Friday 19 September 2008
Percival Landing Washington
War is a bankrupting activity. It bankrupts economically (financially, ecologically, etc.) And it bankrupts morally.
There are some anti-war quotes attached to this photo where it's linked from on the flickr site, and I am reminded of another quote by the Rev. Dr. MLK Jr.:
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
Which reminds me that I recently read Stride Toward Freedom by MLK. It's about the Montgomery bus boycotts of 1954-55. I thought it was a great read. Why? A number of reasons. For starters, it was clearly written, and also of compelling content. It's the story of Southern Black Liberation—a story that is ongoing today—and it's roots are in campaigns like the one described in the book by MLK.
Rosa Parks and MLK are popular figures in America. For example, many cities have major thoroughfares buildings named after MLK. That's pretty high esteem for a radical revolutionary. Because that's what MLK was. He was a radical, and a revolutionary. Even at the age of 26, in 1954, he understood the cause of so much violence and disease (including racism) was fear, and distrust/mistrust between people, and the repetition of old patterns of behavior, patterns that really just don't make sense—and he also understood that the vast and growing discrepancy in wealth between global rich as a root-level cause of war and other violence.
By the time that MLK was assassinated in 1968, I think he may have even moved in his political views further toward the left of liberation, that is the liberation from oppression for all people—and he criticized the war in a very meaningful and fundamental way, calling into question national aggression, and calling for a movement to counter the rampant "militarism, materialism, and racism" prevailing in society.
I recommend the Speech, Beyond Vietnam, which was delivered a year to the day before he was killed.
Seeking to address the root cause of violence, disease and poverty, MLK stated in the speech that: "True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring."
Another statement from the speech:
"I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such." MLK Jr.
Following is a link to audio of the speech, and then the text. Please take a listen!
