This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
I HAVE A DREAM (SLIGHT RETURN)
Last year, on the occasion of Martin Luther King Day, I was asked
by several readers to re-write Dr Martin Luther King's famous speech
in a parody attack on Wall Street. I declined for a number of
important reasons, reverence for Dr King being one, the risk of hyperbole being the
other.
Now, following the events of the past year, I no longer feel it is hyperbole to update
his speech to match the current state of national/economic affairs.
I do not mean to trivialize the original goals of the civil rights movement.
However, I believe that the problem of racial injustice in the United
States has further morphed into something different yet similar but equally nefarious: corruption driven economic injustice.
Moreover, I don't think I need remind everyone that
Americans of color happen to be bearing the full brunt of the current
economic crisis, what is now being called by many the "Great Depression II."
The measure of any epic historic document or speech is its timelessness, its ability to remain relevant and meaningful through the tides of time.
It is in this spirit that I have
modified the speech and would urge you to first relisten to Dr King's
original speech as I have, and
consider what has changed and how the speech remains relevant as
ever to each and every one of us.
It is remarkable how little needed to be changed.
I HAVE DREAM (SLIGHT RETURN)
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as
the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
In 1776, the founding fathers, in whose symbolic shadows we stand
today, signed the Declaration of Independence. This momentous decree
came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Americans who had
been seared in the flames of withering political and economic
injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their
political and economic captivity.
But almost 250 years later, ordinary Americans are still not
free. Two hundred and fifty years later, the life of ordinary Americans is sadly
crippled by the manacles a government that is operating under the credo "by the corporation
for the corporation", rather than "by the people for the people."
Two hundred and fifty years later, countless
Americans are living in a lonely island of poverty, struggling to
get by on government handouts, in the midst of a vast ocean of obscene prosperity in many instances subsidized by their government.
Two hundred and fifty years later, Men women and
children of all color are languishing in the corners of a
privileged society controlled by the few and find themselves an economic exile
in their own land. And so we've come here today to dramatize a
shameful condition.
In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When
the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a
promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note
was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would
be guaranteed the "unalienable Rights" of "Life, Liberty and the
pursuit of Happiness." It is obvious today that America has defaulted
on this promissory note. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation,
Washington DC together with it's financial enablers on Wall Street,
have given the American people a bad
check, a check which has come back marked "Too Big To Fail."
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We
refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great
vaults of economic opportunity of this nation. And so, we've come to cash this
check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of opportunity and the security of economic justice.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the
fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of
cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is
the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to
rise from the dark and desolate valley of "moral hazard" to the sunlit
path of creative capitalism. Now is the time to save our nation from the
quicksands of chronic bailouts and "Too Big to Fail" to the time
proven solid rock of
creative destruction and economic opportunity. Now is the time to make
economic justice a
reality for all of our children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the
moment. This sweltering summer of economic discontent will not pass
until there is an invigorating autumn of transparent economic growth
and opportunity. Nineteen sixty-three was not an end, but a beginning. And
those who hope that it was just the Negro who needed to blow off steam
and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation
continues to allow Wall Street and much of corporate America to operate "business as usual."
And there
will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until Americans are
returned their citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will
continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day
of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people, who stand on the
warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice: In the process
of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful
deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking
from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our
struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not
allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again
and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical
force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which is engulfing America
must not lead us to a distrust of all wealth, for many of our successful brothers in business, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come
to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they
have come to realize that their economic success is inextricably bound to our success.
We cannot walk alone.
And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead.
We cannot turn back.
There are those who are asking, "When
will you be satisfied?"
We can never be satisfied as long as outspoken Americans
are the victims of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.
We can
never be satisfied as long as our country continues to be pillaged by greed and corruption.
We cannot be satisfied as long as Americans individually and as a people are
forced to struggle under the chains of unsustainable debt.
We can
never be satisfied
as long as our children are stripped of their self-hood and robbed of
their dignity by pepper spraying goons protecting signs stating: "Keep
off the Grass."
Not only can we not be satisfied as long as a Negro in
Mississippi cannot vote but equally as long as an ordinary person on Main
Street USA is forced to accept that his worth less than those in the
privileged club of Wall Street billionaires.
No, no, we are not
satisfied, and we
will not be satisfied until "justice rolls down like waters, and
righteousness like a mighty stream."
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials
and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells.
And some of you have come from areas where your quest -- quest for
economic freedom and opportunity left you battered by the storms of
persecution and staggered
by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of
creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned
suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama,
go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana,
go back to downtown New York City, Oakland, Boston, Detroit and LA and
the rotting housing tracts of California, Ohio, Massachusetts, Nevada, Florida and Arizona, knowing
that somehow this situation can and will be changed.
Let us not wallow in the valley of despair, I say to you today, my friends.
And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I
still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the
true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men, not corporations or banks but men, are created equal."
I have a dream today!
And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring
from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city,
we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black
men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will
be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro
spiritual:
Free at last! Free at last!
Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!
- advertisements -



Damn that was a bunch of self righteous bull shit. The average black IQ is 85, whites 100, Asian 101, Hispanic 93, Indians 94, we the people have known this shit for decades.
Now does that mean there are no blacks with a IQ over 100? No, but it pretty fucking rare.
We also have decades of FBI statistics showing blacks are 6.5 times more likely to end up in the clink than white people, Hispanics 4.4, and whites 4 time more likely than Asians to wind up in the clink.
Putting it another way blacks are 26 times more likely to end up in jail than Asians, Hispanics 15.2, and whites 4 times. Decades of these numbers, sitting right there at the D of J and FBI.
Fuck all the PC crap, end affirmative action, and let the fucking free market decide who gets what.
What we have today is institutionalized racism against white males and Asians.
You forgot the most hated of the hateds; Yids.
How do they score on IQ tests?
If they're so smart, how come they need zionism?
Yids are over 110, funny crime goes up the lower the IQ, except at the extreme range of above 130, Yids? You make the call.
"No but it pretty fucking rare." (sic)
How in the fuck would you know? I bet you never hang around a bunch of blacks enough to know who's relative to you stupid and who's not.
Having an average IQ of 100 is still pretty fucking stupid IMO. So what you're really saying here is that whites are 15 points higher in the IQ still-stupid-scale than blacks? It's really nothing to Crow about (no pun intended).
Average still-stupid 100 IQ'ers are basically manual labor Joe-6-Pack types. Fortunately there are also plenty of mega-smart black outliers as there are whites, yellows, and brownies. Those outliers technology-speaking still tend to move the world.
Now regarding blacks since it's the topic, I've known some of those mega-smart black outliers. Let me tell you, they're fucking smart with a capital S.
IQ test. Crime. Stupid behavior. That’s how I know. I grew up in the ghetto, Pontiac, Michigan.
Sorry, realitiy bites.
You're all over the place.
Jim Crow was the opposite of letting the fucking free markets decide who gets what. The Civil Rights movement IMO has overshot destruction of those laws, but the destruction of those laws were a movement towards a freer market.
What is the point of your statistics on jailing? Are you arguing for legally sanctioned segregation? I'm not going to debate the racial/genetic testosterone level theory here with you on race and crime levels, I don't have the background, and I would guess you don't either. The unequal application of the drug laws, however, is well documented. Look into it. Combine that with the fact that more than half of the prison population is in for nonviolent crimes, and you have some serious variables that you're not taking into account. Wake up man. What we have today is instutionalized "racism" against everybody.
the COMMISSION of crime is unequal.
The reason blacks feel persecuted is because they violate white laws and codes of morality more frequently because they are in aggregate qualitatively different than whites.
If you think the crack laws or whatever are racist, do some research on the disproportionality of FICO or red light cameras. Blacks offend these computers as disproportionately as they do white laws.
The previous posters are categorically CORRECT about civil rights and it is worth noting that the entire movement was built and funded NOT by blacks but by another group who is cousins with the entire media and finance control structure.
Do your own research on the NAACP and SPLC. Then maybe read or watch Farrakhan and see what he has to say about the slave trade's primary purveyors (sourced from authors who would not be considered antithetical to the group they point the finger at). Also research marxism and the origins of the word racism. You will see some undeniable TRENDS pop right out at you.
As far as people in jail for nonviolent crimes, changing incarceration rules WOULD NOT change the demographic breakdown of the prison population. Merely because you lack the chops to debate this topic means only that you lack the chops and are ignorant. Rather than seek to avoid debate, perhaps either get educated or accept what your betters tell you.
The application of drug laws, which criminalize voluntary behavior, is categorically racist.
The fact that you have spent so much of your life researching how a "group" of people are "inferior" to you regardless of individual differences (and they do exist, even in your IQ statistics) speaks volumes about your twisted psychology.
The fuck is your point Trav? What is the world you want to see? Your hostile undertone towards the civil rights movement suggests you support state sanctioned segregation, eugenics (from your past posts Trav), and forced deportation. All violations of the natural right to freely interact with others of our choosing. Notice that this includes YOUR right to go live with the fucking skinheads in Montana for all I care. Please do.
BTW, I love the fact that you obsessively point to urban decay as the fault of blacks on a site that reports daily on the deindustrialization of the western world due to central planning.
Memo to government; People should judged on the content of their character and not the color of their skin.
As far as the D of J goes its there on the net for anyone to see. Just remember they try to confuse you by combining white and Hispanic statistic to pump up the white crime rate. They (FBI, D of J) use to give strait numbers but the PC crowd made them change so you have to dig deeper. You can do it!
Decades and decades of IQ test and crime statistics.
Decades and decades of discrimination against white males and Asians.
Btw, do those stats include white collar crime? If they don't well let me tell ya there chemosabe, I think the white side of this here race and crime coin would be plenty black-looking too.
it's very easy to do...just look at NYC. The NYT publishes this.
NYC is a city that very much "looks like America" in terms of racial proportion.
Suffice it to say there is little point in wasting police resources looking for an asian (or even white) shooting suspect or even homicide suspect.
Contrary to shit like CSI NY, the VAST MAJORITY (mid 90%) of these serious violent crimes are not committed by devious white people on the upper east side.
Get ready for the red arrows. People like to leave in a dream, and not be burdened with facts. I would ad one point. God has done a lot of great things through people who had many flaws. Martin Luther King may have had his flaws but that only distracts from his speech.
Now what has become of the movement is another argument.
I think people have hope that we can actually make this screwed up world work. I'm listing to maybe it would be better if we were offed this planet but always willing to listen.
Actions speak louder than words.
Words can move mountains. There is a reason why we have a first and second amendment. The second amendment backs up the first to give new ideas time to take hold. Th founding fathers knew in the long run new ideas that protected and expanded human freedom would always outlast force.
The facts speak for themselves, even 45 years latter.
This may, IMO, be your greatest work yet. I have watched/listened to "I Have a Dream" on Dr. Martin Luther King,Jr. day for the past five years. It is a wonderful reminder of what great leadership looks like and sounds like. Encouraging, enlightening and ever-lasting leadership never changes, it only gets better with time. Keep up the outstanding work, WB7, and keep forever Re-MINDing us that art can change just about any situation, if we only pay attention.
You will notice I tried not to go over board and left out most of the "I have a dream" portion, the part of the speech that is repeated constantly in the media. A brilliant piece of oratory, but the content of the speech as a whole is what makes it the masterpiece that it is.
This corporation = person thing has gotten waaaayyyy out. of. control. In the proposed SOPA bill there are two penalties. One is for an "individual"; the other is for "a person other than an individual". Of course the "individual" gets jail time, while the "person other than an individual" gets a big fine (without denying or admitting guilt).
(B) PENALTIES-
(i) INDIVIDUAL- An individual who commits an offense described in subparagraph (A) shall be fined not more than $5,000,000, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both.
(ii) PERSON OTHER THAN AN INDIVIDUAL- A person other than an individual that commits an offense described in subparagraph (A) shall be fined not more than $15,000,000.
http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3261:
"White collar crime" is now a quaint old idea reserved for two bit thieves and ponzi artists. Corporate America is above the law.
I am not defending corporations however I would like for somebody to explain to me why labor unions are people and corporations aren't. Corporations are a group of people who have banded together to take ownership in a company. They have voting rights to influence the outcome of how the business is run. Whether or not they exercise that right is up to them. Labor unions are a group of people who band together to negotiate better working terrms for their members.The members have voting rights to influence how the union is run. Whether or not they exercise that right is up to them. Both labor unions and corporations have a heiarchy with a chain of command. Both of them look to influence politics for their benefit. Both unions and corporations are looking to maximize their income. Corporations tend to take advantadge of labor, and unions tend to take advantadge of their collective bargaining power to make unreasonable demands on the corporation.
So if somebody can explain to me why corporations are evil and unions aren't I'd like to hear it.
William
Your words are as brilliant as your art.
I thank you.
The evolution of corporate power in this country is an interesting topic. They came about as goverment monopolies granted to special groups to provide things the goverment was not empowered to do. The Erie Canal was one of the first corporate stuctures granted. It benefited small farmers in upstate New York in a big way by dropping costs. Ordinary citizens were unhappy with the monopoly power granted to "select" groups" so to get them off their backs, politicians granted general corporate power into law. (anyone can start a corporation)It worked well for everybody as few were started and politicians could still hand out their sleezy deals to their friends. (That's called a win/win by politicians)Things really started to go off the tracks however when congress passed the 14th amendment. Even a short glance at this (along with records of the debate) indicated the purpose was to grant rights to new (african american) citizens in the south.Howevwer, the supreme court took the attitude (in Santa Clara county vs Southern Pacific railroad) that this amendment was really about granting rights to corporations. Things have gone downhill since.
I don't advocate absolutely eliminating the concept of collectively advocating a political view either as a business, a union or some other interest group. But the system is now completely out of balance and some form of controlling measure has to be implemented; the accumulation of capital cannot be the grossly overwhelming lever of political power, otherwise we can just expect to wind up in a true dystopian nitemare.
I would argue that the market is the ultimate controlling measure one way or the other. This country has a history of swinging too far on way or the other. Controlling measures instituted by decree get circumvented one way or another. But the market will is always the ultimate creator and destroyer of institutions. When the market sees a need it builds institutions to fill that need. Once the institutions grow too big they collapse regardless of who supports them, under their own inability to adjust.
In the long run that may be true, but there is an awful lot of injustice and suffering in between.
You are wasting your time Doc; the conspiracy nut/anti zionist crowd here have been brainwashed by Labor union propoganda.
Why is it that corporations can fire management but cant get rid of a union work force?
Why is it that you or I can shop at Cosco or Wal mart for cheaper prices but corporations are villified for looking for cheaper labor overseas?
Is the skill involved in running a drill press worth $45/hour plus pension benefits? Or is the utility properly priced at $15/day which is what a competent operator in Vietnam will charge?
Want to take steps to ending the recession? outlaw collective bargaining and eliminate the minimum wage laws. Who knows bettter what labor is worth; the people who pay for it with their own money or the unions who hold corporations hostage?
Food for thought:
Union leaders pay this is just one local, you can look up more using the find your union tab in right hand corner of screen-
http://www.unionfacts.com/lu/14796/LIUNA/0/
Base equals hourly rate -
http://www.state.il.us/agency/idol/rates/ODDMO/COOK9999.htm
Does the term "race to the bottom" mean anything to you?
Capital tends to go where labor can be exploited the easiest. To compete with China, etc, we should not adopt their working standards ... that is not a future which I, nor anybody else but the holders of capital would like to live in.
//Why is it that corporations can fire management but cant get rid of a union work force?//
I do agree with you here though that corporations should be able to do both.
Two years ago, Chinese officials asked the US Embassy to stop tweeting about pollution in Beijing on the grounds that the information was “confusing” and could have “social consequences”
Wouldn't want to rile up the working class at the expense of profit margins now would we?
You are tilting against a windmill AK. Capital will always go to where it is used most efficiently (unless govt. interefers by using force.) It is a law of nature.
As to Chinese working standards, Ill leave that to the chinese people/workers. When they have had enough of the conditions they will force a change (and yeah, I get that it might take a while.) But to argue that our cushy 9-5, hour lunch break, pension and health benefits, MLK paid day off standards should apply to workers in Vietnam or China overlooks the complex market dynamics in those countries. Whats fair to them might not seem fair to you.
Liberty requires free flowing cpaital. Any govt. interference is simply tyranny sticking its nose under the tent.
The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights - 1948
Article 23.
(1) Everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment, to just and favourable conditions of work and to protection against unemployment.
(2) Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work.
(3) Everyone who works has the right to just and favourable remuneration ensuring for himself and his family an existence worthy of human dignity, and supplemented, if necessary, by other means of social protection.
(4) Everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests.
Article 24.
Everyone has the right to rest and leisure, including reasonable limitation of working hours and periodic holidays with pay.
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
--
These HR articles all came about due to the labour exploitation conditons that prevailed prior to WWII, and after WWI, and thus contributed significantly to the environment that generated WWII.
The whole point of these articles is to prevent those conditions arising again, so WWIII does not arise again.
So you are a globalist. Do you believe in a one world currency? If you start a business in one country (with all the tax credits) and outsource everything, should you still get those tax credits? What happens when your domestic market can't afford to buy your Tawainese products?
I think you are a troll but what you are saying is so wrong.
Given the pressure on economies - people will go to an underground economy. Saw it in the early 70s and is starting again.
And sorry fuck your union wet dreams. I know I am of the few on this site that support unions but they made it possible to buy products - rats on a wheel? Maybe.
-1
for your incessant pro zionist drivel
-100 for your dumbed down, marxist, racist and parasitic existence.
so I'm anti-zionist and that makes me a marxist!
welcome to dave's world!
BTW, you forgot ANTI-SEMITE - isn't that the forever shield for zionist wrongdoing?
F**K you very much!
Corporations are not evil per se. A system where the masses are convinced that their votes matter while all real influence is held by corporations and the super-wealthy IS evil. Cases in point? Our absurd and continuing bank bailouts. The GM bankruptcy in which bondholders were stripped of their rights under the law. Vaccine makers who cannot be held legally accountable for the products they produce. Do you really see none of this?
I amn al for corporations having equal rights under the law. I would prefer they not have sole rights under the law.
That's not the point I'm trying to argue. In my view if a coporation makes bad decisions they should live or die by those decisions. Knowing that they could possibly fail without uncle sam bailing them out frees up a competative market and takes eccess risk out of the system. The point I'm trying to make is that it is hypocritical to consider one entity a person with rights and not the other. Either they are both people or they aren't.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPqb2D-piIw
excellent work, banzai
i would like to see the candidates wear sporsor patches like they do in auto racing.
could you do a shot with romeny wearing his (bank) sponsor patches on his suit jacket ?
I have a Ricky Bobby somewhere in my drive.
your store is great - good selection of memorable work
just a suggestion
i can't stand T-shirts with the art on the front, its too distracting.
wonder if you can set an option to have the art on the back?
TIA
No problem putting the image on the back. Just follow these steps...
You can move the image from the front of the shirt to the back. Any shirt that has the "customize it" available on it (most of them banzai7's do) you can change. What you do is click on customize it, then click on design. Choose the Edit button and click on copy. Then, click on the back of the shirt and click edit, paste. At that point image is on both sides. Then you click on front of the shirt and delete the image .
You can also make it a sweatshirt, woman's shirt or any other product Zazzle offers. This works with anything I have deemed customizable. Certain images are just too small to do more with than a mug.
It sounds like more work than it is. Its really quite straightforward. If there is a particular shirt that is not customizable then let me know and I will make it for you.
Tnx, I'll check that with Howard.
When Romney addresses people as "my friends" ... that frightens me
It's my birthday today (27) bitchez!
Another congrats!
Keep on truckin'
Happy Birthday!
Happy birhday. I hope the next 27 are more prosperous than the first.
Congrats on completing another circuit around your home star.
Thank you good sir
All the best and enjoy life!