“The ANC has never at any period of its history advocated a revolutionary change in the economic structure of the country, nor has it, to the best of my recollection, ever condemned capitalist society…”

This speech is likely what cemented Mandela as a future leader of South Africa, preferable to the United States between the increasingly distasteful and hardline National Party and the threatening Communist Party. It is a reminder of Mandela’s liberal/moderate leanings and that though he played an instrumental part in the dismantling of the system of apartheid in South Africa, he was by and large more in favour of increasing Black South Africans access to capital than for dismantling the class hierarchy altogether. Ultimately with 72% of agricultural holds and farmland still in the hands of the white minority, where did this liberalism get Black South Africans? Only 4% of the land belongs to the majority of the population. Is this not just apartheid masked in the guise of “legal ownership”?

Mandela was a deft politician but he was also just that: a politician. For the center right, the dismantling of apartheid and introduction of South Africa onto the global stage of capitalism is a “happily ever after, close the book” ending, but has ultimately muddied the waters and left unaddressed the racial economic disenfranchisement of Black South Africans from decades of living under this unjust system and centuries of colonialism that can never truly be addressed by continuing to operate under a capitalist economy. This is a twofold reminder for those in the struggle against global capitalist imperialism: 1) although one may be aligned with another in terms of an immediate threat, one must never concede the overall goals of the movement to appease antagonists to that very movement (i.e. in this case the struggle against apartheid must be fought chiefly alongside the struggle against global capitalism); 2) beware not to make a movement a cult of personality/avoid centralising power/publicity in the hands of a few and disavow those that would act as the face of a movement comprised of a multitude.

ahhhh hello hello hello everyone! i’m so so excited to share this quest with you all. it was hard narrowing these down to just 15, but i can only hope i’ve done this cool little niche justice!

a few notes:

• on the title — strictly speaking, these books feature more than just “plagues” as they’re scientifically defined. i’ve used the word plague here as a general / colloquial term for a variety of maladies that meet my criteria of being a) significant in scope b) in some way spreadable and c) distinctly “strange” in that they are dramatically unlike any real disease the human race has so far encountered.
• i’ve tried to make sure there’s a little something for everyone! we’ve got graphic novels, novellas, long epics and short and sweet ya. i’ve also tried to cover quite a few genres here, since strange plagues can be found in all corners of genre fiction! i’ve posted a separate starter guide for those wondering where to begin :)
• i’ve also made a separate post containing a list of trigger warnings for each of these reads, as due to the nature of strange plague stories these books can get a little intense / cover some sensitive topics!

finally - since this is a side quest, i cannot add or change anything. however, if you have recommendations for books that also fit into this niche, you can use this post as a place to share them! i plan to keep my list up as a sort of “further reading” guide and will keep that updated with more recommendations! thank you all for being here <33