Martin Luther King, Jr. And Dr.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Beyond Vietnam

According to Dr. King, President Johnson's desire to end poverty and provide economic opportunity for all Americans was "shot down on the battlefields of Vietnam." This is an observation that he makes bearing the events that followed the almost three decades long battle in Vietnam and to the date of April 4, 1967 when he officially delivered his speech renouncing the war, King recounts that there were no substantial resolutions brought forth and instead there were losses that came as a result of the war.

This is a position that I agree with in totality, bearing the facts that are displayed in the speech and the realities of the time that they depicted. One of the outstanding reasons that indicates the war in Vietnam was an economic burden to Americans was actually in the roots before the war where Americans were footing 80% of the cost of the French attempt to re-colonize Vietnam (BV, Par22). This meant that the poverty back at home was largely neglected yet this was the time where the sensitivity towards the gap between the rich and the poor was at its highest in the U.S.

There was a poverty program before the Vietnam War but as the Vietnam War dragged on, the program was neglected and the poor Americans, both white and black were pushed further into poverty. This was due to the siphoning of the money to the war rather than using the money to improve the lives of poor Americans.

The other reason for supporting the sentiment above is due to the fact that it was the poor peoples' sons that were recruited in mass to go fight the war in Vietnam rather than the government spending the money in improving the lives of their families back at home (BV, Pr 10).

The war also created skepticism within other nations over the future commitments with America on business levels and the lowering of trust in democracy of America. This would not help the nation in any manner concerning economic success or trade enhancement especially at the global level.