Remembering Dr.King on his special day
“I imagine you already know that I am more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic … (capitalism) started out with a noble high motive … but like most human systems it fell to the very thing it was revolting against. So today capitalism has out-lived its usefulness,” Martin Luther King Jr. once said.
Jan. 21 is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a day to remember MLK for the man he was. Nice, caring, intelligent, thoughtful; the list goes on and on. MLK, like Albert Einstein, Noam Chomsky and many other scholars, supported socialist ideals from an economic standpoint. Many people hear “socialism” and think “free handouts.” They say it is unrealistic and not fair. They say, “Maybe in a perfect world.”
To me, this isn’t the truth. To me, the truth is, maybe capitalism would work in a perfect world. Maybe, in a perfect world, someone such as Jeff Bezos would be content with only a couple billion dollars compared to over $25 million. Maybe in a perfect world, companies like Ford Motor Company wouldn’t cut hundreds of thousands of jobs and send them out of U.S. borders to profit the select few more. People say, “Under socialism, there is no incentive to work.” Capitalism has proved this theory wrong by underpaying workers, yet, most of these people have no choice but to work, and some work as much as 80 hours a week.
We can make capitalism work, however. “Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children,” MLK said. We can make capitalism work. Give unions more power. Let the workers have a bigger role in company decision-making.
More often than not, it is the board of directors who make the calls, and who sits on the board of directors usually? Those with the most stock invested in a company. Realistically speaking, it would be smart for them to want to profit as much as possible, and from a human standpoint, I can’t blame them. Most people would do the same. Positions of power are extremely addicting. Just watch “The Stanford Prison Experiment” if you don’t believe me.
The wealth gap is increasing, and we need to come together as American citizens to solve this crisis. It is unethical to believe it is just that someone is homeless or living in poverty. Especially in a place like Fargo, where winds can get up to 60 miles per hour. Simply put, it is immoral.
There is no denying the richest of the rich have more money than is ethically acceptable. At what point does it become greed? Ask yourself this: what is the lowest amount of money it would require you to live the rest of your life in harmony? $1 million? $5 million? What about $40 billion? For most of us I imagine, it’s probably less than $15 million.
The great Greek politician Cicero said we should look at politics morally and ethically and for the common good of the people. Is it ethical that the richest 1 percent of Americans own more than the bottom 90 percent? Is it ethical that one person can have over $120 million, while over 40 million Americans live in poverty? These are things to think about.