The deep rumblings that we hear today, the rumblings of discontent, is the thunder of disinherited masses rising from dungeons of oppressions to the bright hills of freedom. All over the world like a fever, freedom is spreading in the widest liberation movement in history … And so, the collision course is set…” — Martin Luther King Jr., “The Three Evils of Society” (1967)
On Aug. 31, 1967, Dr. King delivered “The Three Evils of Society” address at the National Conference on New Politics. During this address he said, “… I suspect that we are now experiencing the coming to the surface of a triple prong sickness that has been lurking within our body politic from its very beginning. That is the sickness of racism, excessive materialism and militarism. Not only is this our nation’s dilemma it is the plague of western civilization.”
Dr. King’s words are as relevant today as they were during the years that they were spoken. Today America is led by a racist, ignorant and narcissistic president who extols the “virtues” of neo-Nazis, wants to ban Muslims from entering America and claims that Mexicans are rapists. His tax policy has facilitated excessive materialism by benefitting corporations, investors and millionaires, to the tune of $5.1 trillion. America spends more on its military than China, Russia, Saudi Arabia, India, France, the U.K. and Japan combined.
The analysis would be very simple if this president was the problem, but he is just the current symptom of the larger American imperialist problem. Both parties support the sickness of racism, excessive materialism and militarism. In December, 188 House Democrats joined Republicans and passed a $738 billion military spending bill. They passed the bill without the bipartisan amendments to stop the war in Yemen and to stop an unauthorized, offensive war against Iran.
This came one week after the Trump administration announced plans to slash access to food stamps for an estimated 750,000 low-income people by mid-2020 and proposed to make it more difficult for hundreds of thousands of Americans to receive Social Security disability benefits. The Democrats’ silence on these proposals has been deafening.
As House Speaker Pelosi worked to impeach President Trump in order “…to defend the Democracy for the people…,” Democrats sat idly by while Trump, like his predecessors, worked to overthrow the democratically elected presidents of Venezuela, Nicholas Maduro and Hugo Chavez before him. Pelosi said, “I support the decision…to recognize Juan Guaidó…as the Interim President (of Venezuela) until full, fair and free elections can be held.” Omitting the fact that both Maduro and Chavez before him were elected in free and fair elections.
Democrats also supported the coup d’état in Bolivia. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) stated that the Bolivian people “deserve free and fair elections, as soon as possible…” How can you defend democracy for Americans and work to overthrow democracies in other parts of the world? This hypocrisy is nauseating. As Dr. King said about the Vietnamese, “They must see Americans as strange liberators.”
There is a revolution going on around the world. People in Yemen, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Venezuela, Bolivia, Zimbabwe, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia, Sudan are all as Dr. King said, “…rising from dungeons of oppressions to the bright hills of freedom. All over the world like a fever, freedom is spreading in the widest liberation movement in history…” In many of these countries, the people are fighting repressive regimes propped up by American tax dollars and military support.
There is also a revolution going on in America. We continue to combat the “sickness of racism, excessive materialism and militarism.” Will the masses, especially those in the African American community wake up, stand up and speak up? Or, will we like Rip Van Winkle sleep through the revolution?
