The beginning of the year has ushered the world into a completely new phase—one in which humanity must confront whether it is morally fit to survive. As the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King said a the Riverside Church in April of 1967, “the choice is no longer between violence and nonviolence. The choice we are confronted with today is the choice between nonviolence and nonexistence.” The principles of sovereignty and international law established in the post–World War II order have been utterly dismantled. They are being replaced by elitist values of “might makes right,” as the United States brazenly commits acts of lawlessness and thuggery in Venezuela, kidnapping the sovereign head of state, Nicolás Maduro.

That mafia-style approach of “ruling with an iron fist” is being asserted, at least verbally, against more countries each day: Greenland, Mexico, Iran, and many others. The unilateral intervention of the United States in Venezuela may not be the only military adventure this year. President Donald Trump’s administration has now made the threat of imposing 25% tariffs on anyone doing business with Iran.

Have we forgotten 2012 Libya, and the pretext for NATO and President Barack Obama’s intervention there? That led to the destruction of that country, the brutal killing of Muammar Qaddafi, and the establishment of slave markets in what had been a stable and even prosperous nation. Similar justifications, where intelligence operations disguised as “human rights” protests are transformed into justifications for military action, ultimately prevailed, even as Qaddafi bitterly complained that he was in fact fighting against “Al Qaeda,” with whom NATO was in fact allied.

The prime target in all of these past and present interventionist wars is not the particular regime or nation, but the formation of a post-colonial system which breaks from the IMF and World Bank, and safeguards sovereignty, mutual benefit, and economic development. The pro-development policy China has taken on in its approach to South America was directly challenged in the U.S. National Security Strategy, and the subsequent intervention in Venezuela. Iran, an ancient civilization which has collaborated with China since the 2nd Century B.C., is a member of the BRICS, and a key hub for transport and trade in the Belt and Road Initiative.

It is sovereign citizens, who take responsibility for the decisions and actions of their respective governments, which will determine humanity’s ability to survive this year. That quality of statesmanship, economist and thinker Lyndon LaRouche said, was embodied by Martin Luther King, Jr., who was the most qualified individual during his time to become next President of the United States. Today marks Martin Luther King Jr.’s birthday, and the federal holiday will be observed on January 19.

In the spirit of Martin Luther King, Jr., Lyndon LaRouche, and others who contributed to the founding of the United States as the first constitutional republic in the Western Hemisphere, will we declare our independence, and act as sovereign citizens now?