Saturday, August 28, 2010

MLK & the Philosophy of Synthesis

I wanted to post something serious about Martin Luther King's political philosophy after mocking Glenn Beck's rally.


While reading this Media Matters piece about the numerous differences between the political perspectives of Glenn Beck & Dr. King, I noticed this paragraph about MLKs' view on political synthesis.

"My reading of Marx also convinced me that truth is found neither in Marxism nor in traditional capitalism. Each represents a partial truth.

Historically capitalism failed to see the truth in collective enterprise, and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise. Nineteenth century capitalism failed to see that life is social and Marxism failed and still fails to see that life is individual and personal.

The Kingdom of God is neither the thesis of individual enterprise nor the antithesis of collective enterprise, but a synthesis which reconciles the truths of both."

Any ideological mode of thinking that is unyielding & absolutist is inherently flawed. The devoted worshipers of "The Free Market" are just as wrong as the hardcore Marxist who finds no value in capitalism. King was speaking of the courage and intelligence needed to adapt different perspectives toward synthesizing a more effective solution.

1 comment:

McCulley said...

Excellent post!!!