I recently watched Sir Richard Attenborough’s epic Ghandi, and got to wondering who the next great man of our time will be? (give or take a decade - Ghandi certainly wasn’t during my time, but his movie was!)
Is there anyone in the running? Nelson Mandela of course. Anyone else? I realize Michael Jackson’s firlmy out of the race now…
Now that is an excellent question.
Off the cuff, it would appear to me that Ghandi’s, MLK’s, and Mandella’s non violent revolutionary style worked in oppressive societies that did have some sense of collective morality rooted in Christian principles of the ruling class. By and large, the western and democratic societies of today, though not perfect, are not seething with oppressed masses any longer.
I don’t see a future for dramatic non-violent revolutionaries in the oppressive societies of today. There is nothing to restrain the dictator from dispatching the revolutionary and his supporters into oblivion.
If we’re talking about noble crusader for what is right and good, here’s my vote. One of my heroes, and the most beautiful woman in the world.
If you’re looking for “noble crusader who becomes world famous for it” as with Gandhi and Mandela, I dunno.
In the 80s, you had Walensa and Havel.
Perhaps these is someone who will emerge in China…? In the Arab world…?
Right, Gandhi, sorry Gyan9.
I think people who aren’t well-known right now, but have a very good chance of becoming so in the future through their endeavours can be highlighted here. Discovered any heroes we should know about? I’ll now look at furt’s link…
Gyan9: do an Amazon search on “Ghandi” sometime. I think you’ll be amazed.
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I’m really glad you mentioned these two, John. Probably not the kinds of movements the OP had in mind, but they truly are fascinating, revolutionary men. I wish more people felt like talking about them.
So if I’m reading this thing correctly, we’re talking about soul/spiritual movements. Personally, I think we’ve already got one: His Holiness, The 14th Dalai Lama. Sadly, the plain truth is I hardly ever see those “Free Tibet” sticker these days. I guess he hasn’t yet caught the eye of a great many Americans.
Hey, wait, on Preview I just noticed you’re in Tokyo, Stimpy. What’s the Straight Dope on the Lama (or Tibet, for that matter), from a Japanese perspective?
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Daw Aung San Suu Kyi definately sounds like a worthy contender. Worried about people mispelling her name in the future though… 
I feel all the more worthless just reading about her plight.
i do know a Mr. B…
Not being Japanese, it’s a difficult one to call, however he recently visited Tokyo and gave a speech… I wasn’t fortuanate enough to catch it though.
A very many Japanese that I come into contact with (i.e. teachers) are staunchly anti-war/anit-violence/anti-oppression/anti-imperial ways we used to have etc. etc., but often from sitting comfortably on their new Mujii couch. Anti-war demonstrations happened pre-Us. V. Iraq, but they were small. I don’t think the next ‘Gandhi’ will be Japanese…
Needs more love. If only she got more coverage…alas, the Jackon family has precedence…
Oh, there were spiritual elements in the fall of the Iron Curtain; Walesa was/is a devout Catholic and Havel is a definitely a very spiritual man. (This is an interesting speech). They are absolutely on a par with Mandela and Gandhi.
I just need to note that eventually Mandela approved to the taking up of the arms against the Apartheid government.
I predict a blond haired teen with a bad heart and a shadowy companion…
I am sure of this- if one had emerged in the late 70s-early 80s among the Palestinians, they’d probably have a Palestinian state by now.
Yasser or Yasir?
Had it not been for falling in love with his own press, might not Yasir Arafat have been that man? Does a truly great man of our time have to denouce violence in all forms? It’s a fine line to walk, as all great (and poor) leaders know, between terrorism and fighting for your freedom, and how the world perceives you - and how we are asked to perceive them. Gandhi had no ‘peaceful’ answer to Naziism… did he?
That was cruel
ly funny.
Tsk tsk.
Sorry to spoil the joke, but is the person being referred to, the one I think?
Would Anwar Sadat qualify?
Mandela, great man that he is, was not an strictly an advocate of non-violent resistance. Amnesty Internation excluded him from “prisoners of conscience” status because of his advocacy of violent means. If you read his famous “I am prepare to die” statement from the Dock in the Rivonia trial of 1964, you will see that he admits to the use of violent means.