Event: Economic Inequality: What Would MLK Do? (Sunday, April 24, 2022)
I am honored to be the guest service leader this Sunday, April 24, for the Unitarian Universalist Church of Tarpon Springs, in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The subject of the service and my talk is, “Economic Inequality: What Would Rev. King Do?”
The service is open to the public and will be held in-person and virtually, beginning at 10:30am. I will be joining the event and delivering my presentation, virtually.
Guests are welcome join the event in person at 230 Grand Blvd. Parking is available behind the church’s administration building at 57 Read St. Masks are required and social distancing is strongly suggested. Faith formation programming for children will be available. Those who wish to attend the event virtually can use this link to join us online.
The Topic: Economic Inequality: What Would Rev. King Do?
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. spent the last year of his life organizing a Poor People’s Campaign and march on Washington. King believed that the civil rights movement needed to blossom into a wider “human rights” movement centered on addressing economic exploitation.
In this talk I explore the significance of Rev. King’s organizing efforts and three-pronged analysis of human oppression—the triplet of evil—hold for us, today. Though Rev. King was killed months before the Poor People’s Campaign kicked off, his wife, Coretta, and allies saw the effort through. And now, more than 50-years-later, a new Poor People’s Campaign plans to march on Washington, DC., on June 18, 2022. As economic inequality reaches record highs King’s insights and action have never been timelier.
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I’ve heard about his argument regarding poverty and I largely agree although I don’t find the argument around inequality that compelling.
Despite the fact that I am one of the poor that King was talking about, I’ve also been on the receiving end of the government’s “help” and it’s often made things worse rather than better. I haven’t been able to find continuous secure paid work since 2012, despite receiving the government’s “job programs”. The problem with them is that they are built around the people providing “help” continuing to have people to help, thus their jobs are dependent on having people who can’t find jobs. Which just perpetuates the problem.
I don’t have a problem with the 1% having billions of dollars. I have a problem with the fact that they got that way by eliminating the jobs that I could’ve had which is keeping me in the situation I’m currently in. That’s not something that can be solved through the government programs that I’ve been subjected to.
I’m generally supportive of the concept of basic income as a program because it’s designed to eliminate the barriers that have been created to my continued success. I just take issues with the underlying justification that people have for it and many of the solutions proposed.
Happiness isn’t derived from economic value whether it comes from the government or from a private business. It’s a psychological process created by the individual. They can’t create happiness for people they can only provide the circumstances for people to find it for themselves.