2. Consideration for the Poor

World Scripture

If the chief has many breasts they are sucked by the people.
Akan Proverb (African Traditional Religion)

The government is the guardian of those who have no guardian.
Hadith (Islam)

Emperor Nintoku climbed up a high mountain and, viewing the lands of the four quarters, said, “There is no smoke rising from fireplaces in the land. The entire land is impoverished. For a period of three years the people are released from all taxes and conscription.” For this reason, the palace became dilapidated; although the rain leaked in everywhere, no repairs were made. The dripping rain was caught in vessels, and the inhabitants moved around to places where it did not leak.
Later, when he viewed the land again, the entire land was filled with smoke. Therefore, realizing that the people were now rich, he reinstated taxes and conscription. For this reason, the common people flourished and did not suffer from his conscription. Thus his reign is praised as being the reign of a saintly ruler.
Kojiki 110 (Shinto)

Ho, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. The weak you have not strengthened, the sick you have not healed, the crippled you have not bound up, the strayed you have not brought back, the lost you have not sought, and with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and they became food for all the wild beasts…
Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord: Thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them.”
Ezekiel 34.2-10

If you take away from the midst of you the yoke,
the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry
and satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
then shall your light rise in the darkness
and your gloom be as the noonday.
Isaiah 58.9-10

Give the king thy justice, O God,
and thy righteousness to the royal son!
May he judge thy people with righteousness,
and thy poor with justice…
For he delivers the needy when he calls,
the poor and him who has no helper.
He has pity on the weak and the needy,
and saves the lives of the needy.
From oppression and violence he redeems their life;
and precious is their blood in his sight.
Psalm 72

All those who are weary, disabled, crippled and infirm, who are orphan, childless, widowers, and widows are my brothers who totter and falter with no one to turn to. When the gentleman rules the government he must support such people.
Chu Hsi (Confucianism)

When there is a question of defending the rights of individuals, the poor and the helpless have a claim to especial consideration. Those of the richer class have many ways of shielding themselves, and stand less in need of help from the State; whereas those who are badly off have no resources of their own to fall back upon, and must chiefly depend upon the assistance of the State. And it stands to reason that wage-earners, who are undoubtedly among the weak and necessitous, should be specially cared for and protected by the Government.
Pope Leo XIII, Rerum Novarum (Christianity)

Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!
Emma Lazarus¹³

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

A leader who, when he sees miserable people living on the street, feels shocked and finds himself sobbing, unable to control his body as he grabs on to a utility pole for balance—such a leader will naturally develop.
(160:197, May 12, 1969)

Rather than building a lavish presidential palace, the president would do better if he lived in a flimsy mud hut that will hardly last until the end of his term before it must be torn down, and instead invested the nation’s revenues for the next generation. His country would prosper, and he would be known as a leader who lives for his people. And yet, God lives for the sake of humankind even more than that.
(382:149-50, June 21, 2002)

Living for the self ends with the self, but living for others continues forever. Therefore, for goodness to continue, you should live for your counterpart—the greater whole. This is particularly the case when you are in a position of leadership. Hence, anyone who aspires to become a world-level figure should live for the sake of the world. If he practices this, he may even become a world leader. On the other hand, a world leader who tramples upon those beneath him cannot remain. A world leader should be a leader who lights up the world.
(57:63, May 28, 1972)

In the future, politics will be mainly a matter of good management. There will be no place for politicians to manipulate policies for unrighteous ends, as all people follow the Principle way and live for the sake of peace. The government will provide an exemplary model of management that serves to benefit the entire people.
The function of government will be to help people with economic difficulties and provide a way for everyone to eat and live. People will be categorized into three levels according to their standard of living—top, middle and bottom—and the average standard of living will be determined. Then the government will set up an administrative mechanism to equalize people’s living standards to the middle level…
This administrative mechanism will incorporate the ethics of a single household planning the family budget, in which everyone takes responsibility for each other. Family members who are spending too much try to lower their expenses, while those in need receive more, in order that everyone in the family is at an equal level in the middle.¹⁴ Likewise in society, those who are blessed with more will contribute to lift up others.
(324:253-54, June 24, 2000)

Today, the industrialized North must reach out to help liberate the South from pervasive impoverishment. The developed nations must lend a helping hand to the support the development of the developing countries and the new democracies. Each nation’s attitude must be changed from a selfish one to an unselfish one. That in itself will be a revolution. Nations can do this when their leaders think of themselves in the role of parents. From that perspective, nations will regard each other as brother and sister nations. Then a fresh new vision will emerge and new opportunities will open up before of us.
(219:120, August 28, 1991)