I hope 2014 will be a better year in the advance to a world that is fit for human beings. But it can only be better if we, all of us, make the effort to find ways to deal with the economic, social and political crises that the super rich countries of the world create as they continue to skew the benefits of our human capacity to invent, to find creative solutions that start to reverse the structured inequality of our society. It does need restructuring and we must do it.
My memory of Nelson Mandela is his comment on being released from prison, that he and we are not yet free, we are only free to become free.
He went on to say that to be free it is not enough to cast off our chains; we must so live our lives that we enhance and advance the freedom of others.
 Too many of the praises heaped upon him have the effect of saying that we need do nothing, some saviour will set us free. That is the opposite of his whole life's work. |
He also said that when one has climbed a mountain one sees that there are more mountains to climb. It is we who must progress from where we are to a more egalitarian world order. We must conquer those peaks of social progress.
Let us move together to achieve that vision.
A famous progressive American Judge, Oliver Wendell Holmes, said in a speech titled, In Our Youth Our Hearts Were Touched With Fire,"I think that, as life is action and passion, it is required of a man that he should share the passion and action of his time at peril of being judged not to have lived."
In that light, it is certain that Nelson Mandela lived. We too should be involved in the actions and passions of our time.
with my best wishes
Denis
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