Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Of Angels and Assholes: A brief Consideration of Nelson Mandela vis-à-vis his Canadian Counterparts



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....