From a pastor-friend:

“For to all those who have, more will be given, and they will have an abundance; but from those who have nothing, even what they have will be taken away.” Mt 25:29.

What Jesus observes (and gives an alternative to) in the parable of the talents, and it’s an issue we definitely need to be aware of. For people who read the Parable of the Talents the traditional way (ie we need to do the most with our talents like the first two guys and the ‘Master’ is God) then read Ched Myers’ interpretation: http://paulswritings.wordpress.com/2007/08/10/howard-wrong-on-parable-of-the-talents/

Everywhere we see unequal power relations – corporations and government who “reap where they did not sow, and gather where they did not scatter seed.” Just today I was at the zoo and in the orang utan section they have information stations on conservation. One of them was about the felling of Indonesian rainforest which devastates orang utan populations. Most of this deforestation is by foreign multinationals – largely American – companies such as Nestle, Kraft and Proctor & Gamble, who use the cleared land for biodiesel and pass the profits on to ridiculously rich CEOs, the money pooled in rich countries. To all those who have more will be given…and that’s just one example of how it happens. And it’s something we all gain from and are complicit in, particularly when we buy from such companies. There’s a good little online video (20 mins) called “The Story of Stuff” that succinctly explains the process. You can find it at http://www.storyofstuff.com/