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AMONG Nelson Mandela’s many achievements, two stand out. First, he was the world’s most inspiring example of fortitude, magnanimity and dignity in the face of oppression, serving more than 27 years in prison for his belief that all men and women are created equal. During the brutal years of his imprisonment on Robben Island, thanks to his own patience, humour and capacity for forgiveness, he seemed freer behind bars than the men who kept him there, locked up as they were in their own self-demeaning prejudices. Indeed, his warders were among those who came to admire him most.
Second, and little short of miraculous, was the way in which he engineered and oversaw South Africa’s transformation from a byword for nastiness and narrowness into, at least in intent, a rainbow nation in which people, no matter what their colour, were entitled to be treated with respect. That the country has not always lived up to his standards goes to show how high they were.
Exorcising the curse of colour
As a politician, and as a man, Mr Mandela had his contradictions. He was neither a genius nor, as he often said himself, a saint. Some of his early writings were banal Marxist ramblings, even if the sense of anger with which they were infused was justifiable. But his charisma was evident from his youth.He was a born leader who feared nobody, debased himself before no one and never lost his sense of humour. He was handsome and comfortable in his own skin.
In a country in which the myth of racial superiority was enshrined in law, he never for a moment doubted his right, and that of all his compatriots, to equal treatment. Perhaps no less remarkably, once the majority of citizens were able to have their say he never for a moment denied the right of his white compatriots to equality. For all the humiliation he suffered at the hands of white racists before he was released in 1990, he was never animated by feelings of revenge.He was himself utterly without prejudice, which is why he became a symbol of tolerance and justice across the globe.
Perhaps even more important for the future of his country was his ability to think deeply, and to change his mind. When he was set free, many of his fellow members of the African National Congress (ANC) remained dedicated disciples of the dogma promoted by their party’s supporter, the Soviet Union, whose own sudden implosion helped shift the global balance of power that in turn contributed to apartheid’s demise. Many of his comrades were simultaneously members of the ANC and the South African Communist Party who hoped to dismember the capitalist economy and bring its treasure trove of mines and factories into public ownership. Nor was the ANC convinced that a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy—with all the checks and balances of bourgeois institutions, such as an independent judiciary—was worth preserving, perverted as it had been under apartheid.
Mr Mandela had himself harboured such doubts. But immediately before and after his release from prison, he sought out a variety of opinions among those who, unlike himself, had been fortunate enough to roam the world and compare competing systems. He listened and pondered—and decided that it would be better for all his people, especially the poor black majority, if South Africa’s existing economic model were drastically altered but not destroyed, and if a liberal democracy, under a universal franchise, were kept too.
That South Africa did, in the end, move with relatively little bloodshed to become a multiracial free-market democracy was indeed a near-miracle for which the whole world must thank him. The country he leaves behind is a far better custodian of human dignity than the one whose first democratically elected president he became in 1994. A self-confident black middle class is emerging. Democracy is well-entrenched, with regular elections, a vibrant press, generally decent courts and strong institutions. And South Africa still has easily sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest and most sophisticated economy.
But since Mr Mandela left the presidency in 1999 his beloved country has disappointed under two sorely flawed leaders, Thabo Mbeki and now Jacob Zuma. While the rest of Africa’s economy has perked up, South Africa’s has stumbled. Nigeria’s swelling GDP is closing in on South Africa’s. Corruption and patronage within the ANC have become increasingly flagrant. An authoritarian and populist tendency in ruling circles has become more strident. The racial animosity that Mr Mandela so abhorred is infecting public discourse. The gap between rich and poor has remained stubbornly wide. Barely two-fifths of working-age people have jobs. Only 60% of school-leavers get the most basic high-school graduation certificate. Shockingly for a country so rich in resources, nearly a third of its people still live on less than $2 a day.
Without the protection of Mr Mandela’s saintly aura, the ANC will be more harshly judged. Thanks to its corruption and inefficiency, it already faces competition in some parts of the country from the white-led Democratic Alliance. South Africa would gain if the ANC split, so there were two big black-led parties, one composed of communists and union leaders, the other more liberal and market-friendly.
Man of Africa, hero of the world
The ANC’s failings are not Mr Mandela’s fault. Perhaps he could have been more vociferous in speaking out against Mr Mbeki’s lethal misguidedness on the subject of HIV/AIDS, which cost thousands of lives. Perhaps he should have spoken up more robustly against the corruption around Mr Zuma. In foreign affairs he was too loyal to past friends, such as Fidel Castro. He should have been franker in condemning Robert Mugabe for his ruination of Zimbabwe.
But such shortcomings—and South Africa’s failings since his retirement from active politics—pale into insignificance when set against the magnitude of his overall achievement. It is hard to think of anyone else in the world in recent times with whom every single person, in every corner of the Earth, can somehow identify. He was, quite simply, a wonderful man.
纳尔逊·曼德拉一生取得无数成就，其中两项最引人注目。第一，因坚信“男人和女人生来平等”入狱27年，面对压迫却不屈不挠、宽宏大量、品德高尚，是世界上最能鼓舞人心的政治家。囚禁于罗本岛的艰苦岁月中，他耐心、幽默、宽容，似乎比把它囚禁于此的人更加自由。仿佛锁在监狱里的不是他，而是自取其辱、充满偏见的对手。最后，就连看守们也对他无比敬佩。
第二，南非在他的打造和治理下，从一个肮脏、狭隘、受人耻笑的国家变成一个不分肤色、人人平等、互相尊重的“彩虹之国”，这简直是一个奇迹。如今的南非发展并不尽如人意，可见建成“彩虹之国”难度颇高。
消除肤色差异
曼德拉是一名政治家，也是一个普通人，性格也有互相矛盾的地方。他经常这样评价自己：我不是天才也不是圣人。早期文章中充斥的愤怒虽然可以让人理解，但讲的还是老一套的马克思主义理论。他从小就具有领袖魅力，是天生的领袖，不惧怕任何人，不向任何人屈服，随时随地都幽默感十足。他相貌英俊，喜欢自己黝黑的肤色。
在一个法律都刻上种族歧视烙印的国家，他从未怀疑自己坚持的“所有国民都应得到平等对待”的信念是错误的。若大多数公民（指黑色人种）拥有发言的权利，他也不会否认白种人的权利，这才是他的出色之处。1990年被释放之前，面对白人种族歧视者的百般凌辱，他也从未有过复仇的念头。他是一个毫无偏见的人，因而在世界上都是宽容和正义的象征。
考虑到南非的未来，更重要的是他有深入思考、改变观念的能力。1990年曼德拉被释放后，南非非洲国民大会党（现为南非执政党）中的许多同志仍然痴迷苏联提出的教条主义，但苏联的突然垮台打破了世界权力平衡，最终为消除种族歧视奠定了基础。许多同志既是非洲国民大会党成员，也是提倡瓦解资本主义经济、将煤矿和工厂收归国有的南非共产党成员。非洲国民大会党党员也不相信，在因种族隔离变得扭曲的国家，资产阶级充满权力制约和平衡的西方议会式民主有什么值得保留的。
曼德拉虽有些怀疑，不过没有表露出来。出狱前后那段时间，他向一些云游天下、有机会比较各国制度优劣的幸运儿咨询了大量相关意见。他耐心倾听，经过慎重考虑，最后决定：彻底转变南非现有的经济模式而不是摧毁它、维持普选权制度和自由民主制不变。这对南非全体国民，尤其是对南非的黑色人种更为有利。
最终，南非只发生了小规模的流血冲突就完成了向多民族自由市场民主政体的成功过渡，不得不说是一个奇迹，发生这一切，全世界人民都应该感谢曼德拉。相比1994年成为南非第一任民选总统时的南非，他卸任后的南非变得更加尊重人的尊严；自信的黑人中产阶级正在形成；民主已在南非立地生根；定期举行的选举定期举行、媒体欣欣向荣、法院正直办案和机构强而有力，经济是撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲国家中规模最大、最为完善的。
但是自从1999年曼德拉卸任总统以来，南非在姆贝基和现任总统雅各布·祖马两位不作为的总统的领导下，让世界失望了。其他非洲国家的经济迅猛发展，南非的经济却一落千丈。尼日利亚日益增长的GDP正日益接近南非的水平；非洲人国民大会党内部的腐败和政治献金问题越发明显；统治阶层内的独裁主义和民粹主义倾向愈发严重；曼德拉非常憎恨的种族仇恨主导了公众话语权；贫富差距不断扩大；只有不到五分之二的劳动年龄人口拥有工作；只有60%的毕业生获得最基本的高中教育毕业证；对于一个资源富饶的国家，几乎三分之一的国民每天的生活费用不足2美元，简直令人震惊。
在没有曼德拉光环的笼罩下，非洲人国民大会党将受到严厉的指责。由于腐败问题和缺乏效率，非洲人国民大会党在国内许多地方已经面临来自白人领导的民主党联盟的竞争。如果非洲人国民大会党分裂，南非将有两大黑人领导的党派：一个成员主要是共产主义者和工会主席，另外一个成员更多的是崇尚市场的自由主义者。
南非的国父，世界的英雄
非洲人国民大会党的堕落并不是曼德拉的错误。当姆贝基做出致命的错误指示造成上万人因艾滋病丧生时，也许他应该更加大声地疾呼，发出反对声音；面对祖马幕僚的腐败行为，也许他应该更加坚定地予以反对；在处理外交事务方面，他对过去的朋友太过忠诚，比如费德尔·卡斯特罗；面对置津巴布韦于水火之中的总统罗伯特·穆加贝，或许他的谴责可以更直率些。
纵使有这些缺点，纵使卸任之后不再活跃在政治舞台上导致南非倒退，但和他取得的诸多成就相比，都显得无足轻重。很难想象当今时代地球上任何一个地方有可以和他媲美的人。简而言之，他是一个杰出的人。
AMONG Nelson Mandela’s many achievements, two stand out. First, he was the world’s most inspiring example of fortitude, magnanimity and dignity in the face of oppression, serving more than 27 years in prison for his belief that all men and women are created equal. During the brutal years of his imprisonment on Robben Island, thanks to his own patience, humour and capacity for forgiveness, he seemed freer behind bars than the men who kept him there, locked up as they were in their own self-demeaning prejudices. Indeed, his warders were among those who came to admire him most.
Second, and little short of miraculous, was the way in which he engineered and oversaw South Africa’s transformation from a byword for nastiness and narrowness into, at least in intent, a rainbow nation in which people, no matter what their colour, were entitled to be treated with respect. That the country has not always lived up to his standards goes to show how high they were.
Exorcising the curse of colour
As a politician, and as a man, Mr Mandela had his contradictions. He was neither a genius nor, as he often said himself, a saint. Some of his early writings were banal Marxist ramblings, even if the sense of anger with which they were infused was justifiable. But his charisma was evident from his youth.He was a born leader who feared nobody, debased himself before no one and never lost his sense of humour. He was handsome and comfortable in his own skin.
In a country in which the myth of racial superiority was enshrined in law, he never for a moment doubted his right, and that of all his compatriots, to equal treatment. Perhaps no less remarkably, once the majority of citizens were able to have their say he never for a moment denied the right of his white compatriots to equality. For all the humiliation he suffered at the hands of white racists before he was released in 1990, he was never animated by feelings of revenge.He was himself utterly without prejudice, which is why he became a symbol of tolerance and justice across the globe.
Perhaps even more important for the future of his country was his ability to think deeply, and to change his mind. When he was set free, many of his fellow members of the African National Congress (ANC) remained dedicated disciples of the dogma promoted by their party’s supporter, the Soviet Union, whose own sudden implosion helped shift the global balance of power that in turn contributed to apartheid’s demise. Many of his comrades were simultaneously members of the ANC and the South African Communist Party who hoped to dismember the capitalist economy and bring its treasure trove of mines and factories into public ownership. Nor was the ANC convinced that a Westminster-style parliamentary democracy—with all the checks and balances of bourgeois institutions, such as an independent judiciary—was worth preserving, perverted as it had been under apartheid.
Mr Mandela had himself harboured such doubts. But immediately before and after his release from prison, he sought out a variety of opinions among those who, unlike himself, had been fortunate enough to roam the world and compare competing systems. He listened and pondered—and decided that it would be better for all his people, especially the poor black majority, if South Africa’s existing economic model were drastically altered but not destroyed, and if a liberal democracy, under a universal franchise, were kept too.
That South Africa did, in the end, move with relatively little bloodshed to become a multiracial free-market democracy was indeed a near-miracle for which the whole world must thank him. The country he leaves behind is a far better custodian of human dignity than the one whose first democratically elected president he became in 1994. A self-confident black middle class is emerging. Democracy is well-entrenched, with regular elections, a vibrant press, generally decent courts and strong institutions. And South Africa still has easily sub-Saharan Africa’s biggest and most sophisticated economy.
But since Mr Mandela left the presidency in 1999 his beloved country has disappointed under two sorely flawed leaders, Thabo Mbeki and now Jacob Zuma. While the rest of Africa’s economy has perked up, South Africa’s has stumbled. Nigeria’s swelling GDP is closing in on South Africa’s. Corruption and patronage within the ANC have become increasingly flagrant. An authoritarian and populist tendency in ruling circles has become more strident. The racial animosity that Mr Mandela so abhorred is infecting public discourse. The gap between rich and poor has remained stubbornly wide. Barely two-fifths of working-age people have jobs. Only 60% of school-leavers get the most basic high-school graduation certificate. Shockingly for a country so rich in resources, nearly a third of its people still live on less than $2 a day.
Without the protection of Mr Mandela’s saintly aura, the ANC will be more harshly judged. Thanks to its corruption and inefficiency, it already faces competition in some parts of the country from the white-led Democratic Alliance. South Africa would gain if the ANC split, so there were two big black-led parties, one composed of communists and union leaders, the other more liberal and market-friendly.
Man of Africa, hero of the world
The ANC’s failings are not Mr Mandela’s fault. Perhaps he could have been more vociferous in speaking out against Mr Mbeki’s lethal misguidedness on the subject of HIV/AIDS, which cost thousands of lives. Perhaps he should have spoken up more robustly against the corruption around Mr Zuma. In foreign affairs he was too loyal to past friends, such as Fidel Castro. He should have been franker in condemning Robert Mugabe for his ruination of Zimbabwe.
But such shortcomings—and South Africa’s failings since his retirement from active politics—pale into insignificance when set against the magnitude of his overall achievement. It is hard to think of anyone else in the world in recent times with whom every single person, in every corner of the Earth, can somehow identify. He was, quite simply, a wonderful man.
纳尔逊·曼德拉一生取得无数成就，其中两项最引人注目。第一，因坚信“男人和女人生来平等”入狱27年，面对压迫却不屈不挠、宽宏大量、品德高尚，是世界上最能鼓舞人心的政治家。囚禁于罗本岛的艰苦岁月中，他耐心、幽默、宽容，似乎比把它囚禁于此的人更加自由。仿佛锁在监狱里的不是他，而是自取其辱、充满偏见的对手。最后，就连看守们也对他无比敬佩。
第二，南非在他的打造和治理下，从一个肮脏、狭隘、受人耻笑的国家变成一个不分肤色、人人平等、互相尊重的“彩虹之国”，这简直是一个奇迹。如今的南非发展并不尽如人意，可见建成“彩虹之国”难度颇高。
消除肤色差异
曼德拉是一名政治家，也是一个普通人，性格也有互相矛盾的地方。他经常这样评价自己：我不是天才也不是圣人。早期文章中充斥的愤怒虽然可以让人理解，但讲的还是老一套的马克思主义理论。他从小就具有领袖魅力，是天生的领袖，不惧怕任何人，不向任何人屈服，随时随地都幽默感十足。他相貌英俊，喜欢自己黝黑的肤色。
在一个法律都刻上种族歧视烙印的国家，他从未怀疑自己坚持的“所有国民都应得到平等对待”的信念是错误的。若大多数公民（指黑色人种）拥有发言的权利，他也不会否认白种人的权利，这才是他的出色之处。1990年被释放之前，面对白人种族歧视者的百般凌辱，他也从未有过复仇的念头。他是一个毫无偏见的人，因而在世界上都是宽容和正义的象征。
考虑到南非的未来，更重要的是他有深入思考、改变观念的能力。1990年曼德拉被释放后，南非非洲国民大会党（现为南非执政党）中的许多同志仍然痴迷苏联提出的教条主义，但苏联的突然垮台打破了世界权力平衡，最终为消除种族歧视奠定了基础。许多同志既是非洲国民大会党成员，也是提倡瓦解资本主义经济、将煤矿和工厂收归国有的南非共产党成员。非洲国民大会党党员也不相信，在因种族隔离变得扭曲的国家，资产阶级充满权力制约和平衡的西方议会式民主有什么值得保留的。
曼德拉虽有些怀疑，不过没有表露出来。出狱前后那段时间，他向一些云游天下、有机会比较各国制度优劣的幸运儿咨询了大量相关意见。他耐心倾听，经过慎重考虑，最后决定：彻底转变南非现有的经济模式而不是摧毁它、维持普选权制度和自由民主制不变。这对南非全体国民，尤其是对南非的黑色人种更为有利。
最终，南非只发生了小规模的流血冲突就完成了向多民族自由市场民主政体的成功过渡，不得不说是一个奇迹，发生这一切，全世界人民都应该感谢曼德拉。相比1994年成为南非第一任民选总统时的南非，他卸任后的南非变得更加尊重人的尊严；自信的黑人中产阶级正在形成；民主已在南非立地生根；定期举行的选举定期举行、媒体欣欣向荣、法院正直办案和机构强而有力，经济是撒哈拉沙漠以南非洲国家中规模最大、最为完善的。
但是自从1999年曼德拉卸任总统以来，南非在姆贝基和现任总统雅各布·祖马两位不作为的总统的领导下，让世界失望了。其他非洲国家的经济迅猛发展，南非的经济却一落千丈。尼日利亚日益增长的GDP正日益接近南非的水平；非洲人国民大会党内部的腐败和政治献金问题越发明显；统治阶层内的独裁主义和民粹主义倾向愈发严重；曼德拉非常憎恨的种族仇恨主导了公众话语权；贫富差距不断扩大；只有不到五分之二的劳动年龄人口拥有工作；只有60%的毕业生获得最基本的高中教育毕业证；对于一个资源富饶的国家，几乎三分之一的国民每天的生活费用不足2美元，简直令人震惊。
在没有曼德拉光环的笼罩下，非洲人国民大会党将受到严厉的指责。由于腐败问题和缺乏效率，非洲人国民大会党在国内许多地方已经面临来自白人领导的民主党联盟的竞争。如果非洲人国民大会党分裂，南非将有两大黑人领导的党派：一个成员主要是共产主义者和工会主席，另外一个成员更多的是崇尚市场的自由主义者。
南非的国父，世界的英雄
非洲人国民大会党的堕落并不是曼德拉的错误。当姆贝基做出致命的错误指示造成上万人因艾滋病丧生时，也许他应该更加大声地疾呼，发出反对声音；面对祖马幕僚的腐败行为，也许他应该更加坚定地予以反对；在处理外交事务方面，他对过去的朋友太过忠诚，比如费德尔·卡斯特罗；面对置津巴布韦于水火之中的总统罗伯特·穆加贝，或许他的谴责可以更直率些。
纵使有这些缺点，纵使卸任之后不再活跃在政治舞台上导致南非倒退，但和他取得的诸多成就相比，都显得无足轻重。很难想象当今时代地球上任何一个地方有可以和他媲美的人。简而言之，他是一个杰出的人。
