Jim Wallis is an American novelist, theologian, and political commentator born in Detroit, Michigan on June 4, 1948. As a teenager, he was heavily involved in local government, participating in Students for a Democratic Society as well as the Civil Rights Movement. After graduating from high school, he attended Michigan State University to pursue his passion for political science. Wallis eventually founded Sojourners Magazine, a publication focused on social justice and political awareness. He has published numerous novels throughout his career, one of which is entitled Rediscovering Values: On Wall Street, Main Street, and Your Street.
Rediscovering Values analyzes the 2008 economic crisis that rattled the United States and what the American people could do differently in the years following. Wallis asserts that a desire for frivolous items is destroying families and individuals economically. He also states that wealthier classes should contribute more to charities and that welfare is a necessary component for a functioning economy.
Upon its publication, Rediscovering Values garnered rave reviews, particularly from the Democratic party, for its scholarly analysis of the American financial system. Wallis has authored many other political books as well, including On God’s Side: What Religion Forgets and Politics Hasn’t Learned About Serving the Common Good, The Great Awakening:Reviving Faith & Politics in a Post-Religious Right America, and God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It.
