Today’s guest post is by S. Mark Barnes, an attorney and a university law and economics instructor. He served a mission in Fukuoka, Japan. He comes from Mormon feminist stock, and is a committed supporter of Ordain Women. He has a profile on Ordain Women.
I have heard the criticism that Ordain Women is a “first world movement”–the implication being that the issue of priesthood for women is a trivial issue compared to the very terrible situations faced by hundreds of millions of women in the developing world. Therefore, women in Ordain Women should be grateful for what that have and “shut up.” This criticism is very mistaken.
Occasionally, I teach a class on environmental economics. One of the concepts we discuss is called the “Resource Curse” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Resource_curse). This is the observation that countries which rely heavily on a resource (e.g., oil, gold or diamonds) to produce wealth tend to have slow rates of economic growth, for a number of reasons.
I am interested in the flip side of this question: Why do wealthy counties tend to be countries which do not rely heavily on the extraction of natural resources?
Looking at countries which joined the developed world over the last 50 years, we see countries like South Korea and Taiwan, which have few natural resources. In the 1950s, these were some of the poorest places on earth. They had authoritarian governments and ranked low in the area of human rights. If were going to develop economically, they had only one strategy: they had to rely on their people as their primary economic asset.
Thus, in order to develop economically, they had to increase the productive capacity of their people. This meant that they had to focus on education and pay attention to other areas that would increase the skills and knowledge of their citizens. However, developing people in this way creates effects beyond increased productivity on the factory floor. People gain a greater ability to understand their world, to criticize injustice, and to act to improve their lives.
Today, Korea and Taiwan have become democratic societies with very high standards of living. Once people’s minds were freed to tackle economic problems, they began to focus on societal and political problems as well. Ironically, the authoritarian regimes that began this process fell as a result. The important lesson is that wealth in not something you dig out of the ground. Wealth is a product of the human mind. The more a country can develop and free the minds of its citizens, the wealthier that country can become.
It is good to have “first world problems.” It is also important to understand the power of example. Two hundred years ago, all countries were poor. Most people lived on the edge of starvation, slavery was widely accepted, and women were universally seen as the property of men. In some places, things began to change. These places began to free more and more of their citizens from oppressive institutions, which allowed people in greater numbers to imagine a better world.
By pushing the boundary out just a little bit farther, Ordain Women will not just benefit Mormon women, but, by example, will benefit all people.
Much of what you say has merit, but consider that much wealth in ‘first world’ countries is dependent upon exploiting ‘third world’ countries–
When wealthy Americans consult with their investment advisers, how deeply are those advisers (if they even go into it) able to go into whether or not here is exploitation going on in the making of money?
There are very few people in America who are wealthy without investing their money. They might be assured by those who do the ‘work’ of investing for them that everything is ethical, but how easy is it to know?
Those who do not invest are often marginal in income, managing to take care of themselves but needing to work much harder in terms of man/woman hours than those who invest.
There IS a lot of poverty in America! And America has been the wealthiest nation in the world, so somewhere this logic breaks down–
There is a prominent Mormon who is very wealthy who earned his money mostly from managing a company that scavenged other companies; most LDS admire him greatly–
where is the honor/nobility in that? The sheen of wealth is very transitory and very illusory.
The fact is that most African nations that have great wealth in terms of diamonds, etc.–were pillaged by European powers in the 1600s to 1900s–
and many still are being plundered by world banks–
I would recommend you watch this:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0814666/
The assumption that all the economic and political and social problems experienced in Africa are due to the inherent problems within the African social system (authoritarianism, for example; Britain ruled the world while oppressing women)–
is narrow.
marginalizedmormon,
I read your comment not as a refutation of Mark’s arguments, but more as an expansion or a deepening. Maybe I’m reading too charitably this morning? ;)
Your observations are spot-on. I have not watched the movie you mention. I will have to.
I saw this one a few years ago and was blown away by much of it. I recommend it enthusiastically: http://louisproyect.org/2009/02/26/the-end-of-poverty/
So many “progresses” we have made have been on the backs of people under the “victors.”
I might add, though, that what you say is valuable, because the discussion must begin somewhere. Thank you.
I recently moved to kenya and have attended a ward here that was quite inspirational. The relief society discussion revolved around how do we engage in the church- specifically addressing abuse of authority and how do we as a church truly show christlike behavior towards each other. It was the most honest discussion on this topic I’ve ever heard. Sisters were open with the struggles they face within the church and provided real answers… they didn’t say, the church is perfect, but the people aren’t! They said our only option right now is to pray that things can change.
I don’t belief issues with ordination and women’s place in the church are first world problems because this is on everyone’s mind. Even in general conference there were stories shared about sisters around the world who don’t have a priesthood holder in the home- its likely more relevant in the farther reaching areas of the church than it is in heavily mormon populated areas.
Access to the discussions that are happening is much more limited in the outlying areas of the world, but that has always been the situation. How can we engage everyone in these discussions- their contributions are needed!
Fascinating perspective, Shannon. I’d love to hear more about your experiences with this issue in Kenya.
marginalizedmormon,
The point I was making with this short blog post was simply that the elites in a society will likely adopt very different policies, if they perceive their people to be a valuable economic asset. When the elites in a society can live well on the cash flow generated from oil, or some similar resource, they are not likely to adopt policies that ultimately lead to better lives for their citizens. I teach online classes, and have had female students from Saudi Arabia take my classes. They have told me about the difficulties they encounter in their daily lives. One women’s husband became seriously ill, while she was taking my class. She could not leave her home without a male relative. This meant she could not even run the most basic of errands, nor could she visit government offices to take care of important issues. If the Saudi Royal family had to look to women as an economic asset, I think my student’s experience would have been very different. Instead, the cash flow from oil allows Saudi Arabia to hang onto archaic practices. It also gives them the ability to purchase the security resources they need to maintain power, without being too concerned with the needs of their population. It would take a much longer paper to address all of the different issues you raise. I will recommend an excellent book, which I found valuable to understanding many of these issues. “Violence and Social Orders: A Conceptual Framework for Interpreting Recorded Human History” http://www.amazon.com/Violence-Social-Orders-Conceptual-Interpreting/dp/0521761735 Thanks for your comments.
Shannon,
I wrote this blog post after I heard someone criticize OW, “because women and the priesthood is a first world issue.” It hit me as a strange criticism. When I was a missionary in Okinawa, I was assigned to a small branch, with only two active adult males in the branch, other than the missionaries. One of the men would come each Sunday from a leper colony, and his health made it impossible for him to do much. Leadership was supplied by one man, and four missionaries (who rotated regularly). However, there were several capable women, who could have provided leadership, except for the fact that they could not hold the priesthood. I think you are absolutely right that this is a very big problem in smaller wards and branches of the church. By the way, my daughter was in Kenya las January. She was only there for a couple of week, but had an amazing experience. They helped in an orphanage and also spent a few days with the Maasai. Thank you for your comments. I wish you all the best.