12/15/13

Dear Uncle Sam,

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is the difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” –Nelson Mandela.

As we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela and to 2013, may his wise words illuminate and inspire us to move forward into the new year, into a new world, with renewed hope.

The passing of Mandela marks the passing of a remarkable era. The era of Mandela, MLK, and Mahatma Gandhi, three men whose moral vision compelled us to confront the truth, no matter how ugly, no matter how inconvenient. What they taught us: poverty and prejudice are also forms of violence.

When Presidents Obama and Carter placed Mandela alongside MLK and Gandhi, some Americans objected. “Mandela is no MLK, Mandela is no Gandhi,” they declared. They denounced the man who had been imprisoned for twenty-seven years by the apartheid regime for not publicly renouncing violence and for not rejecting Communism.

True, Mandela did not make public speeches renouncing violence. Nevertheless, he strategically adopted non-violence as an effective weapon the weak could use against the strong. In this he was not unlike Gandhi, another crafty politician who used non-violence to strike the colonizer where it would hurt the most. What Mandela did was embrace non-violence for strategic this-worldly reasons rather than for spiritual otherworldly ones. Doing the right thing, even for the wrong reasons, is still doing the right thing, right Uncle?

As for Mandela being a Communist sympathizer: True, like many Third-World leaders of his time, Mandela turned to Communism for support in fighting against the apartheid regime spawned by Capitalist Colonialism. But if Communist Colonialism failed violently and spectacularly in the Third-World, so did Capitalist Colonialism, unleashing a different kind of violence upon the disenfranchised, impoverished, huddled masses of the world. Doing the wrong thing, albeit through MacDonalds and Walmarts, is still doing the wrong thing, right Uncle?

Perhaps with the passing of Tata Madiba, the time has come to discard the failed ideologies of the past, the unethical exploitative practices of Communism as well as Capitalism, and design brand new ideas that enable all humans to live with dignity alongside all other living beings that call this fragile planet home.

Happy New Year, Uncle Dear.

Sincerely,

--CK



Twelfth Letter to Uncle Sam

12/15/13

Dear Uncle Sam,

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is the difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” –Nelson Mandela.

As we say goodbye to Nelson Mandela and to 2013, may his wise words illuminate and inspire us to move forward into the new year, into a new world, with renewed hope.

The passing of Mandela marks the passing of a remarkable era. The era of Mandela, MLK, and Mahatma Gandhi, three men whose moral vision compelled us to confront the truth, no matter how ugly, no matter how inconvenient. What they taught us: poverty and prejudice are also forms of violence.

When Presidents Obama and Carter placed Mandela alongside MLK and Gandhi, some Americans objected. “Mandela is no MLK, Mandela is no Gandhi,” they declared. They denounced the man who had been imprisoned for twenty-seven years by the apartheid government for not publicly renouncing violence and for not rejecting Communism.

True, Mandela did not make public speeches renouncing violence. Nevertheless, he strategically adopted non-violence as an effective weapon the weak could use against the strong. In this he was not unlike Gandhi, another crafty politician who used non-violence to strike the colonizer where it would hurt the most. What Mandela did was embrace non-violence for strategic this-worldly reasons rather than for spiritual otherworldly ones. Doing the right thing, even for the wrong reasons, is still doing the right thing, right Uncle?

As for Mandela being a Communist sympathizer: True, like many Third-World leaders of his time, Mandela turned to Communism for support in fighting against the apartheid regime spawned by Capitalist Colonialism. But if Communist Colonialism failed violently and spectacularly in the Third-World, so did Capitalist Colonialism, unleashing a different kind of violence upon the disenfranchised, impoverished, huddled masses of the world. Doing the wrong thing, albeit through MacDonalds and Wal-Marts, is still doing the wrong thing, right Uncle?

Perhaps with the passing of Tata Madiba, the time has come to discard the failed ideologies of the past, the unethical exploitative practices of Communism as well as Capitalism, and design brand new ideas that enable all humans to live with dignity alongside all other living beings that call this fragile planet home.

Happy New Year, Uncle Dear.

Sincerely,

--CK