Martin King, in his April 4th, 1967 speech, “Beyond Vietnam,” discussed what he called the triple tragedy of “Racism, Extreme Militarism and Materialism,” that could engulf the United States if our foreign policy was not re-examined and re-focused toward people and not toward money and protecting the interests of money around the world. If we look at our nation today, it is easy to see that Martin King’s prophecy has come true.
Our nation even with the legislation that was enacted in the 60’s as result of the civil rights struggle is perhaps more racist now than then. You ask, how can this be, and the answer is that our government still focuses its wrath on those who have no voice, the poor, the marginalized and those who disagree with it. It is common place for local news, television and radio to echo the calls for expelling those who don’t for some reason, “fit in” in our nation. The violence that is a daily occurrence on the border with Mexico is in a large measure the fault of our nation and its people. Instead of having an open discussion on the causes, trade treaties (NAFTA), our sponsorship of oppressive governments in nations in central and south America, or our sponsorship of military opposition to governments that are seen to be unfriendly in that they do not want their countries owned lock, stock and barrel by American interests.
We also blame the drug trade for the violence on the border, and some ways that is correct. The end of the war on drugs, our continued refusal to see the logical results of legalizing certain narcotics, marijuana for one; which would take away the demand for the narcotics trade as it passes through Mexico. This would free up resources to start a treatment programs to deal with those our friends, neighbors and family members who have an addiction problem and to attack addiction at its source which dries up demand for the illicit drugs. We see racism in the way that the war on terror has unfolded, which has been a declaration of war on persons of Asian heritage who practice Islam. We see racism and extreme militarism in the way that we have militarized our domestic police forces and court systems to fight this war on “terror,” by terrorizing segments of our population at home and those who live outside our borders.
We use racism and extreme militarism to support the last part of Martin King’s triple tragedy, extreme materialism. It is by using the armed forces of the United States to ensure that the US has an uninterrupted flow of resources to prop up our appetite for things, and what is becoming a burden that cannot be propped up forever. The idea of materialism has engulfed our nation, as acquiring “things,” has become the main purpose of life for our young people, who have been programmed and bombarded with messages of materialism since before they could walk. When children can say “Burger King,” “McDonald’s” or “Wal-Mart,” before they can say Mommy or Daddy, what does that say about our society?
Extreme materialism has caused the tax burden in our country to be shifted from those who have it all, to those who have some and are losing it. In the election of 2010, we seen the pendulum swing again, but I question that movement, because it was largely caused by those who have riches playing on the fears of those who have little. By manufacturing consent as Noam Chomsky calls it, the rich using media outlets controlled by them, swing the minds of people to vote against their own interests. We cannot forget, the forfeiture of power to the rich by the Democratic Party by not taking a stand on healthcare for all, by not forcing the withdrawal of our sons and daughters from wars fought on questionable grounds and by not taking on those who robbed the people of the United States of their savings, investments, pensions, and homes by their gaming of the financial system.
The prophecy of Martin King has become fact, and the question is how do we deal with it?
