Why do we ban?

[oZoneRanger(III)]

Look at Nelson Mandela. He went to prison, and he changed. But that was after being incarcerated.

WTF are you talking about?


Nelson Mandela spent 27 years and eight months in prison as a result of the Rivonia trial (18 years of which were spent on Robben Island). He was charged with:

Recruiting persons for training in the preparation and use of explosives and in guerrilla warfare for the purpose of violent revolution and committing acts of sabotage.
Conspiring to commit the aforementioned acts and to aid foreign military units when they invaded the Republic, acting in these ways to further the objects of communism
Soliciting and receiving money for these purposes from sympathizers in Algeria, Ethiopia, Liberia, Nigeria, Tunisia, and elsewhere.

The trial was condemned by the United Nations Security Council and nations around the world, leading to international sanctions against the South African government in some cases.

Mandela did not change because of his imprisonment, South Africa did. Nelson Mandela, speaking in the dock of the court on 20 April 1964, said:

“During my lifetime I have dedicated my life to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons will live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realised. But, my Lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

I do not understand the point you are trying to make on punishment by using Mandela as an example.