housing that has been boarded up, and would partner with Shell Oil to sponsor environmental projects. While the audience highly favored this response, they were quickly exposed and condemned by mainstream media. They revealed what happens when institutions try to do the ethical thing. The people of New Orleans supported the Yes Men for bringing their struggles to light. When institutions fail to represent the people they're supported by, they need to be exposed and reformed by those who were exploited.
I prayed strongly for the grandmother to get at least a 30 day extension, and for our society to embrace compassion instead of ruthless competition. I feel the root of much of our problems is we have largely given up humility for greed. To accept this fact is not enough if we want to see positive reform. We must relearn our lost values of responsibility, honesty and a sense of service to others. This alone should be how our worth is measured.
The post was a sobering reminder that this is the story of thousands of Americans who, through decreased wages and work availability, have faced foreclosure. Homes they worked for, raised families in and paid taxes on, set to be taken by the same financial institutions whose myopic fraud largely led to this tragedy. I cannot fathom the stress these people go through, but I'm disgusted at a financial system which treats them as commodities. A poignant example of this was when the urban housing department (HUD), boarded up homes in New Orleans, with full support of the Mayor, after Katrina. A group called the Yes Men, which poses as people representing powerful institutions, claimed to represent HUD at a meeting with the Mayor present. They announced HUD would reopen all public housing that has been boarded up, and would partner with Shell Oil to sponsor environmental projects. While the audience highly favored this response, they were quickly exposed and condemned by mainstream media. They revealed what happens when institutions try to do the ethical thing. The people of New Orleans supported the Yes Men for bringing their struggles to light. When institutions fail to represent the people they're supported by, they need to be exposed and reformed by those who were exploited.
I prayed strongly for the grandmother to get at least a 30 day extension, and for our society to embrace compassion instead of ruthless competition. I feel the root of much of our problems is we have largely given up humility for greed. To accept this fact is not enough if we want to see positive reform. We must relearn our lost values of responsibility, honesty and a sense of service to others. This alone should be how our worth is measured.
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