A little bit of chicken fried to share
Written by Luke Eure
“A little bit of chicken fried
Cold beer on a Friday night
A pair of jeans that fit just right
And the radio up
Well I've seen the sun rise
See the love in my woman's eyes
Feel the touch of a precious child
And know a mother's love”
“Chicken Fried” by Zac Brown Band is a great song in the tradition of Christianity-inspired American country music that celebrates a simple good life. A life full of gratefulness for what God has blessed you with, love for the people around you, and peace (1).
There’s a lot in Christianity to recommend this kind of life. For example:
Jesus by no means lived an extravagant lifestyle, but enjoyed meals and wine with his disciples and friends
In the early church, believers “had everything in common…sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need… and broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts” (Acts 2:44-46, NIV)
Monastic life and traditionalist forms of Christianity such as the Amish eschew certain comforts of the modern world to focus on simple work, community, and prayer
Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 6 about how God cares for the birds of the air and the flowers of the field can be read as an admonition to live day-to-day rather than pursuing world-changing plans
But of course Christians also have a responsibility to help the poor. And sometimes I feel a tension between the desire for a simple life of contentment vs. action on the real suffering of others in the world, especially those geographically far from me.
The Reality for the World's Poor
Because many people in the world are unable to experience the simple pleasures Zac Brown describes:
“Chicken fried”: One of the most basic necessities - filling food - is unreachable for the ~9% of people (660M) who are undernourished
“Cold beer”, “the radio up”: These both require electricity, which is unavailable to ~13% of people (~950M)
“See the sun rise”: Early death prevents many from seeing the sun rise. Average life expectancy is 10-15 years shorter in Africa than it is in Europe and the Americas, and over 1M people globally die per year from vaccine-treatable diseases
“Love in my woman’s eyes”: The proportion of women experiencing violence by intimate partners tends to be much higher in poorer countries - typically 10-30% in Africa and Southeast Asia compared to <10% in most of Europe and North America
Finally, 5M children under 5 years old die each year, depriving everyone around them the “touch of a precious child”
A critical part of the Christian life of community is caring for the least of your sisters and brothers. We are lucky that in the modern world, the least of our brothers and sisters who live across the world are still within our means to help, and that “serving your community” can include reaching out to them via donations, or even through a career devoted to health, economic development, and justice in low or middle income countries.
Zac Brown is right that enjoyment of the simple things in life and of community is a great ideal. But the Christian acceptance of this ideal - in a world where so many suffer - means striving for material security, health, and community for everyone in the world while still retaining our own sense of gratefulness with what we’ve been blessed with.
Practical Steps to Help
What specifically can you do to support those living in extreme poverty?
Consider giving more, and with more scrutiny. The charity evaluator GiveWell identifies charities, mostly focused on the extreme poor, which are the most effective at helping people live happier, healthier, more secure lives. Many people inspired by the EA movement have pledged to donate amounts like 1%, 10%, or more of their income every year to charities like those recommended by GiveWell.
Consider a career that would have an outsized impact on the extremely poor. There are many different types of roles that impact the extreme poor, such as charity or for-profit work in a poor country, building global health systems, or policy work. The website 80,000 Hours compiles lists of these types of jobs, and also provides a guide to having high impact generally in your career.
Join the Effective Altruism and Christians community! We don’t have all or many of the answers, but we are a community of people exploring our faiths, the world’s problems, and how the two intersect. We invite you into this exploration with us!
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“Chicken Fried” acknowledges that sacrifices have to be made to ensure that others don’t have to sacrifice their own simple pleasures:
“Salute the ones who died
The ones that give their lives so we don't have to sacrifice
All the things we love
Like our chicken fried…”
But luckily most of us are not asked to give our lives for our country, or to be like the poor widow giving our last shilling to the church. We can find the balance between accepting life the way it is, and contributing to the work that needs to be done to make life better for others. If you live in the US or Europe, odds are you can afford to have your chicken fried (3), cold beer, pair of jeans, and be surrounded by the ones you love while still giving 1% (or even 10%) of your income to serve those who are materially worst off in the world. Our cloaks are far big enough to be cut in two while still keeping us warm.
My other favorites in this tradition are “Thank God I’m a Country Boy” and “Big Cheeseburgers and Good French Fries”
GiveWell estimates that you can save a life with a donation of ~$5,000. This is far more effective than a typical charity (details on these types of calculations here). For many people in wealthy countries, this is an incredibly low number compared to what we would be willing to pay to prevent someone we love from dying
As a vegetarian and (vegan this lent) I would prefer “tofu fried”. But as a music listener, I appreciate that doesn’t have quite the same ring to it