Considering as how Nelson
Mandela’s funeral has just taken place, and the fact that I’ve
finished my annoying yet pleasantly unimaginative exams for the
semester, I thought it was only appropriate that I say a few words
about the late South African leader, mentioning his relevance to us
youth of contemporary North America in the process. In doing so, I’ll
hopefully make clear to the reader where I stand on his legacy as a
rebel and leader. Whenever presented with such a cultural figure and
his or her detractors, it is always incumbent upon a person to ask
oneself who are the proverbial angels and who are the proverbial
assholes.
Yes, I believe Mandela
was definitely a little too friendly with terrorism-espousing tyrants
like Muammar Gaddafi. I also admit that Mandela’s socioeconomic
leanings were a little too socialist in nature for my taste. But I must
also try and remember that this was/is a third-world African nation
in which he rose to power. In such an environment, ideologies must
be grasped and adopted as one sees fit. Sometimes injecting elements
of Marxism is the only logical approach to countering the tyrannical
powers that be. The same can be said for rubbing shoulders with
murderous dictators. Ironically, such a pragmatic approach is in
itself rather socially Darwinistic.
As for him having been a
‘terrorist’, I should think that ‘saboteur’ would be a more
accurate descriptive term. To those self-righteous hypocrites who
called him on it—including Margaret Thatcher initially and at least
one Canadian Alliance / Conservative MP here in Canada, Rob Anders
(who maintains his bigoted, faux self-righteous position to this day)—I say, how would you like a minority of imperialistic
Europeans leaving you and your native brethren to wallow
disenfranchised in a shantytown? I believe that an action is either
right or wrong, ultimately. However, I also believe that one’s
situation must factor into any sound moral judgement. Historically,
Mr Mandela will be correctly remembered as a freedom fighter. Someone
like Mr Anders can already be indubitably seen as an ignorant
asshole.
Aside from his long,
arduous struggle for freedom, and overhauling of South Africa in
general from within, I believe what I liked most about Nelson Mandela
was his 1994 proposal to lower his country’s voting age from 18 to
14. This grabs me as the most revolutionary, logical and insightful
of his largely forgotten ‘minor’ policies. At a time when
ignorant and oppressive politicians here in Canada were raising the
legal age for the likes of smoking and quitting school, and calling
for tougher restrictive laws surrounding adolescent sexuality, Nelson
Mandela was taking an inclusive approach to his nation’s youth.
This is something that us Canadian youth of today can truly learn
from. Of course, Mandela was more or less forced to change his wise
position on the matter, and the voting age remains at the oppressive
minimum of 18 years in South Africa; but youth around the world can still
cite Mandela’s proposal as a wise example in conducting their own
protests and acts of civil disobedience. Here in Canada,
disenfranchised youth might start by refusing to attend school if
they are not allowed participation in the next federal election. If
that doesn’t draw adequate media attention and instigate
legislative change, then they might try abducting a non-sympathetic
politician, FLQ-style. For the record, I can think of several
Conservative and former Canadian Alliance MPs who deserve to be
stuffed into the trunk of a car....
Given his overall track
record and perpetually relevant revolutionary ideas, it is quite
clear that President Nelson ‘Mediba’ Mandela was an invaluable asset to South Africa and exemplary
figure for the ages; and ultimately redeemed himself of any
faults—real or perceived—that he demonstrated in the first half of his
life. Therefore, when comparing him to someone like Prime Minister
Stephen Harper, I think it becomes pretty obvious who’s the angel
and who’s the asshole.
For those who still
participate in such dubious matters, try and have a powerfully
festive holiday season, people....
