The Economist is a respectable magazine. I guess you never heard of it.

Here it is:

Rev

I am aware of the magazine. You and the economist who wrote such nonsense are morons.

No need to point it out to him. He is too dull to grasp that fact. I can imagine him saying under slavery there was full employment, low deficits and specular growth so we should go back there

Danyael:

* You are a graduate of that black glorified high school.

* That's right! Howard University.

* You Danyael ought not be referring to anyone a dull.

Now danyael! It looks like you and the other Nelson groupies here can't handle the truth---and the truth is blacks in South Africa were better off economically when Mandela was in prison than they are today.

Rev

Many successful people went to Howard. Use the internet you can do with an education.

Sir, I would like to know what university you went to and then I will tell you where I went to as well, if that informs the gross racist nonsense here. The economist is taking numbers from their backsides. The baseline for  blacks pre Mandela was as serfs. That they are free from enforced destitution that enriched whites comparatively speaking and that is incalculable. However, what if your white racists had 0 to start with as well?

Mandela is loved because he exacted no penalty on whites for their brutality. That their over 100 years of dominion can be solved in a generation is an impossibility given the millions they had enslaved and in a zero economic state. Mugabe tried to equalize the equation, doing the opposite of Mandela,  and was deemed a devil and had sanctions pushed up his backsides.

There are blacks in roles and participating in life that cannot be measured is a state of servitude vs a free state. And yes, there is gross mismanagement etc as the state try to carve out a new reality. Unfortunately, with Mandela gone the privileged status of the white rich and their extensive holdings pre Mandela may be in jeopardy.

Let me state unequally here, that article was written by a moron for morons like you

By the way you dumb ****, let me know where you went to schools so I can offer my condolences to the good teachers there that they hatched a moron.

ahmmm, "disadvantaged" is an interesting term . . . in the hands of an idiot "numbers man," all kinds of mastubatory ignorance and infantile posings 'gain' currency . . . now, let's see the actual article, not a 3rd party's decontextualized pluckings from the article

yessss, i (unlike the poorly educated & poorly informed rev) subscribe . . .

--------------------------

The longer walk to equality

The Economist, Dec 6th 2013, 10:04 by P.K.

South African inequality over the lifetime of Nelson Mandela

ROLIHLAHLA MANDELA (later Madiba to his countrymen, Nelson to the wider world) was born into a British-ruled South Africa in 1918. The Natives Land Act—passed just five years previously—was already enforcing mass segregation. By the time Mandela reached the age of 30, government laws were becoming even more oppressive and the Apartheid system was introduced. Prospects for black citizens were deteriorating, with average income increasingly dwarfed by the wages of ethnic whites.

At the point of Mr Mandela's arrest in 1962, the wage gap had yawned wider still, continuing along the same trend throughout the majority of his years behind bars. Against immense international opposition and the pressures of sanctions, black nationals remained suppressed beneath Apartheid rule, despite constituting an increasingly larger proportion of the populous. Towards the end of Mandela's incarceration—through to the abolition of Apartheid—fortunes did reverse slightly, but by now the disparity had grown so large that it barely made a dent. Income growth improved substantially for all South Africans after his 1994 election victory, but sufficiently more so for whites, and the balance has been disproportionately weighted in their favour—and increasingly that of Asian South Africans—since he stepped down in 1999.

Under its own majority rule, the lot of the ever-growing black population—today forming over three-quarters of the national total—has been notably poor. Misguided governance, low-quality education, skills shortages and massive unemployment levels of around 40% have left it more disadvantaged today than when Nelson Mandela was still behind bars. Black income has virtually flat-lined, betraying tremendous gulfs between the wealth of the different racial groups. Sadly, the nation Mandela leaves behind today remains one of the least equal in the world.         

so, blacks were "better off" under apartheid, eh? . . . perhaps a holiday off your knees away from kwamee & co in GT, and some remedial night school(think logarithms) might help u out, u clueless stupid antiman

oh, and btw, also from the Economist:

----------------------

A Giant passes

The Economist, December 5, 2013

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 (see article). 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.

Nelson Mandela was revolutionary.

Whinnie Mandela was a Social Worker.

Nelson Mandela in his own words says, 'People make me out to be a saint, but I am not.' 

We will see what he meant by those words. Now dead, ppl will be talking much more freely.

South Africa today, is in a terrible state. The poor is the ticking bomb. It is possible to explode. Soon.

"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."

------------------

THIS may be the key to salvaging Mandela's dream of a progressive, unified South Africa

FACT:

* Blacks in South Africa today are worse off economically than when the vain Mandela was rotting in prison and demanding pantene shampoo to wash his hair.

* "South Africa's legendary African National Congress, the party of Nelson Mandela, is destroying itself. Corruption, cronyism, internal divisions ..."

In the eyes of GOD no human being is GREAT.

Rev

THE REV IS A PROUD GRADUATE OF THE SELF UNIVERSITY---the most prestigious learning institution on the planet

Rev

saying it ova and ova and ova with plenty colorful pictures embroidered with catty little asides doan make it "fact" mr overmatched antiman

but then again, u is de Guyana skollar who citing to an aticle u haven't even read

har de har har har har harrr

No need to say more, it shows.

ha ha ha ha

* That's your shortest post ever Danny boy.

* Keep up the good work.

Rev

Rev, are you 5 Ft 2 ins tall?

This thread is becomming like pre school class, lots of pictures for illustration .

Chief:

When you peruse your beloved copies of Playboy magazine--is it the photos or the words that intrigue you ?

Rev

HEHEHE Short indeed.

I hear the "Self University" got only one class - Lil ABC.

Revie.... my long lost idrine... don't brag about being self-educated.

antabanta:

* Are you accusing the esteemed Rev of bragging ?

* Why the animosity and bitterness antabanta ?

* Haven't I always treated you with respect on this forum antabanta ?

* Listen antabanta!  All the Rev tells on this forum is the truth---and I know the truth offends many like yourself.

* But tough luck antabanta! The truth will always be the truth.

* Now! If you choose to remain bitter and resentful antabanta---it's your choice.

* But the Rev is a man of empathy and compassion---and if you antabanta were trying to take a cheap shot at the Rev---accusing him of bragging---you are forgiven.

Rev

Revie!!! My idrine!!! Bai... me so glad you talking back to yuh real real friend Anta. You so magnanimous you mek me shame.

What I'm trying to say, one idrine to another, is that if I were you, I would not brag about being self-educated for the very simply obvious reason that if your posts are any measure of your education, and if we are to take your posts as a true indication of your general disposition, then said education may be seen as cause for embarrassment and people would blame you for doing a damn piss poor job.

Now you see how yuh idrine Anta always looking out for you?

Anttabanta:

* No matter how you try to conceal it you clearly harbor deep animosity and resentment against the Rev.

* Be honest antabanta.  Many of the opinions, the conjectures and the point of views the Rev has put forth on this forum have  offended and provoked you.

* And so antabanta---you have chosen to be snobbish and pretentious.

* You wrongfully accused the Rev of bragging---when all he did was give a simple reply to Danyael----and now you pompously claim that your intent is to give the Rev advice.

* Because the Rev is a kind and gracious man he will refrain from disparaging you antabanta.

* Anyway, Keep reading the Rev's posts---hopefully one day you'll stop being offended and outraged.

Rev

OBAMA SHOWS UP 1 HOUR LATE FOR MANDELA'S FUNERAL SERVICE

* Here is Obama shaking hands with his fellow socialist---Raul Castro and bowing to him----Obama is a very respectful man---he bows to everybody.

Click on link:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2521225/President-Obama-flies-South-Africa-Mandela-memorial-event-alongside-George-W-Bush-Hillary-

Clinton.html

Rev

PS. Traffic jam.

Rev 

You are very funny. 

Rev can't make his point without pictures

ummmm, the plaintive, desperate tone literally leaps out at you . . . some kind of depraved, kwameesque rite of passage unfolding before our eyes - literally begging man to be "offended" and "provoked". . .

for some bizarre reason, the psychologically fragile rev seems to feel that he cannot fully affirm his true antimanhood unless and until he can entice man to get "VEX, VEX" wid he

sometimes i (almost) feel sorry for the little bugger

Hmmmm! GNI's RESIDENT SOURPUSS REDUX MAKES HIS GRAND ENTRANCE

* It's snowing here in New York City.

* It's 33F or 1C

* First storm of the season.

* It's quite lovely.

Rev

* Hope you haven't offended sourpuss redux and the conceited antabanta with your kind words for the Rev.

* Don't be surprised to see antabanta bombarding you with advice---like the deluded redux he fancies himself to be a paragon of wisdom and intellect.hahaha

Rev

oh scraps bai... you hurt I man feelings deh my idrine... look at all dem big words you lik dunk pon ole Anta ..
But still I admire your display of arrogance in assuming your inane posts have such significance to readers which perhaps explains why you have hundreds of threads with intense discourse with yourself.

And, idrine to idrine, your loyal friend must still beg you to reconsider bragging about being self-taught. Now Idrine... I man just trying to reason with you pon a serious bration. You see if you run around telling people you're self-taught dem might just want bun down the school on general principles that any institution that produces such a calamitously poor intellect should never ever be allowed.

You noticed that too? Thought was only me.

* Well! Rev did not attend Howard University like Danyael

* Rev is self educated.

* And the self educated Rev ascribes to this:

Rev