I share a birthday with this guy.....

PHOTO: Former President of South Africa, Nelson Mandela (L) shakes hands with the former U.S. President, Jimmy Carter during a ceremony marking his 89th birthday in Johannesburg, July 18, 2007. REUTERS/Siphiwe Sibeko

Mandela marks 89th birthday by launching braintrust

Nelson Mandela marked his 89th birthday on Wednesday by launching an international group of elder statesmen, including fellow Nobel peace laureates Desmond Tutu and Jimmy Carter, to tackle the world's problems. As birthday tributes poured in, Mandela said the group of "elders" would use almost 1,000 years of collective experience to dream up solutions for seemingly insurmountable problems like climate change, HIV/AIDS and poverty. The leaders, who include former Irish President Mary Robinson and former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, would also use their political independence to help resolve some of the world's most intractable conflicts. "Using their collective experience, their moral courage and their ability to rise above nation, race and creed, they can make our planet a more peaceful and equitable place to live," said Mandela, wearing his trademark silk African-style shirt.

In this article, Jimmy Carter had this to say:

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said governments had frequently failed to tackle the world's big issues and conflicts because they were beholden to voters, inhibited by their own political agenda and beset with domestic problems. "We will be able to risk failure ... and we will not need to claim credit for any success," he said.

I think Jimmy Carter left out a couple of important elements: GREED AND APATHY. It is greed and the lust for power that stops a lot of governments and their leaders from tackling the world’s biggest issues. It stops a lot of the elites, also. And it stops a lot of regular folks too, although a lot of them are not afflicted with greed or apathy, instead they are overwhelmed just keeping their heads above water. But a lot of governments, leaders, elites and regular folks are also apathetic to what other people are facing – so much so sometimes that they are totally ignorant of what is going on and make no effort to change that.

Happy Birthday to Nelson Mandela, who not only overcame many obstacles and suffered many deprivations, he did it all in a peaceful and non-violent way. And because of that – his country of South Africa was not torn apart by violence as they overthrew the oppression that nearly destroyed the majority of the people there. His country was not destroyed in the process. And while there are still very many serious problems in South Africa, they have come a long way. And they did it will a minimal loss of life. And they have a route to going forward, and they were very fortunate that Nelson Mandela was there to lead the way.