Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. believed in a government-guaranteed right to a job and “a national responsibility to provide work for all.” He believed in a jobs guarantee which would require the government to provide jobs to anyone who could not find one. He believed in “the right of every citizen to a minimum income” and “the right to an adequate education.” He was a critic of capitalism and materialism and urged Americans to “move toward a democratic socialism,” a mixed economy where citizens, through democratic processes, inserted human values into the economy to temper the harsh edges of unbridled free markets. He stated that “When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered. Progress is meaningless,” he said, “when the economy expands and stock values rise but millions of people remain unemployed or underpaid, without health care, a pension or economic security.” King criticized corporate welfare and “business control” of the state, describing the American system as “socialism for the rich and free markets for the poor.” He cautioned that “Structures of evil do not crumble by passive waiting” but “require the battering rams of justice.” He denounced the Vietnam War asserting that American involvement in Vietnam “has torn up the Geneva Accord” and “strengthened the military-industrial complex.” Not only was the Vietnam War morally unforgivable in King’s eyes, but it also took away billions of dollars that could be used to help end poverty. King championed Planned Parenthood and reproductive rights. He believed that family planning was a crucial tool in the fight to end poverty and inequality. “I have always been deeply interested in and sympathetic with the total work of the Planned Parenthood Federation,” he said in 1960. Because of these views, he believed access to contraception and family planning programs should be funded by the government. The Christian Left agrees with Dr. King on all counts. Sources: thinkprogress.org/politics/2014/01/20/3177871/martin-luther-king-radicalism/ nebraskansforpeace.org/mlk-justice
Posted on: Thu, 13 Nov 2014 06:32:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015