The situation in Amos' context...
The situation in Amos' context was like our own: Free market capitalism exploits the poor, while the rich get richer (Herbert Marcuse, An Essay on Liberation, esp. pp. 11ff). Most recent U.S. Census Bureau data bears out the truth of this observation, as nearly 33% of all working families live near poverty, and the top 20% of Americans received 48% of all income, while the bottom 20% of Americans received less than 5% of the total national income! What can the church do about such economic realities? John Calvin offers sound advice: