Sigh. This turned out a little disappointing, as people are less interested in arguing the argument and more in flapping their arms about a straw man.
From the way you’ve continually misinterpreted my comments, while you might feel your level of literacy is adequate, your level of comprehension seems lacking. Then again, I get the impression you’ve read this thread with something other than an objective eye.
(I also noticed you said something about me sleeping in the “rhetorical bed” I’d made. Uh, no. Looking through other posts, you seem to have a tendency of using words in the wrong context. If English is not your first language, I apologise for my comments as they will be inappropriate.)
Feel better now?
That was a joke. Whoosh.
**You are aware that the USG does not direct US company FDI nor control Rand exchange rates. **
Yes I am, thanks for checking. When I said his relations with certain leaders endangered SA’s relationship with the US, I did not mean (nor specify) strictly with the government. Whoosh.
You’r a naive dreamer if you think one man, even of Mandela’s stature could undo the centuries of racial prejudice
I did not say undo the past, did I? I was suggesting the way forward… (wh…)
However, the manner in which the OP has gone after the subject does not in any way strike me as reasonable nor balanced, or even fair. To expect, to simply take the AIDS example
This is not the only issue I raised, but it’s the one you’ve settled on (summarily dismissing the rest (e.g. “I find it hard to argue about simple hand waving assertions.”) as the main argument for your case against me being a racist. Your childish and baseless accusations strike me as nothing more than projections of your own racial insecurities. I reiterate, AGAIN, I was in NO way addressing race, but suggesting that the world has heaped praise and idol-status magnitudes higher than what he deserves for what he achieved as a leader. I simply do not believe he succeeded in all the ways he is credited for, and this has everything to do with leadership skills and qualities and (again, just in case) NOTHING to do with race.
Beating Thabo Mbeki with a similar stick is much fairer and reasonable
No it isn’t actually, because nobody is holding up Mbeki as the supreme being Mandela is held as. (This comment actually suggests that my whole point is somewhere over your head…)
**Mandela as per the OP to date is unbalanced and shows a deep seated and irrational urge to deny the man’s influence and run him down. **
The only way what I’ve presented is unbalanced is in the sense that I presented a side other than the usual glowing compliments and worship - the other side as it were… criticism. Deep-seated and irrational urges? See my earlier thoughts on your diatribe.
I find it quite sad that you admit race has no genetic founding, and then hop on the other foot and take it up in exactly the same sense it’s always been used, just because that’s how it’s always been used. That is not how progress is made. Reminds me of those charming folks who plaster big “Save the environment” stickers on their SUVs.
Pat yourself on the back, hypocrites like you do nothing but renew racism’s shelf-life, and ensure that it does, indeed, always remain an issue.
Anyway, I’m out. This thread is so done it’s starting to burn. I’d request that if any more contributions of a similar vein to what’s been made thus far are added, it gets moved to a more appropriate board, as the debate, if there ever was one, has died.
I thank those who genuinely participated.
