Martin Luther King Jr. Created The Trump Presidency
“Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a cup of coffee?”-Martin Luther King
Martin Luther King is mainly remembered as a fighter for racial justice, not economic equality. However, it was his explosive economic message which truly made him a radical. Much of King’s career reflects his belief of economic equality. Even the 1963 March on Washington’s full name was actually the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Before his death He was planning a poor people’s march on Washington that would include not only African Americans but also Latinos, Native Americans and Appalachian whites.
This collection of diverse people was a flex of his true power. It was the maturation of his message. It was the evolution of his platform. It was also his greatest threat to the professed value of democracy in America.
The 1960’s maybe best known for the civil rights movement but it was also the era of the fight for women’s rights, environmental advocacy with the creation of Earth Day and the anti-war movement being opposition to aggression.
Martin Luther King changed the consciousness of society and as he moved from civil liberties to financial freedom. He was a master at influencing public opinion and public opinion is the true power that democracy uses to create policy pressure. Whoever controls public opinion can control policy. This made King very dangerous. He made those who were once part of the gilded era and members of the good old boy network fear their control could be taken away.
King spearheaded a new society where freedom was demanded. This meant society could no longer be controlled by fear. The only way to keep control over the free is to control beliefs and attitudes. Unfortunately for us powers that be had a plan to do just that.
Polarization- Separate those who are fighting. In truth, democracy usually a battle fought by the bottom half of society versus those who secretly hate democracy. The constitution was designed so the wealthy could retain power. That is why the senate had so much power.
Originally the senate wasn’t elected, they were a collection of rich men. A collection of the elite. True democracy is based on popular opinion and opinions are risky for the self- proclaimed elite. This approach to government caused one side to blame the other side. It turned beliefs and values into bargaining tools and vices instead of unifying factors. It took away self-determination and created scapegoats, someone to blame for the struggles. Struggles that kept us away from that great America.
Attack Solidarity- When individuals have unity especially with common interest they become dangerous. They become a movement. The powers that be had to change our mindset. Love of mankind was replaced with narcissism This is when the I’m going to get mines by any means necessary way of thinking was promoted.
Through messaging our thought process change to self-preservation and values of support and sympathy became reconditioned to focus on obtaining more for the individual. This was achieved when political leaders and big companies began telling society what they should have more of and reminded them of things they don’t have. They used aggressive tones and argumentative approaches on both the republican and democrat sides. By fighting back and forth, this ensured no change occurred. It ensured that the one who talked the loudest had the most power. As we became more polarized, we began to expect and actually be okay with the lack of change.
Manufactured Wants- King showed that you could no longer control people by force so the new society had to put control into wonderful packages. Packages that people themselves begged for. It is simple, when people believe they are free you can only control them by controlling their beliefs and attitudes. The best way to do that is to “create buy in” In the 1970’s we saw an explosion of consumerism, and the growth of entertainment.
With the full support of public relations and marketing we became more distracted than ever. Our ideologies and belief systems were now at the control by print ads and television. Which both were controlled by big business who also controlled the government. What we thought, believed and how we felt where now products packaged and sold by media.
In fact, in 2009, Barack Obama’s campaign won a marketing award for how they packaged Hope. It was that hope and 8 years of Obama’s policies that put the fear back in a certain segment of our populations not seen since the 1960’s. It brought the deepest secrets of America back into the mainstream.
President Obama once again reminded some that they may be at risk of losing power. Even if the policies he was putting forth was in their best interest. Visually, Obama represented a loss in power.
So it was time to push back again, it was time for someone with no fear, no values and no real beliefs to stand up. Someone raised in the era where values turned into wants and beliefs turned into mere talking points. It was time for Donald Trump.
Trump is using the same exact platform of the 70’s to run the United States. He blames immigrants and belief systems for what’s wrong with the country. With America being so polarized, this is an easy sell. Pitting us against each other is simple, because the foundation had already been poured of the course of 40 years. Trump doesn’t need to have policies or a plan to strengthen our country. The majority of us, aren’t interested in that, it isn’t entertaining enough. Policies can't be marketed by media unless they are connected to emotions.
Trump purposely and effectively attacks solidarity. By speaking in hate and a loud boisterous voice he creates a façade of strength. He uses talking points grounded in fear, anxiety and hatred to create an even deeper divide in all of us. It is a full proof way to radicalize people. This how you can see people yelling and screaming about issues that don’t affect them and have no bearing on our well-being as a nation.
Trump is the master of manipulating talking points. He uses entertainment, which for him may be a rude comment and off handed remarks to generate interest. It is in the media's DNA to feed on anything that can get them viewers and an opportunity to shape opinions. Since our mindset was already sold to corporations and marketing groups in the 1970’s the platforms were already in place. Trump simply used them.
Trump isn’t reinventing the wheel. He isn’t changing politics. All he is doing is copying the game plan the Elite put in place in the 1970’s to extinguish the fire of freedom in our spirit and beliefs in our soul that Martin Luther King put in all of us. Martin Luther King didn’t create Trump, the polices to remove Kings legacy of equality from all of us did.
It's not happenstance that the wealth gap has grown steadily since 1969 and the only metrics in black life to increase is incarceration rates.
If history repeats itself, the powers that be must remove humanities coalition that includes black, white and brown people. Unity is dangerous because it removes the power from a few and provides to the many.
Unity is why Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated April 4, 1968 and Donald Trump became President on January 20, 2017