ABSTRACT
Fundamental to liberalism is the rejection of all group distinctions; liberty, equality and fraternity are indivisible and apply to all, irrespective of race, religion, or ethnicity. It is interesting that the equally universalistic ideology of socialism based on the highly rational notion of class interest across communal and national boundaries meets with an equally resounding lack of success in societies like South Africa, where class lines cut across communal lines. Like the Soviet dissidents whom they resemble in many ways, South African liberals come off remarkably well. They belong to the rare breed of people who keep us from despairing about the human condition. Theirs was a glorious failure. Indeed, the failure was not theirs, but the system’s. The liberal ideal remains viable; it was the nature of South African society that made its implementation impossible.
