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Mandela was respected for what he did after being released from prison, rather than what he did before going to prison. When oppressive and divisive regimes fa

Mandela was respected for what he did after being released from prison, rather than what he did before going to prison. When oppressive and divisive regimes fall, it often happens violently and they end up being replaced by regimes that are just as bad if not worse (see: Tsarist Russia, White-majority Rhodesia, many other postcolonial states). That didn't happen in SA, and Mandela is credited with that. If the world ends up looking way more dystopian scifi than it does at the moment, there's maybe a scenario where Snowden ends up being today's Nelson Mandela, but I wouldn't bet on it.

zorked 13y ago
I thought there was this world-wide campaign to free Mandela while he was in prison as well. Surely it couldn't be informed by what he would do in the future.
- alphakappa 13y ago
  There was. I remember signing a petition as a kid in a school in a country across the world from SA.
- arethuza 13y ago
  There was a huge campaign to free Mandela in the 1980s, including the memorable song "Free Nelson Mandela" by The Special AKA: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/09/jerry-dammers-free-nelson-mandela http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/09/jerry-dammers-f...
Crito 13y ago
> Mandela was respected for what he did after being released from prison, rather than what he did before going to prison. He can be respected for both. Many of us do respect him for the totality of what he was, not just what he was later in life.
- chrisdevereux 13y ago
  Oh, that's totally true. I didn't mean to suggest that he isn't respected for his earlier actions (which, reading it back, I kinda did). But I don't think he'd be thought about the same way if it wasn't for the second act. A lot of people are unfairly imprisoned by despotic governments. Not many become unifying figures in the way that Mandela did. So I don't think the comparison to Snowden is a good one.

zorked 13y ago

I thought there was this world-wide campaign to free Mandela while he was in prison as well. Surely it couldn't be informed by what he would do in the future.

alphakappa 13y ago
There was. I remember signing a petition as a kid in a school in a country across the world from SA.
arethuza 13y ago
There was a huge campaign to free Mandela in the 1980s, including the memorable song "Free Nelson Mandela" by The Special AKA: http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/09/jerry-dammers-free-nelson-mandela http://www.theguardian.com/music/2013/dec/09/jerry-dammers-f...

Crito 13y ago

> Mandela was respected for what he did after being released from prison, rather than what he did before going to prison. He can be respected for both. Many of us do respect him for the totality of what he was, not just what he was later in life.

chrisdevereux 13y ago
Oh, that's totally true. I didn't mean to suggest that he isn't respected for his earlier actions (which, reading it back, I kinda did). But I don't think he'd be thought about the same way if it wasn't for the second act. A lot of people are unfairly imprisoned by despotic governments. Not many become unifying figures in the way that Mandela did. So I don't think the comparison to Snowden is a good one.