Wednesday, October 10, 2012

"Nuns on the Bus" are again carrying the message of the poor to the public.

Sr. Simone Campbell asks attendees to participate in an exercise to demonstrate the changes in Americans’ income from 1980 to 2009 by creating a human graph. (Photo by Sue Ann Rybak)

Democrats and Republicans see the definition of democracy very differently. Democrats believe democracy is about opportunity and 'getting the chance' for it while Republicans define democracy as wealth, having it and keeping it. The differences are clear, what side of the great divide do you sit on?

The problem of poverty will worsen and the economy will reflect it in growth and employment if the GOP has its way after November. This is the America most people distain but they never seem to understand it and how it relates to the future of our economy. Poverty slows economic growth in the USA, while opportunity corrects its course.

The increase in homelessness in New York City also has a ripple effect. The housing no longer with occupants, paying customers if you will, will cause a further deterioration in the economic viability for those buildings. This isn't just a loss of housing for some lazy working bumbs, this is a loss in income across the board including property owners. It should be very obvious how 'opportunity' is necessary for economic growth.

Poverty is not joblessness, it is INCOME.


October 3, 2002
by Sue Ann Rybak
Sister Simone Campbell of “Nuns on the Bus” told an audience of about 300 people at Chestnut Hill College that Americans today face the challenge of “reclaiming our democracy.”
Speaking in the college’s Gruber Theater on Sept. 27, Campbell, who is executive director of NETWORK, a national Catholic social justice lobby in Washington, D.C., recently toured nine states this summer to protest Congressman Paul Ryan’s budget, which gives tax breaks to the wealthy while cutting funds to social programs that benefit the poor....