“We come to experience poverty and oppression not only as an individual problem but also as a structural one. Poverty is the result not so much of the lack of talent or drive of individuals as it is of conscious political and economic policies.

Poverty is seen as the deliberate exploitation of people and whole countries for the economic or military advantage of others. Poverty becomes a matter of injustice and oppression, and not just an unfortunate but unavoidable situation. Poverty is a structural problem, a problem of unjust and oppressive institutions and systems, and we are a part of it.

“Our first reaction to this heightened awareness is that of anger, anger against the rich, the powerful, the huge corporations, the politicians, the governments. This anger becomes a part of the crisis of this second transformation. We need to acknowledge and express it in appropriate ways. We are challenged to expand the virtue of compassion to include not just those who are unjustly oppressed, but also those who are the cause of the oppression and against whom we experience such strong feelings of anger.”