MLK Remembered

When Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered one of the first things that usually comes to mind is his "I Have A Dream Speech". I prefer to call attention to his April 1967 oration at the Riverside Church entitled: Beyond Vietnam: A Time To Break Silence.

This was a controversial yet powerful MLK presentation. What King was doing here was moving beyond the role of "civil rights leader" to a vocal role of opposing the US Government and its' prosecution of the war in Vietnam. This position certainly did not win King many friends in powerful places. Is it a coincidence that he was gunned down a year to the day of delivering this homily.

King wasn't perfect, but then again none of us are. In this Riverside Church speech he emerged as a moral leader and spokesman and demonstrated a courage is rare in any era.


Finally, as I try to delineate for you and for myself the road that leads from Montgomery to this place I would have offered all that was most valid if I simply said that I must be true to my conviction that I share with all men the calling to be a son of the living God. Beyond the calling of race or nation or creed is this vocation of sonship and brotherhood, and because I believe that the Father is deeply concerned especially for his suffering and helpless and outcast children, I come tonight to speak for them.

This I believe to be the privilege and the burden of all of us who deem ourselves bound by allegiances and loyalties which are broader and deeper than nationalism and which go beyond our nation's self-defined goals and positions. We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers.

And as I ponder the madness of Vietnam and search within myself for ways to understand and respond to compassion my mind goes constantly to the people of that peninsula. I speak now not of the soldiers of each side, not of the junta in Saigon, but simply of the people who have been living under the curse of war for almost three continuous decades now. I think of them too because it is clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution there until some attempt is made to know them and hear their broken cries.

Ike's Farewell Speech --50 Years On

January 17, 1961 President Dwight Eisenhower delivered a valedictory most famous for his warning of encroaching power by the military industrial complex. Jeremy Grantham, in this re-examination of Ike's speech focuses on another aspect that we all really should contemplate.

"As we peer into society's future, we – you and I, and our government – must avoid the impulse to live only for today, plundering for, for our own ease and convenience, the precious resources of tomorrow. We cannot mortgage the material assets of our grandchildren without asking the loss also of their political and spiritual heritage. We want democracy to survive for all generations to come, not to become the insolvent phantom of tomorrow."

We as a society are entering a demographic nightmare that will surely strain the safety nets of our social fabric. I am talking about the aging and retirement of the baby boom generation. At a time when we need to harness our financial savings we as a society are eating our seed corn. As we ask the next generation to take care of us in our twilight years ,we , my generation needs a sobering self examination. What are we doing to help this next generation in this task. For example as Grantham states,"leaving them with no national debt and an impeccably up to date infrastructure".

The sad answer is : not much.

Laissez- Faire Conservatism vs. The Progressive Tradition

David Leonhardt writes a fascinating piece in today's Times, detailing the many year philosophical battle waged between American conservatives and American progressives. In this particular example he uses the health care debate as his centerpiece.

I appreciate how important laissez-faire has been in America's development, but I'm amazed at that camps utter opposition to any "big picture change". Social Security, overtime, integration, civil rights-- all bad according to my right-wing friends. Ronald Reagan led the charge against Medicare. It's kind of funny now looking back at his arguements againt the program--- oh my "socialized medicine." We are going to have trouble paying for many of these "progressive" ideas as we move on, but that is a totally different conversation.

The federal income tax, a senator from New York said a century ago, might mean the end of “our distinctively American experiment of individual freedom.” Social Security was actually a plan “to Sovietize America,” a previous head of the Chamber of Commerce said in 1935. The minimum wage and mandated overtime pay were steps “in the direction of Communism, Bolshevism, fascism and Nazism,” the National Association of Manufacturers charged in 1938.

After Brown v. Board of Education outlawed school segregation in 1954, 101 members of Congress signed a statement calling the ruling an instance of “naked judicial power” that would sow “chaos and confusion” and diminish American greatness. A decade later, The Wall Street Journal editorial board described civil rights marchers as “asking for trouble” and civil rights laws as being on “the outer edge of constitutionality, if not more.”

US Budget #'s for November--Can't Make It Up

This is an eye-opener. The Treasury released the budget deficit numbers for the month of November. On the income side of the ledger we had an inflow of $148 billion. Here is the amazing part: we spent $ 299 billion. I keep on saying that this madness can't continue forever. We shall see.

Read more at ZEROHEDGE

American Citizen or American Consumer: Who Are We?

The news reports today on "Black Friday" are proclaiming a return of the American consumer. This article featured prominently in the NYTimes paints the picture:

Malls across the country reported overflowing parking lots, and stores reported lines out their doors, as Americans seemed — finally — to be spending again. ...

There seemed to be a resurgence in spending on discretionary items, a bright spot for an economy where nonessential spending has been weak.

I hear a line repeated often since the horrors of 9/11. "They hate us for our way of life". What does that mean?More and more it seems to me that "our way of life" is an endless quest for "things". We define economic progress by measuring nonessential spending.

When I was a kid and a member of the Boy Scouts, there were two merit badges that stood out above all others: Citizenship in the Community and Citizenship of the Nation. What we learned as we studied to fulfill the requirements for these badges were the responsibilities that come with being a member of the local community as well as the responsibilities of being an American. It was a proud day for me when I earned those two badges. Maybe this is a slight exaggeration but it sure seems like the only responsibility for citizens/consumers today is to spend, spend, spend.

If we could only grow our way out of this economic mess

One of the most frustrating sideshows of the economic meltdown is the simplistic, pedestrian coverage and analysis offered by our media leaders. Take for example this article in today's NYTimes. The focus of the piece as stated in the title is that economic growth and an economic environment that cultivates growth can be a big help in our effort to cut our deficits:


If the economy grew one half of a percentage point faster than forecast each year over the next two decades — no easy feat, to be fair — the country would have to do roughly 40 to 50 percent less deficit-cutting than it now appears, based on my reading of budget data from the economists Alan Auerbach and William Gale.

The article goes on to talk about how economic growth was instrumental in the surprising turn in the '90's from deficit to surplus. The article lacks any in-depth analysis of how or why this economic growth in the 90's came about. The boom of the '90's was brought about in large part because of the Internet build out and cheap abundant credit.The Internet boom started out legitimately but degenerated in many ways into a glorified ponzi scheme.

I believe what we saw in those years was a continuation of Alan Greenspan's easy money policies that began after the '87 stock market crash and continued throughout the '90's.It was one crisis after the next: Latin America, Russia, the LTMC fiasco, the Asian tigers. One excuse after the next to simulate. Remember "irrational exhuberance'?

Post 9-11 we went through the same scenario, this time it was housing that was the bubble of choice. All through this cycle we as a society have delayed making responsible financial decisions. Instead we have spent $ we don't have, run up the credit card to a point where we are at our limit and instead of bracing for tough, difficult choices our media elite offer a bromide: we can grow our way out of trouble. Good luck. It's not going to happen.

Karl Denninger does a great job of laying out the math of our current situation in many of his posts. It's time for us as a nation to understand reality, rather than continually wishing upon a star. As Yogi Berra once said, "It's getting late early here".

Election Day 2010--What Does It mean?

Tomorrow, November 2 is Election Day in the USA. Take your pick of bad news: unemployment, mortgage mess, ongoing war , tax increases, it looks like we will see the public embrace the "throw the bums out" approach in the voting booth. That probably isn't all together bad because there sure are a lot bums up on Capitol Hill and we really do need fresh blood and fresh ideas. What bothers me is that I just don't see any fresh ideas on the horizon.

The chart at the top of this post deserves a close look. The pundits have frequently offered the opinion that Obama is anti-business and that his business antipathy is a major factor behind our "jobless recovery". The truth is though private sector job growth has been plunging over the past 10 years to become non-existent. As far as jobs are concerned, the only real growth since 2000 has come through government jobs. Sure, that is no recipe for real sustainable growth, but the point is this economic environment wasn't hatched overnight. In some ways it is amazing that it has taken this long for Joe Q Public to get "mad as hell". I guess that is the magic of stimulus scams, pull-forward demand programs and various bubbles stoked by Greenspan/Bernanke and cronies . Yes, the public is pissed now and there will be a new roster come Wednesday morning.

What does this new crew think they are going to do? Let's see how serious Americans are about adopting an austerity program. My gut tells me, not very.