24 hours haven’t had the opportunity to pass for an icon of peace to be laid to rest and for all of us to have an opportunity to express our condolences, for we have hypocrites to deal with.
Our cowardly hypocrites seem to forget that you do not achieve such a thing without bloodshed or the support of people of power. If power corrupts, then what’s the damn difference of what politicians we’re talking about?
These pseudo-intellectuals who are vilifying Mandela for using the support of leftist dictators to end apartheid in his country don’t seem to realise that many democratically elected leaders, especially in the United States of America, have similar if not worse skeletons in their closet.
You wouldn’t have had some of these dictators in power without the generous help of the Land Of The Free. Nay, the Home Of The Brave fancies to install fascist dictators in underprivileged countries for more…shall we say…selfish reasons. Defending the profit margins of multinational corporations in South America to strengthen neo-colonialist power is a higher priority.
There is still rampant racism in America on the scale that every president, including the first black president to be elected, hasn’t been able to eradicate with or without shady support and we’re going to criticize Mandela?
One would think that ending apartheid by all means necessary would be something to admire.
Let’s not forget that enacting such high-magnitude political reform is impossible without bloodshed simply because the powers that be who were defending the apartheid status-quo would not allow for peaceful means. That would require a loss of power.
No politician would ever give that up without a fight and a damn bloody one. To expect apartheid to end without “acts of terrorism” which, in South Africa, were acts of revolution, is to be blitheringly ahistoric.
Nelson Mandela was the equal only perhaps to Martin Luther King in the fight to end racial discrimination in the world.
By ending apartheid in South Africa he brought all of civilization into a new chapter of equality and human emancipation.
He made us worthy of the 21st century.
Let’s please show a little more respect to a man who saved our collective souls.
We’d all still be racist f@%&s otherwise.
Much love,
Zen Politics
“Support Nelson Mandela” – Published December 8, 2013
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One wonders if you support revolution, and terror tactics in all cases, or only for the causes you support? Do you stand behind the actions of the IRA in their quest for independence? What about the martyrs of Hezbollah in their struggle against Israeli apartheid? Do the Taliban meet your standard for justice as they seek to drive western invaders from their tribal homelands? If you can’t support the right of those resistance movements to take up arms and employ whatever methods of asymmetrical warfare within their means, then are you not guilty of the same hypocrisy that you condemn in others? If you support the right of armed resistance only for those who’s cause you happen to agree with, then your position is without merit and falls to the level of cheer – leading your favorite team. Also, to denigrate the intelligence of those who disagree with your position only cheapens your argument. You must learn to debate on point of fact, not emotion, if you wish to be taken seriously.i
Dear Luna,
Thank you for stopping by and sharing your perspective!
I took the liberty of using your comment as inspiration for my next article within which you can find my response.
Here is the direct link:
https://www.zenpolitics.net/2013/12/15/homework-remember-hitchens/
Much love,
ZenPolitics