Decline in King's Support Towards the End of His Life

This is the Martin Luther king, Jr. weekend. I finally heard someone on TV mention his name a few hours ago -- Obama giving a speech/sermon at a church in the Capitol.

What most people forget is that King's popularity was declining towards the end of his life as he moved on from desegregation to concerns about poverty and wealth. If I remember rightly, he developed this concern in his last book, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Desegregation was okay with many, but challenging poverty in the late 1960s was not.

Needless to say this concern is even more acutely our principal justice issue today with the vast gap that has been opening up between the super rich and the rest of us who are slipping or in dire straights with the effects of our oligarchic economy.

Obama knows this and hopefully he and his fellow Democrats will be able to do something about it. They are up against massive lobbying by the powerful instruments of wealth which feel no responsibility for the public interest.

How sad it will be if the U.S. slides down this rabbit hole.
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"A war is just if there is no alternative, and the resort to arms is legitimate if they represent your last hope." (Livy cited by Machiavelli)
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Ed Kent [blind copies]