The Pain of Achieving the Good Life

In this life, many hope for peace, but not many try to achieve it. According to Martin Luther King Jr’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, there are many ways to achieve this, but the best possible course of action would be through nonviolent direct action, which includes but is not limited to: peaceful protest, sit-ins and civil disobedience. In King’s letter, he proclaims his reasoning behind nonviolent direct action, including: the concept that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (par. 4), extremism can be used positively (par. 22), and the fact that “oppressed people will not stay oppressed forever” (par. 24). King uses literary devices including ethos, logos, and pathos to prove and reaffirm that which he is trying to convey.

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1965) is important from both historical and sociological points of view. It is an example of self-sacrifice as in idea for the of equality of all people. Formally, King addresses this letter that he wrote while in Birmingham jail at the clergymen who opposed his protests. In fact, he applies it to everyone who approves of racism, and considers the methods of nonviolent struggle to be too radical and far fetched from achieving an actual goal. From a sociological point of view, the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” shows the way of nonviolent adjustment of the social conflict and stages of this way: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist negotiation; self-purification; and direct action” (MLK np.). Martin Luther King was the first person in western history to show that you can achieve change without going into violent measures. While taking a sociological viewpoint and following two of its major theories. It is conceivable to say that King’s method of nonviolent direct action was the leading motive in the civil rights movement, which allowed for change.

Money— sweeter than honey but oh so destructive. It facilitates a man’s life, while a lack of it imprisons him in the streets of penury. It raises his social status, while an absence of it leaves him unnoticed. It gives him an aura of superiority and importance among others, while a deficiency of it makes him worthless in society’s eyes. Considering these two roads, most do not take more than a second to decide to chase riches.

    On Martin Luther king's letter that he wrote in Birmingham  jail he told his Fellow Clergymen he made a campaign in where they are going to follow 4 steps in order to get their Civil Rights without violence. Him and his followers are getting tired of waiting in order to get their Civil Right. And the promises that the leaders of the economic community broke. On paragraph 3 it says,” In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps :1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustice are alive;2)negotiation;3)self-purification;and 4) direct ation. In Martin Luther King Jr. campaign instead of using violence they use something else.In order to get their Civil Rights.Because he want his fellow Clergymen to not think that everything has to be dealt with violence. Also on paragraph 7 it says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God Given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed towards the goal of political independent, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace towards the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. This quote explains that they

To understand King’s views on nonviolent protest, I will start by summarizing some of the main points in his “Letter from Birmingham jail”. In spite of the fact that the "Letter” is verifiably worried with justice all through, King likewise addresses the question specifically at a few focuses. In actuality, he places that justice maintains the poise of the human soul, while injustice conflicts with it. By talking about this idea by and large, he builds up criteria by which to obscurely assault both segregation and silence it. He at last suggests that the man who sees injustice and does nothing to stop it is acting unjustly also. Taking after this thought, he contends that laws must be permeated with an ethical sense so as to be just; as such, law and morality can not be viewed as independent interests or areas. The best way to really enact change and help humankind rise above its confinements is to act with as well as grasp “extremism”. According to Mott, “That this action had been termed “extreme” King admits “initially disappointed” him.” But King decides that if loyalty to good principles

In the book Money and Class in America written by Lewis Lapham, the way Americans look at money is exposed. It compares other nations view on monetary value against that of the Americans. It is a fact that we place more value on money than anything else. This book illustrates the corruptness of the “American Dream” as it focuses money as the “currency of the soul” and through the dream, men remain free to rise or fall. Their life is the product of the effort and the decisions put forth by them.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a key figure in the civil rights movements that took place in the 1950s and 1960s. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is an open letter written by King defending nonviolent resistance against racism. The letter argued that people have a moral responsibility to break unjust and unethical laws. The letter also stresses themes of unity among brothers in order to overcome racism. I will argue in support of King’s stance that citizens are morally justified in breaking unjust laws and that openly and responsibly opposing unjust laws is itself a duty of every citizen.

Martin Luther King, Jr. sat in Birmingham jail not because he committed a crime but because he took part in a non-violent demonstration. King received an invite to a nonviolent demonstration by a local church and was later jailed for his actions (King 1). While in jail, King reflected on the injustice in not only Birmingham, but the world as well. King addressed injustice as a universal wrong which can only be undone by people themselves and not by action forced by the government. He quickly announced that keeping the peace and obeying the law are not the same, the people ahead do not simply relinquish their role because of the selfishness of the human nature. Those who are oppressed will seek to leave injustice behind. Martin Luther

As a well respected preacher and advocate for nonviolence, Dr. King focused on freedom signifying being seen as an equal, but he was patient and forgiving in achieving this, which ultimately hurt his cause as he continually faced the same challenges after seeing no results followed by no change in his course of action. The overall tone of his letter from the Birmingham Jail is apologetic as if he needs to explain his actions because their purpose is unclear and he is at fault. He relates and reasons with the clergymen whom he addressed his letter to, “I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms”(p. 24). Within the first paragraph he has submitted to their

The purpose for Martin Luther king to write “Letter from Birmingham Jail” was to respond to white Alabama clergymen who before this had criticized his action saying they were “unwise and untimely.” These clergymen had published a criticism directed towards King’s organization and participation in his protest march against segregation in Birmingham. This letter is not intended to persuade these men towards supporting civil rights, but rather to demonstrate that there is an immediate need towards direct action, and also that they need to open their eyes and see the African American community’s suffering. King withal expounds the need for tension, though only through nonviolent means, a tension that will coerce society to confront the present convivial iniquity head on. King disapproves being called an outsider because of his belief that humanity is part an "inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny."

Injustice is a big problem in today’s society. Martin Luther King wrote the “Letter from Birmingham Jail” in which he addressed many forms of injustices that was present then and continue to be present in today’s world. Martin Luther King did a lot of things that still effect today. He got in trouble for some things as well; such as like protesting how blacks were treated. He was arrested and was sent to Birmingham City Jail. He wrote a letter to defend the strategies of nonviolent resistance to racism. He employs the use of pathos, ethos, and logos to support his argument that nonviolence resistance is definitive. Based on the pathos, ethos, and logos present in this letter, the article is overall effective to this argument.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail is a response to a public statement of caution that was issued by several religious leaders of the South. During the midst of the nonviolent demonstrations against segregation in Birmingham, Dr. King was arrested and felt compelled to respond to their statement as he saw these fellow religious men as sincere and of good nature. In this letter he defends the use of nonviolent resistance to the racism occurring. He states that there is a moral responsibility to break unjust laws when taking direct action, in order to further the cause for justice which does not occur on its own.

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

As Austrian writer Marie Von Ebner-Eschenbach wrote,“To be content with little is difficult; to be content with much, impossible.” History and literature have established that the ideal goal every American has wanted is for his thirst for material possessions to be reached, but even then, the individual isn’t truly happy. Money, and the things it can get you, have long been a part of American culture and the materialist culture of society have been examined in numerous ways from novels to the art of those like Andy Warhol. A life free from the economic woes that plague almost everyone seems like the quintessential existence, but material wealth is not a way to mend issues.

Dr. Martin Luther King was not only a preacher and equal rights activist, but an influential leader, speaker, and writer. His letter contains certain things that are socially uncomfortable, but they were things that were true. Racism in the late 1950s was still prevalent and something that was brutal towards African Americans. It is socially uncomfortable when he talks about how bad African Americans were treated and how such a society could have existed. It bothers me to such an extent on how people could treat others with such inequality. In his letter Dr. King states, “But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and sisters; when you see