Some thoughts from Martin Luther King, Jr.

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
                            --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
                            --Martin Luther King, Jr.

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
                            --Martin Luther King, Jr.

These came in a weekly newsletter yesterday.

The first quote got me thinking about Henry George's book of essays entitled "Social Problems," and about those on the U.S. Supreme Court who proudly regard themselves as "originalists," who, it seems to me try to solve 21st century problems working with the written words and experiential constraints of 18th century politicians.   It also leads me to think that things might not be as precarious were more of us in 21st century America to have the advantage of knowing Henry George's ideas, which were widely known and discussed 100 years ago.  I've been exploring a lot of material put online by Google Books, and am amazed at the extent to which the movements that George inspired and the ideas he formulated were context for so much that was published and discussed in the 1880-1920 era -- and that someone who hasn't read at least Progress and Poverty (George's 1879 best-seller) and digested its significance -- will miss a lot of what many, many* writers of that era are saying.  I doubt that it shows up in a lot of college history or American Studies curricula -- and where it does, probably requires it to be read in a week or less and discussed in a single lecture.  Yet its significance is broad and deep, as well as wise and just.

*When I first started searching in Google Books' offerings, I found such an amazing amount of material that I wondered whether there was someone within that organization who had a particular interest or affection for these ideas.  I soon realized that this wasn't the case; it was simply part of the air everyone breathed in that era.  I had heard that, but didn't really process it until I started to see what libraries had!

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

What strikes me today about this statement is the extent to which many people who Georgists recognize to be oppressed by the way our society structures itself don't even see those structures or their effects.   And that same observation applies to the third quote:

History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.

My train of thought then veers off to "The Landlord's Prayer."