Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

RIP Nelson Mandela

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An extraordinary life ended today.  Has anyone else in recent history done more to change the world for the better?  Off the top of my head, not coming up with anyone.

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  1. I can’t imagine being imprisoned for 27 years and emerging ready to forgive my captors. Such a great leader.

    • The worlds loss is heavens gain. For all the ups and downs and throughout his lifelong struggle against injustice, Mandela never lost his belief in the rightness of his cause or his faith that his cause would eventually win. To win and then seek to reconcile and heal, was a profound statement and the best way to demonstrate black Africans were more than capable of enlightened rule. A lot of problems still face South Africa, but his life is a reminder in these rough times that more often than not goodness can win out over injustice and evil.

  2. To me, Mandela will always represent the profoundly human rejoinder to the horrors and genocides of the 20th century.

  3. “There is at times a tendency to view civil liberties as distinct from socio-economic rights. They are sometimes postulated as the more abstract part of democracy and as of less immediate relevance to the masses of people who are poor and in want. There can be no more forceful refutation of that false distinction than the manner in which President Roosevelt formulated the generic freedoms of democracy.” — Speech on receiving the “Roosevelt Freedom Award,” June 2002.

    We have much work to do in America and in the world to bring economic freedom to people who now live in poverty.

  4. Imagine being a self-described liberal or progressive and trying to paste yourself on Mr. Mandela’s image? The human rights stomper folks need to walk a fine line not to sound too hypocritical.

    The solution for Gore Vidal’s passing was telling in that very little was said. The presumptive philosophy being that, “It is better to remain quiet and be thought a hypocrite, than speak and remove all doubt.”

    “HYPOCRITE, n. One who, professes virtues that he does not respect and secures the advantage of seeming to be what he despises.” — Ambrose Bierce

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