The Myth That Democracy = Freedom

When the universally reviled South African policy of apartheid was ended and majority rule democracy instituted in that country there was great hope that democracy would at long last restore freedom and justice that the black majority of that country had been deprived of for so many decades. Most Western elites unquestioningly assumed that the god of democracy would work its usual miracles. It has not only not done so, but has created a catastrophe in that country, as documented by a new book by Ilana Mercer entitled Into the Cannibal’s Pot: Lessons for America from Post-Apartheid South Africa.

Mercer is a native South African whose parents and other relatives still live there. Her father is a renowned Rabbi who was for decades an outspoken opponent of apartheid, which she herself condemns in no uncertain terms as "the repressive – and reprehensible – apartheid regime." She has written about a topic that the Western media have almost completely ignored – the failure of post-apartheid South Africa to move in the direction of peace, justice, and prosperity. She hopes that her book will be a small contribution that can help turn things around in her native land, while providing valuable lessons to Americans as well.

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