MLK on America’s Poverty and Presumptuous Role as World Policeman

1/17/2011

"In the days ahead we must not consider it unpatriotic to raise certain basic questions about our national character. We must begin to ask, 'Why are there forty million poor people in a nation overflowing with such unbelievable affluence? Why has our nation placed itself in the position of being God's military agent on earth...? Why have we substituted the arrogant undertaking of policing the whole world for the high task of putting our own house in order?'" —Martin Luther King

2 Comments

Angie

1/27/2011 02:08:41 pm

Great quote! What King said back in the 60s is still true today. This country is always up in some other country’s business.

Victor Otero

2/17/2011 03:12:41 pm

Martin Luther King makes a valuable point. We live in a society where we fear to raise our voice because of the judgment we'll receive or the so called "consequences" that await. America. Americans, patriots, religion, morals, value, conformity, racism, hate; all excuses from life to keep us occupied and distracted. In life we are taught basic values: live, learn and grow. Moreover, as an American, we are also taught that we, as individuals, have every right to express ourselves, therefore giving us 'freedom', by the constitution we directly or indirectly breathe, and clinging to our constitution; are we really free? Or do we not know what 'free' is because we've just accepted our lives because we are told it is free? In truth, what is said is not always justified. We are given guidelines and the experience is based off our actions. It has been said that 'laws are ways to restrict man' and America, our home, our start, our refuge, our teacher, restricts men more than any other country in the world.

School, the very place where our minds become saturated with ever-lasting knowledge is where we all start. From the basics of elementary to the advancement of high school, the education we receive (most of us) is, in fact, free howsoever; does the education we receive endow us with proper knowledge; does the education we receive benefit us or benefit the government later on? On the other hand, our government does give us a basic set of guidelines: live, learn and grow. As we live, we are taught that the government is for the people, by the people but our rights are not exercised or remitted so, we are, in all honesty, oblivious to our own rights, our privileges. As we learn, we become better people but others might argue that we become better 'robots', better controlled. In the end, these are the simplistic things that are being restated.

I have faced many obstacles and one of them is growing up without a father but that to me is never an excuse to stop pushing forward, it gives me a reason to. I’ve grown up in the place that has been labeled “the hood” and “the ghetto” and I have seen many things that certainly do not attract good attention because here, it’s taught that we the people have no rights or equality; that has embedded the thought that we can’t do much as people. Wrong, with an education we strive and unleash our full potential. I believe education is a universal key to unlocking that potential.

MLK could do it and so can we!

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MLK on America’s Poverty and Presumptuous Role as World Policeman

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