Saturday, March 01, 2014
Ukraine: The Lies Of Empire and the Smokescreen Of Democracy
Ukraine and other News during the Weekend
There is the controversy
with Ukraine again. President Barack Obama recently said in a statement on
Friday that he denounces the reports of military movements taken by Russia in
the Ukraine. He warns that “there will be costs for any military intervention.”
This comes after the Western stoked regime change operation in Ukraine. This
could threaten a conflict between Western powers and Russia (in the form of sanctions, boycotts, etc.). The interim
government is in Ukraine now. The interim government wants the USA and Britain
to come to their aid, because they accuse Russia of executing an invasion of
Ukraine. Arsen Avakov is the new interior minister and member of Fatherland or
the party of the oligarch Yulya Tymoshenko. He alleged that the international
airport in Sebastopol in the Crimea had been blocked by Russian forces. He
wrote on Facebook, “I regard what is happening as an armed invasion and
occupation in violation of all international treaties and norms. This is a
direct provoking of armed bloodshed on the territory of a sovereign state.” If
things continue, a Western military intervention could happen in Ukraine. He is
invoking the terms of a 1994 agreement called the Budapest Memorandum. It was
signed by ex-U.S. President Bill Clinton, ex-UK Prime Minister John Major,
Russia’s Boris Yeltsin and Leonid Kuchma in dealing with Ukraine (promising to uphold the
territorial integrity of Ukraine in return for Ukraine giving up its nuclear
weapons). Article one of the Budapest Memorandum reads: “The United States of
America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and
Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine ... to respect the
Independence and Sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.” Sir Tony
Brenton, the former British Ambassador to Moscow from 2004 to 2008, warned that
if Russia was found to have invaded Ukraine, then war could be an option “if we
do conclude the Memorandum is legally binding.” The newly-appointed head of
Ukraine’s National Security Council, Andriy Parubiy, accused Moscow of
commanding armed groups at airports in Crimea. “These are separate groups …
commanded by the Kremlin,” Parubiy said. Pariubiy was the co-founder of the
Social-National Party of Ukraine. That party was the forerunner of the far
right Svoboda. He led the right wing militias that spearheaded the coup that bring
down the regime of President Viktor Yanukovych, who was more closely aligned
with the pro-Russian oligarchs. The militias were composed of members of
Svoboda alongside members of the fascist Right Sector. Dmytro Yarosh, head of
Right Sector, is Parubiy’s deputy. Interim President Oleksandr Turchynov of
Fatherland warned Thursday, referring to Crimea, that “any movements of troops,
especially with troops outside that territory will be considered military
aggression.” Turchynov yesterday dismissed the head of the armed forces,
Admiral Yuriy Ilin, while Parubiy said a state of emergency could be
declared—making possible the deployment of the army against Crimea. In
Simferopol or Crimea’s administrative center, groups of armed men arrived
overnight at the main airport wearing military fatigues. At Sesvastopol
airport, a military airport that handles few commercial flights, a reported 300
people of unknown identity arrived. There have been reports of men wearing
Russian style uniforms without insignia that flights from Kiev having been
barred and that there has been movement of Russian armored personnel carriers
and helicopters. The Russian Black Sea fleet was centered at Sevastopol is
quoted to have anti-terror measures to protect the fleet and other outposts.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said that its maneuvers are part of bilateral
agreements. Crimea is mostly native Russian or Russian speaking human beings, so Russia has
an interest in that region. Yanukovych said from Russia that he is still
Ukraine’s legitimate elected leader and he will continue to fight for the future
of Ukraine. He rejects Crimean secession. He wants the Ukraine to be united not
divided. US Secretary of State John Kerry said that Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov had reaffirmed to him a commitment that Russia would “respect the
territorial integrity of Ukraine,” echoing a commitment that Putin made to
President Barack Obama last week. U.S. Secretary of State wants U.S. assistance
to bring Georgia closer to the U.S. and the E.U. Also, the Polish government is
sending money to opposition groups in Belarus. Poland is a political ally of
America. Washington is in alliance with corrupt oligarchs and fascists gangs as
a means to bring Russia in direct opposition to the U.S./European powers. It is
hypocritical for the West to talk about national sovereignty when it violates
the national sovereignty of nations globally (in Iraq, Libya, Syria,
Afghanistan, etc. in the 21st century alone) via the abomination of the war on terror. Also, the West supported many
fascist and far right forces involved in the coup of the capital of Kiev.
Washington have spent billions of dollars to involve in the domestic, internal
affairs of the Ukraine (since the 1990’s and this has been admitted by the undersecretary of
state for Europe and Eurasia, Victoria Nuland. She admitted these words last
December). Nuland herself made at least four trips to Kiev in the course of the
recent upheavals, handing out bread and cookies to the neo-fascist “protesters”
in Independence Square and holding meetings with opposition figures Arseny
Yatseniuk, Vitali Klitschko—referred to as “Yats” and “Klitsch” in her infamous
recorded conversation with the US ambassador—as well as with the leader of the
anti-Semitic and fascistic Svoboda party, Oleh Tyahnybok. Stalinism betrayed
the interests of the working class in Ukraine, Russia and the rest of the Soviet
Union, as well as internationally. The privileged bureaucrats transformed
themselves into capitalists, plundering and monopolizing the social wealth
built up in the 75 years since the October 1917 revolution. America and Russia
should both clean up their houses at the end of the day.
The GCHQ and the
NSA has collected webcam images from 1.8 million Yahoo users. Under the program
code named “Optic Nerve,” the British government Communications Headquarters or
the GCHQ worked in conjunction with the NSA have collected webcam images in
bulk and saved them to agency databases. There has been documents obtained by
the Guardian (as found in their article, “Yahoo webcam images from millions of
users intercepted by GCHQ”) proved that the GCHQ targeted 1.8 million webcam
users in a single six-month period in 2008. Collection of images has been
carried out indiscriminately, without regard to whether users were targets of
an intelligence investigation. The operations collected imagery from the
webcams by saving screen shots every five minutes during live video chats. The
GCHQ documents also mention possible surveillance efforts involving other web
based video technologies including the Xbox 360 “Kinect” camera and indicate
that Optic Nerve was still active as of 2012. Yahoo has responded to the
disturbing news. They have shown the following statement on the matter: “…This
report, if true, represents a whole new level of violation of our users’
privacy that is completely unacceptable, and we strongly call on the world’s
government to reform surveillance law consistent with the principles we
outlined in December.” There have been Yahoo criticisms, but the major
telecommunications companies have been collaborating with the NSA’s
surveillance operations for years. There is the PRISM surveillance program.
This program had been systematically spying on millions of users of Skype,
Google, Facebook, YouTube, Microsoft, Yahoo, Apple, and others since 2007. An
NSA document was leaked by Edward Snowden last year. The document stated that
PRISM relies on “…assistance of communications providers in the US” and
specifically lists AOL, Apple, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, PalTalk and Yahoo
with the dates on which they “joined” PRISM. Optic Nerve has also been involved
in experimental efforts with facial recognition technology..." A GCHQ document
cited by the Guardian shows that the agency has sought to develop the
capability to search through ongoing webcam sessions for faces already included
in the database. The program collected information via GCHQ’s “Internet cable
taps” operated by the agency’s TEMPORA program. This was when the agency dips
directly into the fiber optic lines that carry vast quantities of data around
the world. The Guardian noted that there is the close collaboration of U.S.
intelligence with its British partner, “Optic Nerve was based on collecting
information from GCHQ’s huge network of internet cable taps, which was then
processed and fed into systems provided by the NSA. Webcam information was fed
into NSA’s XKeyscore search tool, and NSA research was used to build the tool
which identified Yahoo’s webcam traffic.” The Guardian reported that the webcam
material has a large number of sexually explicit materials in the realm of 3-11
percent of all of the images gotten. This shows that the U.S. and British
government continue to violate democratic rights and the privacy of humanity.
Much of the acts of the Western elites are targeting the population as a whole
not just suspected “terrorists.” Many political entities target independent
political groups too. (There is the GCHQ document proving also how the
government units try to discredit political activism). Also this week, the
Justice Department sought permission from the FISA court for the NSA to retain
telephone metadata on an indefinite basis. This data includes phone records for
millions of Americans, showing when they placed calls, with whom they spoke,
and for how long. “The United States must ensure that all potentially relevant
evidence is retained which includes the [business records] metadata obtained in
bulk from certain telecommunications service providers pursuant to this court’s
production orders,” said the Justice Department filing. Current rules form the
FISA court limit retention of metadata by the NSA to five years. The Justice
Departments wants the data to be kept indefinitely to maintain evidence
relevant to lawsuits brought against the government by the Electronic Frontier
Foundation and other civil liberties groups. So, the surveillance state being
nefarious is an understatement.
Judge Mathis has been a
real man that overcame much adversity. For him to help those who are suffering
outlines his strength and compassion. He obviously cares about black youth.
Life for many after prison is extremely difficult. That is why we should address
the prison industrial complex and find unique ways to assist those who paid
their debt to society. The Sister Michelle Alexander has written excellent
literature on this issue greatly. Rick Ross is wrong on many levels. It is
ironic that he claims to want to help society, but he tries to copy the name
and image of an ex-drug dealer (who used drugs to exploit his own community for
profit decades ago). He uses the N word and Trayvon Martin was never the N
word. So, these rappers should never be Eurocentric, but many folks falsely
equate issuing the most degrading lyrics as equivalent with being pro-black.
There is nothing pro-black about advancing lyrics that promote materialism,
misogyny, capitalist exploitation, degrading Brothers and Sisters in the most
obscene terminology possible, etc. Also, hip hop is not monolithic. Many hip
hop artists are progressive and do advance legitimate messages that inspire
people to believe in justice and so forth. Rick Ross ought to change course. We
owe it to the family of Trayvon Martin to do what is right, improve our lives,
and to fight for the radical building in our communities. Therefore, we should
not be reactionaries, but we have to advance real hope for our people (and
advancing revolutionary thinking in our communities that deals with self-determination,
love of our black heritage, and further inspiration to battle against
extrajudicial murders of innocent, unarmed black people). Now, we do realize that this situation is bigger than Rick Ross. This issue is about a systematic situation where structures and corrupt institutions oppress black people (and we have to end these corrupt institutions as a means to have true change. Rappers should not be blamed completely for our conditions as a people at all). Black life is
devalued all of the time. Even black children being killed causes many to still
not value the life of black youth in the world society. Yet, we still can't be
silent. Laws that encourage vigilantism ought to be abolished too. We have to
do more than talk about being opposed to unjust violence. We have to be part of
a proactive solution. It is a shame that Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Aiyana
Jones are not here in the world physically. They were murdered by sick,
perverted human beings. One brother was right that even some of the police acts
as brutish savages. Zimmerman and Michael Dunn have no respect from me at all.
Still, we should thrive for excellence in our lives. Evil folks want us to give
up and just love the status quo. No, we should not love the quo. We have every
right to stand, to fight, and to fight for strong improvement in our
communities. It is naturally for us to fight and we will fight. We will not
only fight black on black violence, but we will fight white on black murder
too. Those of us in the right side of this fight will always value black life
in a great fashion.
Many of the speakers
outlined profoundly legitimate words of inspiration and advice (at the Senator Tim Scott event that deals with Black History Month and black political power). Any human being
should reject materialism, narcissism, and strive for excellence in their
lives. We should be cordial and respectful toward human beings. I have a
thought in my mind too. What are the principles that many seek as a product of
this bipartisanship. I think that in this society, we can't seek total
compromise with a system that doesn't make revolutionary change a reality in
the world. In the final analysis, the PEOPLE should organize their power and
strength as a means to advocate voting rights protection, economic justice, an
end to this wicked war on terror, and to develop alternative solutions (like
forming cooperatives, etc. We need more democratic direct participation among
the lives of the people as the capitalist exploitation of our communities has
been disgraceful for centuries). We are in opposition to the crooked police
officers who harm our Brothers and our Sisters. We are in opposition to black
on black crime and white on black crime (including any unjust crime). We are in
opposition to the capitalist funded prison industrial complex that Michelle
Alexander has eloquently written about. So, we are in the right side of history
on these important issues. We will fight. We have every right to fight CLASS
and RACIAL oppression. I don't agree with Tim Scott on every issue (his
"joke" about being afraid to be in the presence of so many people
from across the aisle is disturbing to say the least. I think that the Tea
Party has a heavily reactionary agenda that I can't follow). Tim Scott should
condemn the white supremacist system period. He should say that the ghetto is
domestic colony of the current power structure (as Dr. King said) and that
imperialism (that is existing now too) is antithetical to the goals and
aspirations of people of black African descent globally. He should say that we
should use all means to fight institutions that discriminate, that harm the poor,
and try to use oppression against the human family. Again, Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. was right to say that there must be radical redistribution of economic
& political power. For those who don't like that, the serfs during the 19th century fought
against the czars for the czar's unfairness against them (then power was
redistributed as a means for the serfs to achieve human rights). The black
people in Africa fought European imperialism and power was redistributed as a
means to end overt imperialism. So, it is not wrong to call for these things at
all. I think that the common good is superior to select corporate interests (for
it is the common wealth of humanity that needs to be advanced as a means to
enrich the lives of all of the PEOPLE). We need more strong grassroots political
activity and self-empowerment. The development of new revolutionary, democratic
organizations and associations (that are independent) can be part of the
solution too. IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS, IT IS ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE.
This is a personal issue
for all of us. I am brown skin in hue and I know for a fact that my oldest dark
skinned blood Brother suffered more bigotry, colorism and racism pound for
pound than I ever did in my life. He is certainly a strong black man and he is
doing great things in his life. Now, colorism is an abomination. We all agree
on this. Regardless if we are light, brown, or dark, we as black people should
be treated the same (with dignity and with respect). I wish we lived in a world
where we don't have to talk about these things, but we do. We do because the
evil of racism and prejudice has not been eliminated in the world. We have to
talk about this issue since ignorant folks still believe that inferiorities
exist among black human beings based on skin complexion, which is an utter lie.
We have to hear stories on black people who are the victims of colorism too. We
have to hear what they have gone through as a means to understand their
struggle and be inspired to do something to end colorism (which is based upon
faux white supremacist views on beauty). We can't be silent on this issue and
we have to be progressive enough to embrace our total BLACKNESS irrespective of
our skin complexion. Dark skinned black people have every right to live their
lives without stereotyping and without ridicule. In our daily lives, we have to
be righteous and stand up against anyone and I do mean anyone (even some black
people) who expresses colorism publicly or privately. Many people need to
realize the beauty of women in every skin color and not get caught up in a
fetish of worshiping white European features as being superior to black African
features. Many blacks who do the escapism act try to find security and
emotional wellbeing. All too often, they find even more racism and bigotry than
previously. It is just commonsense to build in our own community. Even Dr. King
believed that we need the building of black owned institutions. We all know
what Malcolm X felt on the issue. Enough said. A black person advancing other communities'
interests (without advancing their own black people's interests) is selfish,
evil, and a betrayal of their own people. We can call it as we see it. We have
to clean up our HOUSE before we see true liberation. With the situation in our
community, I will never go into a fantasy and try to disregard the struggle of
black people. We are part of the African community, because we are all
Africans. We have to need to have the KNOWLEDGE OF SELF and love for our black
heritage first. If we can't respect ourselves, we can't respect others. That is
the reality of the situation. Their own insecurities (and jealousies about the
BEAUTY OF BLACKNESS. NOTHING IS SUPERIOR TO THE BEAUTY OF BLACKNESS at all)
cause them to artificially create faux beauty standards. They infect society
with bigoted propaganda that runs against the concrete truth that all humans
are created equal. The current system has been manipulative, materialistic, and
nefarious. That is why we must advocate a radical revolutionary change of
values (from materialism to altruism and from the status quo to true justice).
Power has been unfairly owned by a select elite and that is why we need a
radical redistribution of political and economic power as the late Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. said. Also, I have been researching about democratic
cooperatives too. Yes, more folks should realize how important the colorism
issue is. The good news is that more people are talking about it as found in
the Dark Girls documentary and the OWN TV discussion about this issue. We have
to discuss about this issue too as a means for us to heal and make ourselves
whole as black people. BLACK UNITY is one great means to adhere to as well.
Obviously, Lupita is a very beautiful Sister too. This battle for our
liberation is psychological and we have to be psychologically strong to fight
back against anti-black propaganda. There are tons of beautiful black women of
many skin complexions from Carmelita Jeter to Pam Grier. So, we have to
understand ourselves, respect ourselves, and defend ourselves. ALL SHADES OF BLACK
ARE BEAUTIFUL INDEED. BLACK IS BEAUTIFUL.
By Timothy
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Savant's Words
Yes, this is from (if I recall correctly) King's last presidential address at SCLC. Before those comments he said that we had to begin more and more to call into the question the ENTIRE social order, and that meant calling CAPITALISM into question. But he was also saying that he was going there by his own route, not by the path of Marxism-Leninism.
-Savant
_______________________
If you are philosophically inclined, you might check out Rufus Burrow's GOD AND HUMAN DIGNITY: THE PERSONALISM, THEOLOGY AND ETHICS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. There's also a thesis accessible on line written by a brother from the School of Religion at Vanderbilt University (where I studied philosophy). A number of my brother and sister philosophers were talking about it during a professional meeting here in Bmore last December. I read it myself and found it very insightuf (despite some points of disagreement). I think his last name was Seay. I wil look it up and share the info.
-Savant
_________________________
Speaking of his experience in Scandinavia at the time of his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, King writes: This was, for most of us, our first trip to Scandinavia...We felt we had much to learn from Scandinavia's DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST tradition and from the manner in which they had overcome many of social and economic problems that still plagued for more powerful and affluent nations. In both Norway and Sweden, whose economies are literally dwarfed by the size of our affluence and the extent of our technology, they have no unemployment and no slums. Their men, women and children have long enjoyed FREE MEDICAL CARE and QUALITY EDUCATION. This contrast to the limited, halting steps taken by our rich nation deeply troubled me." (See THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR, p. 259).
-Savant
___________________________
Sounds like you--in contrast to Zaius--has actually done some HOMEWORK. Yes, Dr. King DENOUNCED the human rights violations in the Stalinist eastern block and China. But he also denounced the rapaciiousness and exploitation of capitalism, especially unregulated capitalism. His admiration for democratic socialism is unmistably clear. Most scholars don't even seem to debate that fact any more--especially since the publication of previously private papers and letters. King was cautious, however, in expressing his sympathies for democratic socialism. He knew he and the Movement would be redbaited as Communist in this paranoid and politically immature society which can't tell Sweden from the Soviet Union, or Erich Fromm from Joseph Stalin. KIng didn't want to jeopardize the Movement, but he was clearly in favor of social democracy. On quite a few occasions he simply SAID SO.
-Savant
_________________________
And actually, Sina's not exactly correct that the white community is in AS bad a shape as the Black. But the white standard of living is certainly declining, Their umemployment level is not as bad as ours. Even their middle class has greater resources than ours. They certainly don't suffer anything like the abuse of police and judicial system as we do. But their living conditions are WORSENING, so much so that they're getting to be more receptive to talk about CLASS inequality than they've been up till now. Someone on MSNBC reported some polls that show that 75% of African-Americans and 85% of white American feel that there is too much class inequality, too much wealth concentrated in too few hands, and that there's a need for greater incoe equality. What's interesting is that the report said that this attitude among Blacks has existed for a LONG TIME, whereas among whites THIS MUCH dispproval of he economic order of things is a much more recent development. I wish I knew or could remember the source. An elder who was a university student in the late 1960s told me that while In Baltimore in 1967, Dr. King said to a group of Black folk something to the effect that: "The difference between us and our bemused white brethren is not what some of you think. It's not that they're free and we're not. It's that we KNOW we're not free, while they think they are." Perhaps, capitalism is now giving our "bemused white brethren" a WAKE UP CALL!!!
-Savant
__________
In short, Lupito is GORGEOUS.
-Savant
_______________
In light of this, i sometimes wonder if Malcolm and Martin wouldn't have gotten together if both had lived at least another 3--5 years. I seem to recall that James Cone records that they were feeling out the possibility of working together on some level. Some communication was beginning. But then Malcolm was killed. There were differences between them that would not simply disappear. But they might have found some practical common grounds (at least involving mutual support) for working together. This would have made that fascist punk J. Edgar Hoover crap in his pants. And it might have advanced the movement much further. Yes, BOTH men were anti-capitalist, though not Marxist. And both were exploring social alternatives, and thinking about the interrelatedness of of racial oppression and economic exploitation. But Malcolm x moved further than did Dr. King on the issue of the liberation of women. I think King would have caught up, but had not done so at the time he was slain. if we could have kept both of them until at least 1970, and kept their movements alive, how different might history be?
-Savant
http://www.globalresearch.ca/creating-the-world-we-want-knowing-what-we-oppose/5370214
_______________
There are ;elements of Marx's ideas which King accepted, but his foundational philosophical position was PERSONALISM. Personalism is a kind of philosophical idealism, while marxism is a kind of materialism. Those opposed metaphysical perspectives would have made it just about impossible for King to be a Marxist if he wanted to. Of course, you can accept SOME ideas coming from a different perspective as Seneca, a Stoic, could accept SOME Epicurean ideas. But those are the ideas that are compatible with your own philosophical framework. In particualr, Marx helped King be aware (as many middle class civil rights leaders were not) of the economic or class oppression, and the interconnectedness of racial oppression and economic exploitation--which is more blatant in the South than anywhere else in America
-Savant
___________
Dr. King & Global Justice: Univ of Oslo Lecture While in Scandinavia to receive the Nobel Prize, Dr. King made the following remarks about the fight against poverty as a global fight: "The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vsst resources of wealth to develop the undeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these." Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinte metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, too see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between teh RICH MINORITY and the POOR MAJORITY." (THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., P.261; speech given on December 11, 1964) Same struggle, both domestically & globally.
-Savant
_______________
-Savant
_______________________
If you are philosophically inclined, you might check out Rufus Burrow's GOD AND HUMAN DIGNITY: THE PERSONALISM, THEOLOGY AND ETHICS OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. There's also a thesis accessible on line written by a brother from the School of Religion at Vanderbilt University (where I studied philosophy). A number of my brother and sister philosophers were talking about it during a professional meeting here in Bmore last December. I read it myself and found it very insightuf (despite some points of disagreement). I think his last name was Seay. I wil look it up and share the info.
-Savant
_________________________
Speaking of his experience in Scandinavia at the time of his receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, King writes: This was, for most of us, our first trip to Scandinavia...We felt we had much to learn from Scandinavia's DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST tradition and from the manner in which they had overcome many of social and economic problems that still plagued for more powerful and affluent nations. In both Norway and Sweden, whose economies are literally dwarfed by the size of our affluence and the extent of our technology, they have no unemployment and no slums. Their men, women and children have long enjoyed FREE MEDICAL CARE and QUALITY EDUCATION. This contrast to the limited, halting steps taken by our rich nation deeply troubled me." (See THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR, p. 259).
-Savant
___________________________
Sounds like you--in contrast to Zaius--has actually done some HOMEWORK. Yes, Dr. King DENOUNCED the human rights violations in the Stalinist eastern block and China. But he also denounced the rapaciiousness and exploitation of capitalism, especially unregulated capitalism. His admiration for democratic socialism is unmistably clear. Most scholars don't even seem to debate that fact any more--especially since the publication of previously private papers and letters. King was cautious, however, in expressing his sympathies for democratic socialism. He knew he and the Movement would be redbaited as Communist in this paranoid and politically immature society which can't tell Sweden from the Soviet Union, or Erich Fromm from Joseph Stalin. KIng didn't want to jeopardize the Movement, but he was clearly in favor of social democracy. On quite a few occasions he simply SAID SO.
-Savant
_________________________
And actually, Sina's not exactly correct that the white community is in AS bad a shape as the Black. But the white standard of living is certainly declining, Their umemployment level is not as bad as ours. Even their middle class has greater resources than ours. They certainly don't suffer anything like the abuse of police and judicial system as we do. But their living conditions are WORSENING, so much so that they're getting to be more receptive to talk about CLASS inequality than they've been up till now. Someone on MSNBC reported some polls that show that 75% of African-Americans and 85% of white American feel that there is too much class inequality, too much wealth concentrated in too few hands, and that there's a need for greater incoe equality. What's interesting is that the report said that this attitude among Blacks has existed for a LONG TIME, whereas among whites THIS MUCH dispproval of he economic order of things is a much more recent development. I wish I knew or could remember the source. An elder who was a university student in the late 1960s told me that while In Baltimore in 1967, Dr. King said to a group of Black folk something to the effect that: "The difference between us and our bemused white brethren is not what some of you think. It's not that they're free and we're not. It's that we KNOW we're not free, while they think they are." Perhaps, capitalism is now giving our "bemused white brethren" a WAKE UP CALL!!!
-Savant
__________
In short, Lupito is GORGEOUS.
-Savant
_______________
In light of this, i sometimes wonder if Malcolm and Martin wouldn't have gotten together if both had lived at least another 3--5 years. I seem to recall that James Cone records that they were feeling out the possibility of working together on some level. Some communication was beginning. But then Malcolm was killed. There were differences between them that would not simply disappear. But they might have found some practical common grounds (at least involving mutual support) for working together. This would have made that fascist punk J. Edgar Hoover crap in his pants. And it might have advanced the movement much further. Yes, BOTH men were anti-capitalist, though not Marxist. And both were exploring social alternatives, and thinking about the interrelatedness of of racial oppression and economic exploitation. But Malcolm x moved further than did Dr. King on the issue of the liberation of women. I think King would have caught up, but had not done so at the time he was slain. if we could have kept both of them until at least 1970, and kept their movements alive, how different might history be?
-Savant
http://www.globalresearch.ca/creating-the-world-we-want-knowing-what-we-oppose/5370214
_______________
There are ;elements of Marx's ideas which King accepted, but his foundational philosophical position was PERSONALISM. Personalism is a kind of philosophical idealism, while marxism is a kind of materialism. Those opposed metaphysical perspectives would have made it just about impossible for King to be a Marxist if he wanted to. Of course, you can accept SOME ideas coming from a different perspective as Seneca, a Stoic, could accept SOME Epicurean ideas. But those are the ideas that are compatible with your own philosophical framework. In particualr, Marx helped King be aware (as many middle class civil rights leaders were not) of the economic or class oppression, and the interconnectedness of racial oppression and economic exploitation--which is more blatant in the South than anywhere else in America
-Savant
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Dr. King & Global Justice: Univ of Oslo Lecture While in Scandinavia to receive the Nobel Prize, Dr. King made the following remarks about the fight against poverty as a global fight: "The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vsst resources of wealth to develop the undeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these." Deeply etched in the fiber of our religious tradition is the conviction that men are made in the image of God and that they are souls of infinte metaphysical value, the heirs of a legacy of dignity and worth. If we feel this as a profound moral fact, we cannot be content to see men hungry, too see men victimized with starvation and ill health when we have the means to help them. The wealthy nations must go all out to bridge the gulf between teh RICH MINORITY and the POOR MAJORITY." (THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., P.261; speech given on December 11, 1964) Same struggle, both domestically & globally.
-Savant
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