"When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights,
are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism,
extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."
-- Dr. Martin King Jr., Speech at Riverside Church, April 4, 1967
"It is my firm belief that Europe of today represents not the spirit of God or Christianity but the spirit of Satan.
And Satan's successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips.
Europe today is only nominally Christian.
In reality, it is worshiping Mammon."
And Satan's successes are the greatest when he appears with the name of God on his lips.
Europe today is only nominally Christian.
In reality, it is worshiping Mammon."
-- Mahatma Gandhi, Young India, August 9, 1920.
One of the Gangster in Chief's obsessions, that of constructing a huge wall crafted of xenophobia and billions of our tax dollars, stands in stark contrast to the Dr. King's Dream.
Dr. King's vision was that of taking down walls not building them.
Yet, in contradiction to the media's whitewashing of Dr King's legacy, the walls that Dr. King dreamed of removing didn't just consist of white supremacist segregation. Like his Master Jesus, King had his eyes set on the unholy greed rampant among the rich, the moneylenders, and hypocrites who claimed righteousness while making, money hand over fist, serving Mammon. He was intent on turning the tables on those who thrived on a system built on exploitation.
The Truth, The Whole Truth, and....
For decades now, the corporate media has celebrated Dr. King's "I Have a Dream" speech -- and assiduously buried Dr. King's views on economic justice, materialism, and militarism. Like Mahatma Gandhi, King's message was essentially Spiritual. They each saw clearly that Mammon worship, the soul-sucking evil of materialism/consumerism, was alive and unwell, lurking in the belly of capitalism.
Throughout history, racism and economic exploitation have always walked hand in hand. The prosperity of the capitalist English Empire and it's rebellious offspring, the USA, were built squarely on the horrors of genocide and slavery. Sadly, although its current forms (cultural genocide, systemic poverty, and jailhouse slavery) are widely ignored or explained away, this continues today.
Like my identical twin brother, Lance, I usually tend to be more Buddhist in my lingo. Yet, I just gotta say it out loud: I agree with Mahatma Gandhi. Capitalism is the work of the freakin' DEVIL! Its the dark side of the force. In it's greed and exploitation it is taking aim on the survival of the planet.
Although Dr. King focused on the evil of racism in his "I Have a Dream" speech that late summer day in Washington DC, his words were delivered to the throng that had assembled for the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. This effort, which he had helped organize, challenged economic exploitation and suggested bold governmental action to alleviate poverty. The FBI claimed the event was inspired by Communists and lobbied to prevent it from happening.
King continued to march. He continued to preach love and championed a non-violent response to a system that has always used violence. Like Jesus of Nazareth, and a myriad other martyrs, Dr. King knew full well that he would most likely be killed for challenging the ruling order -- and he chose Love instead.
Dr. King's assassination, five years after the "I Have a Dream" speech, occurred when he traveled to Memphis to support striking Afro-American municipal sanitation workers as the leader of the National Poor People's campaign. That campaign demanded an Economic Bill of Rights which included five planks:
1. "A meaningful job at a living wage"
2. "A secure and adequate income" for all those unable to find or do a job
3. "Access to land" for economic uses
4. "Access to capital" for poor people and minorities to promote their own businesses
5. The ability for ordinary people to "play a truly significant role" in the government
When's the last time you saw the Economic Bill of Rights highlighted in the corporate media coverage of Dr. King's life?
A Time to Break Silence
As Trump's legion of misanthropes, materialists, and military men continue to loot and scuttle our beleaguered ship of state, it's a time to break silence. Dr. King did so, dramatically, on April 4, 1967, at the Riverside Church in New York City.
On that day, Dr. King proclaimed, "these too are our brothers," and came out against the US involvement in the Vietnam War with a passion and an eloquence that many believe caused his assassination exactly one year, to the day, later.
The corporate media today ignores this speech and remains silent. I hope you don't. Please listen and pass this along. Then join some folks and speak out -- with love in your heart!
It's a tough job, but somebody's got to do it!
