Kay:
Alrighty, friends. Welcome, welcome. It’s Friday, October 15th. This is episode 465 and we are just going to invite you to dive off the deep end with us today with a very deep Martin Luther King quote that we think is going to challenge maybe some of your inner beliefs. So, let’s get off to it. “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
Shi:
Definitely a deep quote indeed here from Martin Luther King Jr. A lesser-known quote but a really powerful one and one that reflects quite frankly on a social science that I love which is of course sociology. When I get the honor of teaching Sociology 101 at the University of Nevada, Reno we talk a lot about in the very beginning in sociology one of the ways that you can frame the idea of sociology. The need for it is that if one person is unemployed, it’s that person’s problem but if there are a thousand people that are unemployed, this is now reflective of a societal problem. This is where sociology comes into play. This is precisely what’s being mirrored here in this quote that there’s more going on than just a thousand people unemployed or a thousand beggars in this street.
Kay:
Treating the symptom of an issue isn’t necessarily treating the cause and, in this case, now we are sure, absolutely positive that you knew what edifice meant but we didn’t know what edifice meant so we…
Shi:
Had an idea.
Kay:
…had an idea, went and checked it out. So, the first definition is it’s a large building, a large imposing building, but the second definition of edifice is a complex system of beliefs. So, we’re not just talking about treating a symptom. We’re talking about challenging a complex system of beliefs that needs restructuring.
Shi:
Restructuring takes a different approach than solving one man’s poverty issue. We’re talking institutional change and social programs and compromises and long-term goals and budgets. All of the bureaucratic parts that go into changing an institution into restructuring an edifice, if you will, are harder to address but will ultimately result in less beggars, to use MLK’s words here and can make the progress better. But something like that takes so much time, effort, focus, energy, commitment, a momentum that it can get lost in the noise which is how I think we find ourselves flipping the coin to the beggar and allowing ourselves to just say, well, I did my part.
Kay:
I think many people have the desire to do good. We certainly have the desire to do good and if you’re on this podcast it’s very likely that you also have a desire to do good in this world. So, many of us go to the flinging the coin because it’s the easiest option that we have available to us. But there are even little things that you can do that can help organizations that are chugging toward the restructuring of that complex system. It can be sending letters. It could be maybe the coin that you would flame to the baker gets saved for a larger donation to a charity that cares about, the initiative that they’re looking to solve. So, I like that he says that this is true compassion because many of us can take that bare minimum approach and pat ourselves on the back and say, I’ve done good for man
Shi:
It’s planting that tree that someone else will sit in the shade. I think that we’re hoping to shift our perspective here into maybe if we want to express compassion in a more meaningful way that we can shift our focus from the coin and to the system or to the edifice. But the edifice doesn’t only exist on that big federal country level. It also exists in a state, in a town, in a community, even in a school, in a church, in the old neighborhood, and in your family. So, looking at the complex system of beliefs. What is the system of beliefs? What is the flow chart like in your head that surrounds all of the decisions that you make, that end up resulting in structure around you of how you live your life? What can we do there whether it’s in the family, the church, the school, the state? Whether we’re going big or small, that can help make some of those changes to demonstrate true compassion and help more than just a begger in the moment.
Kay:
So, let’s take a look back at this very deep Martin Luther King Jr. quote where he says, “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a begger. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”
Shi:
Alright, it is a Fri-yay Quest today. Today and this weekend think about an edifice that you think needs restructuring and decide on an action step to take in the direction of your compassion challenging a system of beliefs not simply the symptom of that system. Are you ready? Say it with us now.
Kay & Shi:
Let’s quest!
