“It is a struggle for the right to live”.
The words of Nelson Mandela at his defence trial. He was facing life imprisonment, a sentence that would have any regular own quivering in his own boots.
But did Mandela shy away? Did he seek to have himself cleared? Did he try and hide the truth? No. He knew it would cost him his freedom but he did it anyway.
He made a stand knowing full well what fate awaited him. He said “it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die”. A worthy cause. And he was not the only one.
A man by the name of John Lennon told us to “give peace a chance”. Another larger than life character standing up for what he believed in.
We know he was shot. We know others who were shot. One Martin Luther King Jr springs to mind. Perhaps the most important person concerning human rights in the history of man.
He was shot because of what he believed in. He wasn’t afraid to do what was right. His stood up for his ideals and never backed down.
These people are just ordinary men who took it upon themselves to try and change the world no matter what the cost.
Should we be inspired by these people? Of course. Do we do our upmost to follow their ideals? Well that’s another story.
If we see a man being assaulted, will we help? If we are bribed to ignore the bar brawl, do we take it? If we are faced with life imprisonment, will we stand up for what we believe in?
Unfortunately, in reality the answer to these questions are not something to be proud of. But what do you think? What would you do? What would the person next to you do? And what would people such as Mandela do?
But let us explore why people do what they do. Helping a man being assaulted, well that might not end well. Refuse the bribe? Who knows what they’ll do. Faced with life imprisonment? Well that’s a given.
It is fear that drives us. It is fear that compels us to do what our morals tell us to not. It is fear that will make us do what we would else never do.
But then why did men like...