Politics

Martin Luther King, Jr.–A Lifetime of Change

A reader, Allison Miller, read my previous pieces on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and contacted me to share an infographic she developed to honor his legacy. It’s a wonderful visual timeline of some key moments in his life and how it changed the United States. This year, I want to honor Dr. King’s legacy by sharing with you her work and insights behind her project. I could not have said it better myself. She wrote:

After all the celebrations that come with the month of December, it’s easy to feel like the rest of winter is empty of special occasions or reasons to celebrate. One important day to commemorate, however, falls in the middle of January and is certainly a cause for thanks and remembrance: Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday. People honor and celebrate the life of Dr. King for many reasons, but most importantly, for his role in working to achieve race equality in America. Dr. King had arguably the greatest impact of any single person during the fight for racial equality, and the fact that his life was cut short causes people to wonder what he may have gone on to achieve in his lifetime. History is full of important, memorable figures, but for those individuals who have helped influence equality, it’s especially important to honor their achievements. Most children learn a bit about Dr. King in schools today, but it’s vital to continue that conversation outside of the classroom and in the world, where equality issues are still pressing. The following infographic presents a timeline of the life of Martin Luther King Jr., to honor his legacy and fuel the conversation about his battle for equality.

Thank you, Allison, for sharing your work and reminding us of Dr. King’s legacy and the importance of racial equality not only in the United States but throughout the world.

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Special thanks to Allison sharing this infographic. The work is protected under a Creative Commons license and can be reposted with attribution.

More About Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement

Economic Priorities

This week President Bush focused on social security and overhauling the tax code during a two-day economic conference at the White House.  Unless changes are made, the Social Security Trust Fund that funds social security could run out of money by the year 2042.  Although 2042 seems so far away, 38 years isn’t that far into the future.  I personally am not counting on social security to be there for me and my spouse when I retire.  I will have other sources of income that will support me and my spouse after I retire.  It’s supposed to be a social safety net, but it is a shaky one for those of us whose retirement is far down into the future.  The fact that the president is even broaching such a hot-button issue as social security is gutsy.  The system does need to be changed so that it remains solvent after the year 2042.  Nevertheless, at present I believe other domestic economic concerns are more pressing and need to receive higher priority than social security or tax code reform.  They should be prioritized as follows:

  1. Reduce the federal budget deficit.  President Bush has made a pledge to reduce the current account deficit by 50%.  He needs to make this his top economic priority.  Over-reliance on foreign investors to buy U.S. debt is dangerous.
  2. Bring down the trade deficit.  The president needs to leverage America’s strengths and fight battles for the country in forums such as the WTO to reduce the nation’s trade deficit.  This is not a problem he created; he inherited it from his father and President Clinton.  He needs to come up with a solid plan for narrowing the trade gap beyond currency devaluation.
  3. Focus on energy self-sufficiency.  It is in the interest of the U.S. to decrease its dependence on foreign oil.  The president needs to evaluate all options ranging from conservation to fuel cells to domestic drilling to minimize energy consumption and maximize domestic production.  Purchasing foreign oil contributes to both #1 and #2 above.
  4. Promote job creation.  The president needs to focus on creating good domestic jobs.  Foreign outsourcing and productivity have put pressure on job creation, leading to fewer good, long-lasting domestic jobs.  I add “long-lasting” because job creation must focus on creating domestic jobs that can withstand an economic downturn.  Job creation during the second Clinton administration was impressive, but these jobs did not survive the dot.com bust.  Those types of jobs are not what the economy needs.  Jobs that can be easily outsourced such as traditional manufacturing jobs are not what the economy needs.  Good jobs with staying power need to be created in fields the U.S. dominate, including technology, services, and biotechnology.

These economic issues should receive highest priority during the second Bush administration.  Focusing on social security and tax code reform are fine as long as these basic priorities are first addressed.