This will be a day of irony as Donald Trump is sworn in as President on the birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr.
This day will highlight the divide between Americans who derive their values from property rights and Americans who believe values come from their benefit to humanity as a whole as well as the environment. Obviously, we need both property rights and human rights but, in times of crisis, we sometimes must choose which is our goal and which is our method.
Today America faces just such a crisis- is America to be governed by capitalism or by a democratic process? America has always had two souls. One American soul has been a fledgling vision of liberty and human rights for all people. The other American soul has sought to maximize profits no matter what the human or environmental cost.
Each of us is called this day to choose which America we intend serve. Do we choose Donald Trump’s vision of America as a rich and powerful empire, or Dr. King’s vision of America as beloved community?
Do we really believe that all people are born with an inalienable right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness or do we believe people must earn those goods through the capitalist system?
Building Martin Luther King’s vision of a beloved community will require a return to the unfinished American revolution. We must end the special pleading of privileged classes and return to that revolutionary spirit seeking a government of the people, by the people and for the people.
It seems to me what we need is not an individual leader who flatters the masses while enriching the few, but a grassroots democratic process that empowers the masses over and against the powerful rich.
Written on 1/20/2025