Is this a sign that our country might be too materialistic and consumerists

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RCIAGraduate

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the way we treat social workers? They reach out and help care for the most disadvantaged and marginalized in society from prisoners, substance abuse addicts, abused and neglected children, foster youth, the sick, the disabled, the elderly and poor families.

Yet we reward them with heavy caseloads, low pay, tough hours and unfortunately stigma in some cases (i.e. CPS and Child and Family Services just want to take away our kids!)?

I know not everyone needs a social worker and that social programs are not panaceas for society. But it’s sad that CPS and Family Support workers have caseloads so high that the people they serve are just another file. Rather than learning and encouraging a child’s hopes and dreams or being an integral and beautiful part of a struggling family’s story, they turn into paper pushers and bureaucratic cogs.

Because of stress and burnout, they may appear to be cold and distant figures rather than a rock for a mother who working to reunify with her daughter or a mentor and role model for an abused youth.

Thoughts?
 
I know not everyone needs a social worker and that social programs are not panaceas for society. But it’s sad that CPS and Family Support workers have caseloads so high that the people they serve are just another file. Rather than learning and encouraging a child’s hopes and dreams or being an integral and beautiful part of a struggling family’s story, they turn into paper pushers and bureaucratic cogs.
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That’s the reality of government, I’m afraid. If you’re going to have government try and solve the problems, that’s what you’ll get a lot of.
Because of stress and burnout, they may appear to be cold and distant figures rather than a rock for a mother who working to reunify with her daughter or a mentor and role model for an abused youth.
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Thoughts?
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Actually, my wife and some of my friends are case managers/social workers. They get burned out because a lot of their clients are a part of the entitlement mentality. They expect miracles to happen, literally and figuratively.

The caseload situation may also be a problem (I assume you are talking about America here) due to big government. If agencies have limited funds in large part because the government isn’t compensating them in a timely manner (if at all), then they really can’t hire a ton of people to do work because of financial uncertainty. I’m not so sure on that, but I know it’s a problem for some doctors.

As far as the state taking kids away, heh, that’s not so easy to do, and people involved with Social Services cases need to calm down and see reality for what it is. I think it can get more murky in custodial issues between family, though.

But I have no idea what this has to do with materialism.
 
People do worship money, and it does seem common here in America. I see the connection you are trying to make. It is there. Idol worship ties into the corruption you see EVERYWHERE.

God, His grace, and 7 things can solve all the REAL problems in America. Those 7 things are the Sacraments. Especially Baptism, Holy Confession, and Holy Communion at least weekly.

Either the country converts to the ONE True Faith, and it is not Protestant heresy, or everything stays corrupt.

Want to help the country? I’ll do you one better. You can help save souls. Be a Saint. Stay in a state of grace and pray for souls and make sacrifices for them in unison with Christ’s passion. That alone will save many souls.

The Scripture calls Satan the “god of this world” and the “ruler of this world.” That is not going to change outside of Christ’s Church. The only way people escape the hands of Satan is to run to the merciful and Sacred Heart of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I love you and I salute you
I love your Guardian Angel and I salute your Guardian Angel
 
The US is the nation where majority of the materialism and consumerism originates, people in third world countries dream of having all the luxuries people do in the US, being able to buy Levis jeans, $200. Jordan shoes, half million dollar sports cars, a house on the beach, eat at fine restaurants all the time, etc etc. Our greedy lifestyles are pushed on the rest of the world

Money is the ‘god’ for many, but in the US, its to an extreme, but its not going this way forever, I have a feeling when Jesus returns, its not going to be a good time for big retailers or corporations, especially those that have taken advantage of certain religious holidays (Christmas) for their own monetary gain, Christmas in the US translates to kids all wanting as many expensive gifts as possible, of course retailers cater to this greed, by opening very early, staying open for days on end sometimes, its all about getting people to spend more money, and its never enough, they could care less about the real reason for Christmas.
 
RCIAGraduate said:
the way we treat social workers? They reach out and help care for the most disadvantaged and marginalized in society from prisoners, substance abuse addicts, abused and neglected children, foster youth, the sick, the disabled, the elderly and poor families.

Yet we reward them with heavy caseloads, low pay, tough hours and unfortunately stigma in some cases (i.e. CPS and Child and Family Services just want to take away our kids!)?

I know not everyone needs a social worker and that social programs are not panaceas for society. But it’s sad that CPS and Family Support workers have caseloads so high that the people they serve are just another file. Rather than learning and encouraging a child’s hopes and dreams or being an integral and beautiful part of a struggling family’s story, they turn into paper pushers and bureaucratic cogs.

Because of stress and burnout, they may appear to be cold and distant figures rather than a rock for a mother who working to reunify with her daughter or a mentor and role model for an abused youth.

Thoughts?
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Social work is like every other profession. There are good social workers and those that are not so good - just like there are good teachers, nurses, doctors, lawyers who are amazing and those who are not. The good social workers do suffer burn out. They work to help families and pay the price. They may become detached as a means of self preservation as you cannot take on the emotion of every case. You would go insane if you did.

The one’s that are not so good are the pen pushers who select and maintain clients to fill their diary with ‘easy touches’ to make their live easy. Just like there are lawyers who pick cases that offer the greatest financial return with minimum effort and those who fight tooth and nail for those who need them most.

If we lived in a society where there was an abundance of support from family and community we would not need social workers to the extent we do. Social workers today are compensating for lack of family and community support and they can only compensate for that to a certain degree.
 
My brother was a social worker at a state agency in the early part of his life. It was not an easy job. There was a continuous flow of clients with strange and complex family and living situations. He had to write down line charts just to track the relationships, and of course everybody needed help. But the amount of help is limited.

I haven’t known anyone who idolizes money as such, although many seem to idolize “things” that money can buy–especially the latest electronics. the newest cars, the latest movies and entertainment, even the latest dietary fads.
 
Oh, those evil corporations…
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stinkcat_14 said:
Corporations can’t be evil, but those who run them can. The one thing we know is that there has never been a CEO who was canonized.
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I appreciate the humor but I just want to warn that I don’t want this thread to devolve. I will note though, there are Saints who were business people. Many of us know that Saint Matthew was much ostracized for being a tax collector but now he’s the Patron Saint for Accountants.
But I have no idea what this has to do with materialism.
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By materialism, I mean how society seems to focus on keeping up with the Jones rather than helping the Andersons who are struggling to get by next door. It’s seems like there’s not enough focus on volunteering, charity,helping others and giving back. There’s so many who seem left behind, especially children, lately I’ve been getting interested in child welfare issues (you may have notice this theme if you followed some of my posts) because families and children especially foster youth seem so marginalized and isolated.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
Corporations can’t be evil, but those who run them can.
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That could be said for anything including the Church, could it not?
stinkcat_14 said:
The one thing we know is that there has never been a CEO who was canonized.
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There are many, many professions where active participants were never canonized. What makes the CEO of a corporation any different? It’s sad that those who criticize modern “progressive” movements can so easily join them in their “causes.”
 
RCIAGraduate said:
I appreciate the humor but I just want to warn that I don’t want this thread to devolve. I will note though, there are Saints who were business people. Many of us know that Saint Matthew was much ostracized for being a tax collector but now he’s the Patron Saint for Accountants.

By materialism, I mean how society seems to focus on keeping up with the Jones rather than helping the Andersons who are struggling to get by next door. It’s seems like there’s not enough focus on volunteering, charity,helping others and giving back. There’s so many who seem left behind, especially children, lately I’ve been getting interested in child welfare issues (you may have notice this theme if you followed some of my posts) because families and children especially foster youth seem so marginalized and isolated.
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An agnostic friend of mine once remarked that without morality, markets just don’t work as well. I think he does have a bit of a point. In some domains, markets work very well and the prices found in markets provide useful signals for society. But, if we get too focused on the price signals found in the market, we might ignore other important things that don’t have prices. Such as taking care of children, or visiting people in nursing homes, etc.
 
Tim_D said:
That could be said for anything including the Church, could it not?

There are many, many professions where active participants were never canonized. What makes the CEO of a corporation any different? It’s sad that those who criticize modern “progressive” movements can so easily join them in their “causes.”
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What progressive cause am I joining?
 
Tim_D said:
That which declares that corporations are “evil” and are only out to separate honest people from their money through nefarious means.
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i never suggested any of the things you claim. If you recall, I said that corporations cannot be evil.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
i never suggested any of the things you claim. If you recall, I said that corporations cannot be evil.
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Then what about…
stinkcat_14 said:
Corporations can’t be evil, but those who run them can. ** The one thing we know is that there has never been a CEO who was canonized.**
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The implication is that CEOs are unscrupulous opportunists who will do anything to enrich themselves at the expense of “innocent” working-class folk. You condemn a group of people because they do not behave in the way that you think they should, even though you have no idea as to their motives or their mindset.
 
Tim_D said:
Then what about…

The implication is that CEOs are unscrupulous opportunists who will do anything to enrich themselves at the expense of “innocent” working-class folk. You condemn a group of people because they do not behave in the way that you think they should, even though you have no idea as to their motives or their mindset.
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Actually, what I said was that people who run corporations can be evil. Do you have a problem with that? Why don’t we focus on what I said rather than what you think I said. What did I say that was factually wrong? If you want to post some data on the holiness of CEOs I would be happy to discuss it with you.
 
RCIAGraduate said:
the way we treat social workers? They reach out and help care for the most disadvantaged and marginalized in society from prisoners, substance abuse addicts, abused and neglected children, foster youth, the sick, the disabled, the elderly and poor families.

Yet we reward them with heavy caseloads, low pay, tough hours and unfortunately stigma in some cases (i.e. CPS and Child and Family Services just want to take away our kids!)?

I know not everyone needs a social worker and that social programs are not panaceas for society. But it’s sad that CPS and Family Support workers have caseloads so high that the people they serve are just another file. Rather than learning and encouraging a child’s hopes and dreams or being an integral and beautiful part of a struggling family’s story, they turn into paper pushers and bureaucratic cogs.

Because of stress and burnout, they may appear to be cold and distant figures rather than a rock for a mother who working to reunify with her daughter or a mentor and role model for an abused youth.

Thoughts?
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I wish That CPS had been around when I was growing up. I was raised by my Mother and step dad. He abused me terribly. He routinely me black and blue and then I had to change for gym class where the coach and all could see. He broke my left leg with his bare hands. He took shots at me as well.

There were no child abuse laws in texas, and the nfirst were too late for. They were based on cruelty to animal laws.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
Actually, what I said was that people who run corporations can be evil. Do you have a problem with that?
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Yes I do. You can just as easily say that people who post on Catholic discussion forums can be evil. Since you are going to judge an entire group of people without a smudge of evidence, why not go all out and judge everyone?
 
Tim_D said:
Yes I do. You can just as easily say that people who post on Catholic discussion forums can be evil. Since you are going to judge an entire group of people without a smudge of evidence, why not go all out and judge everyone?
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I notice you have a problem with facts. Now, I said CEOs can be evil, which you have not in any way refuted. Now, people who post on Catholic discussion forums can be evil as well, but that is not part of the discussion. If you want to start a thread on that, be my guest, perhaps I will offer an opinion.

So what we have here is that I stated a fact and you have a problem with the facts.
 
stinkcat_14 said:
I
So what we have here is that I stated a fact and you have a problem with the facts.
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Saying that “some CEOs can be evil” is as much stating a fact as saying that “some dogs will bite.”

Start at square 1 again.
 
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