On April 4, 1968, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. King went to Memphis to lend support to African-American striking sanitation workers and combat racism and economic exploitation.
Dr. King’s extraordinary bravery transcends anything I could ever begin to imagine. In his relatively short life, he achieved remarkable milestones that not only reshaped the landscape of civil rights but also inspired countless individuals to stand up for justice and equality. It’s almost unfathomable to consider the monumental impact he could have had on society had he been granted more years to continue his vital work. The sheer volume of challenges he faced would indeed have been exhausting, yet he met each trial with unwavering resolve and a profound commitment to his cause.
Through Dr. King's legacy, we are reminded that true courage lies not only in dreaming of a better world, but also in tirelessly working toward its realization with integrity and passion.
I got this far and agree with the spirit of all you said, especially (excerpted with my take):
1. Rev. King’s legacy lives on as a model of a strategic change agent grounded in spiritual-ethical principles and fortified by courageous character - like Jesus, Gandhi - and not so many more in history.
2. The promised land is not a distant dream but a way of being in the present that honors these humanistic values - but who are those that even aim at being this way, leave alone being it?
3. King’s example is a model for confronting bleak times with unyielding faith in human solidarity and steadfast opposition to human oppression in its many forms - but of what use is a model if it, obviusly does not work? He and his predecessorss (see above) all could not realize their dream and there is no reason to believe that it can be realized.
This is the thing even they did not realize (and no great philosopher either) - and we can do justice to them only by realizing what they missed - and complete that model to a feasible one. From this foundational conviction I can oly give some pointers:
How is their dream justified? By spiritual-ethical principles and God's will - but there is no God and there are no absolute spiritual-ethical principles - it's "simply" the best humans can imagine - and imagine to be - and actually were at one time in the distant past - before their spirit started it's long and irreversible downfall.
Whatever, but how could their dream be realized? It can't be realized - because that downfall is irreversible - but the dream serves to remind us of the state of grace humans started out in - just like animal species, but they managed to stay in it, living as they were supposed to live - sustainably, without laying waste to their habitat or degenerating (as if by an unstoppable brain-virus) as humans did.
What remains? What Rev. King and his predecessors demonstrate is that a human can be as he was supposed to be, like our animal brethren, but iff we have that rare immunity against that unstoppable brain-virus. So some of us may be that (have that immunity), too "as a way of being" - but it is effectively suicide to think we can change all those that are not like that - equating to humanity as a whole not being like that.
We can be that individually (and only very few of us can) but it is denying reality (and presumptuous) if we try to succeed where those great men failed - by opposing human oppression that is simply intrinsic to our species - within that irreversible downfall.
The best we can do in bleak times - and therein do those great examples justice - but also learn from their life - is to understand where the bleakness came from - that we cannot change it (it cannot be changed) but that we (the very few) can still be ourselves, maybe also unite into small communities of like-minded - like a sub-species that isolates itself from the rest - that has gone rabid (with that brain-virus).
One point of clarification I would add that I think is very helpful. We tend to confuse intrinsic and extrinsic value. Something is intrinsically valuable when it is good in of itself. Something is extrinsically valuable when it is only good as a means to an end. A cup, for example or a car, is a means to an end. They have only extrinsic value. I think any great thinkers including Abraham maslow, the humanistic psychologist, have shown that some values are good in of themselves. Some experiences are good in of themselves. Beauty, truth, justice, love, and the like are examples of what Maslow calls B values or being values. I think we sometimes concentrate to exclusively on the results we are seeking to produce. We ought to spend more time thinking about the states of being that we exemplify at any given moment in our lives. And it is by exemplifying the very best of our humanity that we can actually help contribute toward bringing the so-called dream of a better world into reality. thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts
Dr. King’s extraordinary bravery transcends anything I could ever begin to imagine. In his relatively short life, he achieved remarkable milestones that not only reshaped the landscape of civil rights but also inspired countless individuals to stand up for justice and equality. It’s almost unfathomable to consider the monumental impact he could have had on society had he been granted more years to continue his vital work. The sheer volume of challenges he faced would indeed have been exhausting, yet he met each trial with unwavering resolve and a profound commitment to his cause.
Through Dr. King's legacy, we are reminded that true courage lies not only in dreaming of a better world, but also in tirelessly working toward its realization with integrity and passion.
I got this far and agree with the spirit of all you said, especially (excerpted with my take):
1. Rev. King’s legacy lives on as a model of a strategic change agent grounded in spiritual-ethical principles and fortified by courageous character - like Jesus, Gandhi - and not so many more in history.
2. The promised land is not a distant dream but a way of being in the present that honors these humanistic values - but who are those that even aim at being this way, leave alone being it?
3. King’s example is a model for confronting bleak times with unyielding faith in human solidarity and steadfast opposition to human oppression in its many forms - but of what use is a model if it, obviusly does not work? He and his predecessorss (see above) all could not realize their dream and there is no reason to believe that it can be realized.
This is the thing even they did not realize (and no great philosopher either) - and we can do justice to them only by realizing what they missed - and complete that model to a feasible one. From this foundational conviction I can oly give some pointers:
How is their dream justified? By spiritual-ethical principles and God's will - but there is no God and there are no absolute spiritual-ethical principles - it's "simply" the best humans can imagine - and imagine to be - and actually were at one time in the distant past - before their spirit started it's long and irreversible downfall.
Whatever, but how could their dream be realized? It can't be realized - because that downfall is irreversible - but the dream serves to remind us of the state of grace humans started out in - just like animal species, but they managed to stay in it, living as they were supposed to live - sustainably, without laying waste to their habitat or degenerating (as if by an unstoppable brain-virus) as humans did.
What remains? What Rev. King and his predecessors demonstrate is that a human can be as he was supposed to be, like our animal brethren, but iff we have that rare immunity against that unstoppable brain-virus. So some of us may be that (have that immunity), too "as a way of being" - but it is effectively suicide to think we can change all those that are not like that - equating to humanity as a whole not being like that.
We can be that individually (and only very few of us can) but it is denying reality (and presumptuous) if we try to succeed where those great men failed - by opposing human oppression that is simply intrinsic to our species - within that irreversible downfall.
The best we can do in bleak times - and therein do those great examples justice - but also learn from their life - is to understand where the bleakness came from - that we cannot change it (it cannot be changed) but that we (the very few) can still be ourselves, maybe also unite into small communities of like-minded - like a sub-species that isolates itself from the rest - that has gone rabid (with that brain-virus).
One point of clarification I would add that I think is very helpful. We tend to confuse intrinsic and extrinsic value. Something is intrinsically valuable when it is good in of itself. Something is extrinsically valuable when it is only good as a means to an end. A cup, for example or a car, is a means to an end. They have only extrinsic value. I think any great thinkers including Abraham maslow, the humanistic psychologist, have shown that some values are good in of themselves. Some experiences are good in of themselves. Beauty, truth, justice, love, and the like are examples of what Maslow calls B values or being values. I think we sometimes concentrate to exclusively on the results we are seeking to produce. We ought to spend more time thinking about the states of being that we exemplify at any given moment in our lives. And it is by exemplifying the very best of our humanity that we can actually help contribute toward bringing the so-called dream of a better world into reality. thanks for reading and for sharing your thoughts