These days Martin Luther King Jr. has been so drained of meaning that he is cynically appropriated by parties as diverse as the Republicans and Chevy (some of you may have seen the recent John Mellencamp Chevy ad (click here to view) that argues through its strategic deployment of symbols that Chevy and American dissent are inseparable). But let us not forget MLK’s highly critical attack against the Vietnam War. I encourage all to read the speech, “Beyond Vietnam: Beyond the Violence,” which could easily have been written today. The following three lines are the most precise deconstruction of our current system that you will ever read:

Rev. Martin Luther King, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence:

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

PS. I found some great MLK quotes at this Peak Oil site. It’s worth checking out.