Re: on privatization and accountability

[Cbgord@aol.com]

Thanks for  bringing up what Martin Luther King "actually said and stood 
for." Here are a  few examples of his core values and vision:
 
… 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, extreme 
materialism, and militarism  are incapable of being conquered. 

 
Martin Luther King, Jr.  April 4, 1967 
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.  
Where Do We Go from Here?, by Martin Luther King,  Jr., 1967 
…And I’m simply saying that more  and more, we’ve got to begin to ask 
questions about the whole society. We are  called upon to help the discouraged 
beggars in life’s marketplace. But one day  we must come to see that an edifice 
which produces beggars needs restructuring.  It means that questions must be 
raised. And you see, my friends, when you deal  with this you begin to ask the 
question, “Who owns the oil?” You begin to ask  the question, “Who owns the iron 
ore?” You begin to ask the ques­tion, “Why  is it that people have to 
pay water bills in a world that’s two-thirds water?”  These are words that must 
be said. 
Where Do We Go from Here?, by Martin Luther King,  Jr., 1967 

We are now making demands that will cost the nation  something. You can’t 
talk about solving the economic problem of the Negro  without talking about 
billions of dollars. You can’t talk about end­ing  slums without first saying 
profit must be taken out of slums. You’re really  tampering and getting on 
dangerous ground because you are messing with folk  then. You are messing with the 
captains of industry... Now this means that we  are treading in difficult 
waters, because it really means that we are saying  that something is wrong.., 
with capitalism.... There must be a better  distribu­tion of wealth and 
maybe America must move toward a  Democ­ratic Socialism. 
Statement to his staff,  1966 quoted in I May Not Get There With You, Michael 
Eric  Dyson 
In a message dated 5/19/2006 6:58:04 A.M. Pacific Daylight Time,  
ABurke5054@aol.com writes:

Finally, trying to enlist Martin Luther King in your  ludicrous Marxist 
assault on corporations is a distortion of what he  actually said and stood for, a 
disservice to his memory, makes you look  ridiculous, and does your cause no 
good at all.  Jettison that ridiculous  baggage.