And did the legacy of apartheid exacerbate South Africa's AIDS epidemic?
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Just wondering. I had personally never even heard of the guy until after I discovered the Mandela Effect. So I have no point of reference for it.
Mandela is know globally as an icon of the anti apartheid movement in South Africa. But the means by which he sought to pursue his goals is one that seemed to involve a lot of pragmatism. Seems to I say, because sometimes it can be a little difficult to figure whether some of his decisions were made more because of idealism or realism.
Take for example his civil disobedience. In the initial stages of the struggle he chose civil disobedience modeled off Gandhi. But then he chose to move to armed resistance after civil disobedience didn't seem to work and especially after the Sharpeville Massacre. Part of that could be seen as a pragmatic decision. But one could also look at it from an idealistic perspective. When he formed the armed wing of the ANC in 1962 it was at the time when you had anti colonial struggles happening. The Algerian Revolution from 54 to 62. The Kenyan War of Independence, etc. Mandela at the time did idealise the armed resistance of those struggles.
When one looks at the alliances that Mandela formed locally and internationally, this is also an interesting case when talking about idealism vs pragmatism. On the one had he had the alliance of some Western political leaders like the Canadian government(interestingly under conservative governments) as well as the Swedish government and others. On the other hand he had the alliance of other governments and leaders that the West did not look favourably on. Castro and Cuba are one. Arafat and the Palestinians are another example. Nasser's Egypt as well as the Soviet Union are other examples. These alliances themselves were formed because, even though some Western leaders like Canadian ones supported his cause, some of the crucial ones like the U.S , the U.K and Israel continued to support the Apartheid regime for Cold War purposes.
Now one could look at this as a pragmatic decision on his and the ANC's part. And it definitely was one that deepened their relationship with these governments and leaders. Cuba for instance literally intervened in Africa and helped ANC forces. Arafat and the Palestinian political leadership(something I did not know) set up training camps in places like Mozambique and the Lebanon for the the ANC's armed wing. It could also be looked at from an idealistic perspective due to the fact that he did admire the Cuban Revolution for example. Castro's Speech before he was imprisoned by Batista was a model for Mandela's own speech before he was put in jail. These alliance o
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