Perspectives on Social Issues
(February 2004)
Low-Income Housing Crisis
"Affordable housing for low-income families-seldom in the past few decades has this essential aspect of American life been harder to come by. Construction of new government-subsidized housing remains at a virtual standstill. High unemployment rates and increased nationwide poverty are exacerbating the scarcity of rental housing for those who are trying to get along on limited incomes. Such is the conclusion of Out of Reach 2003, a report recently released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, DC. The report makes frequent use of the term 'housing wage,' which is the amount a full-time worker must earn in order to afford a modest two-bedroom unit at fair market rent while paying no more than 30 percent of his or her income....
At the national level, the housing wage currently stands at $15.21 an hour. That is, a worker must earn $4.56 per hour just to cover the cost of housing alone.... Minimum-wage workers have a particularly onerous time in paying for housing. The federal minimum wage has remained since 1997 at a shamefully low $5.15 an hour. If $4.56 of this amount were spent on housing, there would remain only 59 cents out of each hour's pay to cover all other necessities. In 11 states, the housing wage is over three times the minimum wage."
"Low-Income Housing Crisis," America, Nov 10, 2003.
Churches Oppose For-Profit Prisons
"Over the past two decades, under the purported war on drugs and the practice of more stringent sentencing, the U.S. prison population has skyrocketed to two million people. This reflects a per capita rate of incarceration greater than any other country on earth. Nearly one out of sixteen of those prisoners is now being held in for-profit, private prisons. In response to this trend, a growing number of U.S. religious leaders are voicing opposition to the burgeoning for-profit prison industry.
Religious leaders from both the Presbyterian and Catholic churches have recently developed formal statements questioning the innate ability of the profit motive to create benevolent institutions focused on rehabilitation and decreased incarceration rates. Citing high rates of recidivism and violence prevalent in the private prison industry and bemoaning the manner in which government has abdicated its responsibility regarding such a sensitive area of public service, leaders of both churches have demanded the abolishment of for-profit prisons."
"Debt to Society: Profiting Prisons," The Other Side, Jan/Feb 2004.
Long-lasting Dangers of Cluster Bombs
"Three decades after the bombing stopped, two or three Laotians are killed every month and another six or seven are maimed by unexploded ordnance, called UXO, left over from the war. Cluster bombs, known as 'bombies,' account for about half the unexploded ordnance on the ground and most of the casualties. Since the bombing ended in 1973, 5,700 Laotians have been killed and 5.600 injured by UXO. Through the end of August [2003], 14 of the Laotians reported killed this year and 33 of the 58 injured by UXO have been children....
The submunitions, or bomblets, are scattered over a wide area and are intended to explode on impact. The problem is a high percentage -- experts estimate up to 30% in Laos -- of bomblets don't go off.... Critics call them de facto landmines.... The debate flared again this year when the U.S. military used cluster munitions to attack Iraqi forces in cities and towns. "
"In late July [2003], the University of California (UC) passed the country's most comprehensive college clean energy policy that would utilize sustainable energy alternatives to power its campuses. As a result, this initiative has spurred more than 50 campuses nationwide to begin similar campaigns. On the heels of UC's ground-breaking decision comes more good news. For the first time ever, a major U.S. city council has initiated a clean energy plan, as the solution to its energy needs. San Diego recently announced that it will generate 50 Megawatts of clean energy over the next 10 years to meet its projected energy short falls and avoid another energy crisis. This is the most significant commitment to clean energy that any city has made in the United States.
Without missing a beat, Californians then flooded their state representatives with faxes and e-mails asking for more efforts. As a result, the California Public Utilities Commission agreed to renew clean energy funding until the year 2008. The commission will spend $125 million per year on the clean energy industry."
"The Clean Energy Revolution," Greenpeace Update, Winter 2003.
No Glory in Enola Gay
"Among the numbers you won't see listed on the description label of the Enola Gay inside the Smithsonian exhibit ... is 140,000. That's how many people the Enola Gay helped kill when it dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan on August 6, 1945. Instead, the Enola Gay exhibit is being held up as an historical masterpiece of military weaponry.... But what of the point of view of those 140,000 killed in the world's first atomic mission?
General John 'Jack' Dailey, director of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, suggests that there is marvel in the technological accomplishment of the Enola Gay. 'We are displaying it in all of its glory as a magnificent technological achievement,' said Dailey. But make no mistake, there is no 'glory' in the Enola Gay. There can be no 'glory' in something that helped kill 140,000 people, and injured tens of thousands of others. The development of this weapon was not a technological achievement; it was a humanitarian travesty."
"140,000 Reasons Not to Celebrate the Smithsonian's Enola Gay Exhibit," The Catholic Peace Voice, Pax Christi USA, Jan/Feb 2004.
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Gratitude to the Institute for Peace and Justice
for use of their Pope Paul VIth graphic. |
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