Exploitation or Survival?

"If I don't take home 60 taka ($1.50) a day, someone in my family will go hungry," says, Mijan, a 13 year old labourer in Bangladesh. In the affluent countries we feel it as something terrible that young children should be unable to go to school, because they are out working for wages - especially when they are working in what we see as sweatshop conditions.

However the harsh reality is that for many families the alternative is worse. If children don't go out to work the family will starve.

You shall not steal.

What do you think of the eighth commandment as the foundation for a global economic policy? Surely there has to be more to the global economy than just the simple command "You shall not steal" (Exodus 20:15 and Deuteronomy 5:19)?

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops takes this as a good starting point for a just economic system. The following points are an extract from a paper by them. For the original paper, follow this link.

We suggest that this makes a good starting point for a home group or other group study of a theological foundation for rethinking the global economic system. Watch the video "Justice Not Charity"  first, and then use the three sections here as the starting points for the discussion.