The God Dance: Economy

Like ecology and theology, economy is a word that attempts to represent the totality—if we let it. The economy focuses on money and through the lens of money sees the whole world. In economic terms, something is significant when it has a price tag. More and more, our relationship with money is the means by which we interact with other people and with our environment. Just as seeking to understand ecology reveals our participation in the cosmos, seeking to understand our global and local economy reveals how we relate to one another and to the environment. The economy is a merely a part of the environment and another step in the God-Dance.

The divine community described in the last post can also be thought of as a divine economy, in which all things of value are a gift and each gift multiplies in giving. Out of God’s creation, we draw what we need for food, shelter, and living as a gift. The modern economic narrative claims that what we draw out of the land is the right of the owner, but this has never been the case. If we participate in the divine economy, we take from the land as a gift and we re-create what we take for the benefit of others and for the land itself. In short, we glorify God.

When we spend our money in a thriving local economy, every dollar spent multiplies. If I decide to sell the radishes I planted in my new garden box and earn 2$, I have 2$ of income. If I use those same dollars to pay my neighbor for moving the dirt (which we did), my neighbor has 2$ of income. If he gets a haircut with a local barber and the barber buys food from the local corner store, both the barber and the shopkeeper have 2$ of income. This can continue until the money ends up in the bank or is spent outside the neighborhood. If the money circulates 10 times, the 2$ that my radishes earned do 20$ of work. We can garden the land to make it richer and spend the money to make our neighbors richer. When money serves relationships among people and the land, the economy takes its place within the God-Dance. 

In an urban neighborhood like South Hills, money flows in through wages and social services and flows almost immediately out to suburban businesses. The monetary value coming in presumably comes from somewhere--some environmental resource or someone's labor. The money going out is invested in other places. According to cridata.org, while residents of the South Hill neighborhood spent $4,525,145 in 2014, businesses in the neighborhood only sold $209, 647 worth of goods and services. These are the lowest of any neighborhood in the city, largely because of its size, but it is also the lowest ratio in the city of sales fulfilled by resident purchase. Only 4.63% of the money residents are spending in South Hill actually goes to local businesses on Franklin Street. This means that only 4.63% of my 2$ or only 4 cents out of every dollar stays in the neighborhood. As 95% of money spent in South Hill is spent outside the area, the multiplier effect goes to places such as the mall or big box stores or car dealerships.  This is evident merely looking at the landscape—the quality and size of the buildings and space businesses in the suburbs can afford compared to an urban area. 

Abandoned home in 2013, before it was fixed up
and re-valued by the market. 

In 2013, 54.1% of people in South Hill were below the poverty level, the highest percentage of any neighborhood in Grand Rapids (also one of the smallest neighborhoods in Grand Rapids). Though we are in need of each other, we could provide for each other. People who are labeled poor by statistics have talents and abilities, and many of them are running small businesses or working odd jobs. If we spent our money to value our neighbor’s gifts rather than our corporation’s products, perhaps we could begin to rebuild trust in one another and participate in a place in which we all belong.

Of course, getting to know one another and what each person has to offer takes time and context—board game nights, potlucks, and shopping locally. Getting to know the ecology in which we participate and what this land and this place offer freely takes time as well. We do not need to be disheartened that the neighborhood is not what we want it to be, but can celebrate what it already is. If money passes over this place, perhaps that is because we have failed to see what is valuable here and failed to invest in what is good. Participating in the God-Dance also involves participating in the pattern of Jesus Christ, facing rejection and humiliation with confidence in resurrection. But every part of this pattern is another step. The invitation to participate, wherever you are, is open.