“But the poor person does not exist as an inescapable fact of destiny.
His or her existence is not politically neutral, and it is not ethically
innocent. The poor are a by-product of the system in which we live and for
which we are responsible. They are marginalized by our social and cultural
world. They are the oppressed, exploited proletariat, robbed of the fruit of
their labor and despoiled of their humanity. Hence the poverty of the poor is
not a call to generous relief action, but a demand that we go and build a
different social order.”
--Gustavo Gutierrez
So I found this quote quite randomly while just wasting time
on the internet one day. However, although it might have been found in a
haphazard manner, its message is anything but. I think that this message is
inexplicable linked to some of the founding principles of GlobeMed and to what
it is we truly stand for. What’s our mission statement again? GlobeMed aims
to strengthen the movement for global health equity by empowering students and
communities to work together to improve the health of the impoverished around
the world. GlobeMed is absolutely
committed to working to help propagate global health equity all over the world.
Personally, I
really agree with the statement that this quote is pushing; namely that the
extreme poverty and inequalities that exist in this world are not necessitated
by this Earth. At least for where things stand right now (and this certainly
could change in the future due to dwindling resources and a global population
which is growing exponentially) we do have enough resourced to “go around”. But that’s just the problem. They don’t
go around. They stay centralized in countries that have been able to establish
themselves as the economic and political dictators of the world. The world
doesn’t have to exist this way, yet it does. And this is why I believe that the
work that GlobeMed is doing with regard to global health equity is so
imperative (as our social change initiative related to global equity!).
But who cares what
only I think! What’s your initial
response to this Gutierrez quote? (Also, did you know that Gustavo
Gutierrez is connected to Notre Dame Theology!?). Small world. Seriously.
