Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : The Left Wing Porch -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mephisto who wrote (3924)	2/8/2001 8:36:38 PM
From: Mac Con Ulaidh	Respond to of 6089

I haven't found a site with the speech yet, but in a site with selected quotes I came across this one that I really like ~ from "Where do we go from here?" King's last, and most radical, Southern Chrisitian Leadership Conference (SCLC) presidential address I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about "Where do we go from here," that we honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here. And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life's marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised. You see, my friends, when you deal with this, you begin to ask the question, "Who owns the iron ore?" You begin to ask the question, "Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water?" These are questions that must be asked. Now, don't think that you have me in a "bind" today. I'm not talking about communism. What I'm saying to you this morning is that communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both. Now, when I say question the whole society, it means ultimately coming to see that the problems of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together.

To: Mephisto who wrote (3924)	2/9/2001 9:50:34 AM
From: Mac Con Ulaidh	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 6089

I never found text for the speech you mentioned. King's writings seem to be pretty well protected by copyrights. I did find some places with excellent excerpts. I think the book you are reading must be a goldmine! I spent several hours reading. Almost everything I read is still pertinent today. I particularly enjoyed a lengthy section about "moderate whites" in his letter from the Birmingham Jail. Many of us, on many issues, can still learn from that about the difference between action and changing things, and "consent given from a place of power, and under our rules". One line he used from a declaration by a group of pastors concerning the Vietman war that struck a chord with me was (the first part paraphrased) "A moment comes when silence is betrayal." Whew. That will never cease to resonate.