-Caveat Lector- <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/"> </A> -Cui Bono?- "Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord." Martin Luther King closed his last sermon in Memphis, the day before he was assassinated, with the words above. The entire sermon, along with many other speeched and writings by MLK, can be found on-line at Stanford's Martin Luther King Papers archive. I'm listing that archive, along with this sermon and his Letter From the Birmingham Jail, on The On-Line Books Page today. (I'd already listed his "I have a Dream" speech, also on this site.) They make good reading for Martin Luther King Day. All too often, national heroes are reduced to simple icons defined by a few sound bites, with the greater depth and complexity of their visions and characters omitted. Reading the person's own writings and speeches, in their unexcerpted form, helps give insight into their lives and goals. In his later years, for instance, King's speeches focused increasing attention not only on the problem of racism but the problems of poverty and warfare, and exhorted his listeners to work on building more just social systems: "I want to say to you as I move to my conclusion, as we talk about 'Where do we go from here?' that we must honestly face the fact that the movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, 'Why are there forty million poor people in America?' And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I'm simply saying that more and more, we've got to begin to ask questions about the whole society." This is from a speech he made in Atlanta in 1967, often titled "Where Do We Go From Here?" King makes it clear in the speech that he's not advocating communism, but rather a "synthesis that combines the truths of both" capitalism and communism. You can read the whole speech at http://www.stanford.edu/group/King/speeches/Where_do_we_go_from_here.html (By coincidence, today I'll also be listing one of the better-known 20th century books arguing for laissez-faire capitalism: Ludwig von Mises' _Human Action_, put on-line at the Mises Institute by permission of the copyright holder. My thanks to them for making this book available; I hope that this and other on-line books on economics help make readers better informed of the issues and debates.) Martin Luther King came out of a long tradition of Christian preaching and activism in southern black churches. If you'd like to explore that tradition more deeply, UNC's archive "The Church in the Southern Black Community" at http://metalab.unc.edu/docsouth/church/index.html has books documenting some of the early history. I'll be adding the remaining books in that collection today (though other parts of UNC's Documenting the American South collection are still in the process of being listed). <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are not allowed. Substance�not soap-boxing! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'�with its many half-truths, misdirections and outright frauds�is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRL gives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://home.ease.lsoft.com/archives/CTRL.html http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om
