week one

[Karlyne]

Buck wrote: "Karlyne wrote: "Read slow, Buck! My library really has ordered it, they say, and it's on its way... "

I can't read slow!

I got mine from the library, too. I only have it for two weeks. I can r..."

Well, ok, then, go ahead and read fast! Hopefully, my copy will arrive soon!

[John]

Buck & Karlyne,
This is a link to a pdf download of ALWTF so you can read it on your pc or mobile device. You do have to register on the site, and it costs approx. $4.
https://docs.com/ZTO3

[Karlyne]

At the end of Book Two, page 86, Mandela quotes Gaur as saying, "Education is all well and good, but if we are to depend upon education, we will wait a thousand years for our freedom." And then, Mandela says himself a few pages later on (p 89) that in Johannesburg he moved "in circles where common sense and practical experience were more important than high academic qualifications".

In the light of the huge push to "educate" (via college) all of our American youth, I see the reality of what Mandela is saying here. Is a job, money, prestige the most important thing in life? Hans Muller, the white estate agent, tells Mandela (p87) that "Once you have enough cash there is nothing else you will want in life." That seems to sum up just what we're pushing here. This is a tremendously isolating outlook, isn't it?

[John]

Karlyne wrote: "At the end of Book Two, page 86, Mandela quotes Gaur as saying, "Education is all well and good, but if we are to depend upon education, we will wait a thousand years for our freedom." And then, M..."

Nice comment, Karlyne.
I think the real value of education in society is not that it increases wealth, but rather that it increases cohesion between members of that educated society. When people are using the same knowledge base, they tend to understand and accept one another more readily.
I doubt that the Western, educated world would have embraced Mandela as they did had he not been educated. In fact, had he not been educated he would probably have made little impact on the world. Fortunately he saw education as a means to enlightenment rather than wealth.

[Karlyne]

The word "education" means different things, too, doesn't it? Gaur meant, of course, wasting time on "formal" education, but I don't think that he meant that illiteracy was a problem that would have to wait.

Would the Western world have listened to Mandela if he hadn't had a degree or two under his belt? Could he have been self-educated and still be the power he was?

I do wish that education stood for knowledge and understanding, and, yes, enlightenment, but it seems to be increasingly meant as a means to an end- the good job, the money, the power it brings.

[Karlyne]

Wow! Does that sound cynical! I'm not really a Negative Nelly; in fact, I've been accused of being Pollyanna more than once!

[John]

Karlyne wrote: "The word "education" means different things, too, doesn't it? Gaur meant, of course, wasting time on "formal" education, but I don't think that he meant that illiteracy was a problem that would ha..."

I think education can release the dormant potential within a person - this was certainly the case with Mandela. Towards the end of his time on Robben Island he talks about how valuable the time was that he had there to study classic literature, and the influence that had on his sensibilities and thinking.

[Karlyne]

Question time! This might sound like a silly one, but who exactly were the Coloureds? Were they the "mixed race" group?

I tried to answer another question by looking it up, and I now have a very limited, elementary but working definition of "dialectical materialism". Communism has never been on my radar, so this is interesting!

[Karlyne]

Oh, and I completely agree with you, John, about education releasing potential, especially through classic literature. I wish that there were more emphasis on this and less on getting a degree in order to get a job. But maybe that's a luxury?

[Carolien]

Karlyne wrote: "Question time! This might sound like a silly one, but who exactly were the Coloureds? Were they the "mixed race" group?

I tried to answer another question by looking it up, and I now have a ver..."

You're right. Coloureds are "mixed race". In South Africa, most of their ancestors were a mixture of the early white settlers in the Cape and slaves imported from then Batavia (today Indonesia) and surrounding regions. They make up a relatively small portion of the SA population and are still mainly concentrated in the Western and Northern Cape (although an area such as Gauteng has substantial numbers). Most of them were Afrikaans speaking and they were badly affected when apartheid was implemented since they used to be able to vote and had many of the same rights as white people. Many of them feel that the end of apartheid left them again in a kind of nowhere-land, where they have not benefitted as much as black people in post apartheid SA.

[Karlyne]

I'm going to have to do some quick reading on SA history. My ignorance is holding my understanding back!