Beyond Good and Evil
“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, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.; April 4, 1967
I think that Monday was an extremely important point in current history. At a time when many Americans were thinking about the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., his memory was juxtaposed with that of the vile racist Donald Trump. The stark contrast in their characters was obvious for all to see.
It's not just the difference in character between King and Trump that is important, of course. In the larger sense, it's the impact that they have upon other people. Those who respect and honor Dr. King's message are distinct from those who follow and support Trump. Thus, our society is currently experiencing great tension. For that reason, it is important that we fully understand and appreciate the vast differences between “creative tensions,” of which Dr. King mastered, and “negative tensions,” which define Trump.
In their formative years, both men grew up in the shadow of a successful father. The elder King was a prominent minister, and the elder Trump was a “successful” speculator and thief. King's father worked for making a more just society, while Trump's father was a racist Klu Klux Klan member. Both Dr. King and Donald Trump would opt to follow in the footsteps of their fathers' careers. Both experienced some tensions with their fathers as they began to be successful. Both would become national figures, rather than the parochial statuses that their fathers were.
King was a complex man. In his early life, he struggled with serious depression. He sought to identify the “meaning of life” through his early and extraordinary education. Though he was raised in a republican, middle class home, he was fascinated with radical “liberation theology,” as documented in John Ansbro's “Martin Luther King, Jr.: The Making of a Mind” (Maryknoll; 1990). As a result, King would never seek great material wealth.
Trump is a simpleton. He sought his father's approval, but never really obtained it. Hence, his never-ending quest for the admiration of others. More, he defined “success” in terms of crushing opposition on his path to obtaining material wealth.
King was a registered republican, until the 1960 presidential election. When Senator Kennedy responded to Mrs. King's concerns about her incarcerated husband's safety, the extended King family would become Democrats. In particular, Dr. King worked with President Johnson to achieve the historic Civil Rights legislation successes.
Trump, on the other hand, has been a Democrat, an independent, a third-party member, and a republican – all depending upon what position he felt was most beneficial to him as an individual. With the election of Barack Obama, Trump would chose to identify with the racist right-wing of the republican party. In doing so, he was being as true to his nature as he ever had been as an adult. For Donald Trump is nothing, if not racist scum.
When Dr. King delivered his “A Time to Break Silence (Beyond Vietnam)” speech on April 4, 1967, at the Riverside Church in NYC, it marked a break from LBJ's White House. By the end of the year, King was outlining a plan for a “Poor Persons March,” to occupy Washington, DC. That was an unacceptable level of “creative tension” for politicians. Senator Robert Byrd would infamously call for the “preventive” detention of Dr. King on the floor of the US Senate, should the planned occupation appear to be moving forward.
As King continued to openly oppose US “policy” in Vietnam, as well as violence in the Middle East, many of those who previously viewed him as a “responsible” Civil Rights leader tuened on him viciously. This is well-documented in Taylor Branch's “At Canaan's Edge: America in the King Years 1965-68” (Simon & Schuster; 2006). Indeed, as Branch shows, King's progressive stance resulted in the formation of “neoconservatism” – liberal social policy, military might foreign policy – a mutant splinter of the Democratic Party.
King did not endorse any candidate for the 1968 presidential contest. One can only speculate if he might have endorsed anyone, had he lived. There was an effort to convince him to run on a third-party ticket with anti-war pediatrician Dr. Benjamin Spock, though there is no evidence he seriously considered that option. What is evident is that the final year of his life was extremely painful for King as a man. Yet he was willing to sacrifice for the greater good.
Trump had previously flirted with the idea of running for president, but took the first actual step in 1988, when he contacted Bush the Elder to say he was interested in running as vice president. (See: The American Odyssey of George Herbert Walker Bush; John Meacham; Random House; 2015) In the years to come, Trump found that by appealing to the racist instincts of white people, he could form a political base for a future run for the presidency.
King believed that by appealing to the public's basic decency and sense of justice, America could reach its potential. Trump believed that by appealing to Russian mobsters, he could bring America back to a point where minorities had no power, and that he could gain financially at the same time. This reminds me of Malcolm X's teaching that society has a choice between a sparkling clean glass of water, and a filthy glass of sludge.
Perhaps the most significant achievement of Dr. King's life is that he inspired everyday people to join him in the effort to, in his words, “save America's soul.” The strength of his example still holds power today. We saw that in the Occupy Movement, and in numerous other selfless social and political movements. We saw it last year in the Women's March on Washington. We need to see a lot more of it now.
While Trump is extremely dangerous, as a malignant narcissist in the White House, it is evident that he also has encouraged his alt-right/ KKK base to take more threatening actions. We saw that in their recent march, in which it is accurate to say there were not “good people on both sides.” We see it in the gross responses to virtually every hateful utterance that comes out of the shit-hole that is Donald Trump's mouth.
We face a clear choice as a nation. Dr. King and Diaper Don represent the two choices, but it goes well beyond those two individuals. Our future – immediate and long-term – depend upon which glass that each of us decides to drink from.
Peace,
H2O Man
= new reply since forum marked as read
For your great commentary. Always thoughtful and appreciated. 
Thanks WaterMan 
