For my money, the Onion headline was not far from the truth: "Nelson Mandela Becomes First Politician To Be Missed." He may not have single-handedly defeated apartheid, but he certainly played a pivotal role in bringing down South Africa's brutally racist regime. For that alone, he deserves a great deal of admiration.
He also, no less importantly, helped the people of South Africa transition to a more civilized state relatively painlessly. His own willingness to forgive and move on set the tone for the post-apartheid period, and surely helped stanch any understandable desire for revenge on the part of long-oppressed blacks.
Some supporters of economic liberty have been lukewarm or even hostile to the outpouring of praise for the freedom fighter as news of his passing spread, due to his leftist views on economic matters. But Mandela deserves to be celebrated for his long battle against a system that forced husbands to live away from their families, that prevented blacks from going outside after eleven o'clock at night, that prevented them from travelling freely in their own country and from seeking employment where they pleased. The world could use a few more like him.
Some supporters of economic liberty have been lukewarm or even hostile to the outpouring of praise for the freedom fighter as news of his passing spread, due to his leftist views on economic matters. But Mandela deserves to be celebrated for his long battle against a system that forced husbands to live away from their families, that prevented blacks from going outside after eleven o'clock at night, that prevented them from travelling freely in their own country and from seeking employment where they pleased. The world could use a few more like him.