King’s Nightmare

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ’person-oriented’ society. 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.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., April 1967

Every MLK holiday I wonder what King would think if here were alive today. In his 1967 speech at the Riverside Church in New York he talked about a revolution of values, but, if anything, the revolution has been in the wrong direction. Very few contemporary leaders ever speak about the evils of militarism or materialism, and racism comes up only when another unarmed black kid is gunned down by a white man, or abused by a gang of white police officers, and then the apologists rise as one to plead extenuating circumstances.

What would MLK think about drone strikes against unarmed civilians, targeted assassinations of suspected militants, and state-sanctioned torture? What would MLK – who was more radical than most people remember -- think of President Obama, the first African-American president? If he were forced to grade Obama’s performance in the highest office in the land, what grade would MLK bestow? C-plus? D-minus? Straight F?

In 1967, King said, “America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values.” America is still one of the richest nations on the planet, though we now bear the distinction of also being one of the most unequal; we spend more of our national treasure on armaments and spying than all other nations, combined, and wage wars all over the world, whenever and wherever we want. Our values are twisted and perverse, driven by blind devotion to the profit motive – nearly always at the expense of people and their communities, or the land, water and air we all need to survive. Our elections are rigged. Our courts are corrupt. Our standing in the world is diminished. The only revolution we can lead at this point is one that ends in fascism.

I can’t help but think we are living King’s nightmare rather than his dream. Were his four children toddlers today they may not be judged exclusively by the color of their skin, but they certainly would be judged by the amount of money in their pockets or purses, as well as the social positions held by their friends and associates.

King marched, spoke, agitated, and went to jail on more than one occasion in order to achieve racial justice and equal opportunity – for all -- not only African-Americans. He spoke out strongly against the war in Vietnam and what it cost Americans at home, and abroad; he understood the toll that war takes on a nation, be it the nation upon which war is directed or the nation waging it. MLK would appreciate the futility of waging war against a tactic, year after year with no end in sight or even desired by the power elites. The War on Terror may be futile and stupid, but it’s enormously profitable, so of course it will continue.

At home MLK would see a government fixated on austerity and punishment of its most needy. He would see for-profit prisons making money off the backs of non-violent drug addicts. He would see a generation of students hogtied by crushing student loan debt, and a lack of opportunity for social mobility.

MLK would see this and much more and I imagine his heart would feel heavy. He would wonder, but not for long, because he understood history, how this reversal of fortune came to pass, how the rich and powerful and those who speak the language of racism in coded terms, and those who would turn working Americans into serfs managed to pull it off with so little resistance.