Free Tibet

“How long will the West keep turning a blind eye?”

When China becomes economically disadvantageous to the West.

“To support the oppression of innocent people is to harm ourselves.”

How so? How does freeing Tibet, or challenging China on this issue help “ourselves”?

“Give due importance to human lives…that phrase has been haunting me. How easily we forget.”

Although I agree with the exiles sentiment, I don’t believe that many international governments agree with him/her.

With all of that said, I definitely support the freedom of Tibet. I just cynically question the reality of the movement. The population of China, due to the controlled press coverage there, perceives the actions of the Dalai Lama to be detrimental to the nation.

So then, I hope Tibet gains its freedom, I just don’t see it as a reality.

I see the autonomy of Tibet as an inevitability. People who say otherwise need to look at how much China has changed rather than look at China statically.

Freeing Tibet sounds great, and the Dalai Lama seems like a great guy. Until you learn that prior to China’s decision to exercise more fully their suzerainty over Tibet the Tibetan people were pretty much the slaves of Buddhist monks. The people had no more rights under the lamas than they do under Beijing. All land was owned by the monasteries. All the produce of the farmers was subject to confiscation by the monks. I realize that things are no different now, but the only people who stand to benefit from “freeing Tibet” aren’t the Tibetan people, but the lamas.

If anybody thinks that China is such a dynamic and progressive state that it is likely to allow Tibet self government in the forseeable future, then you must be unbelievably optimistic or abismally uninformed. China is strategically changing in very small, incremental ways that seem advantageous to it at the time. China has benefited greatly from making gradual economic changes that have brough in billions of dollars, but it stands to gain nothing (repeat: nothing) from freeing Tibet.

But the real question posed in this post relates to what obligation the world (especially the US, I assume) has in this matter. I would say next to none. Even if it would be a positive thing for Tibet to be free, China is not going to do it on its own, and it certainly will not under international pressure. In response to that pressure, however, China will use its enormous economic weight to sabatoge the countries that embarass it, especially at this crucial Olympic time when China is on the world stage.

I just don’t think freeing Tibet is an achievable goal, and it “isn’t a mountain worth dying on,” to quote a famous professor.

If China gives Tibet any degree of autonomy then other culturally distinct provinces will heighten their agitation for similar relaxation of Chinese control. China’s system of autocratic capitalism depends on the imposition of a shared culture narrative that is at odds with the kind of cultural federalism that Tibetan autonomy would open the door to.

Thats the argument anyway.

here’s a blog that covers this topic in some depth
http://stephiblog.wordpress.com/2008/03/28/the-dalai-lama/

and provides this link as well
Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth
http://www.michaelparenti.org/Tibet.html

It baffles me that people spend so much time getting indignant over one country (in which they don’t live and know little about) peacefully occupying another country (in which they don’t live and know little about), when their own country is running a meat grinder occupation that cost half a billion dollars a day.

And you can actually do something about the meatgrinder occupation! You can’t do jack about Tibet!

You’re right about people getting up in arms about things they can do nothing about, but you’re wrong when you say peaceful occupation. The Chinese are now nothing but fascists. They make me miss Slobodan and Sadaam: at least they made no bones about being human rights violating bastards.

Oh please. China’s human rights record sucks, but comparing them to a genocidal maniac and a truly totalitarian dictator is ridiculous.

Miss Slobodan? The Chinese aren’t implementing Operation Horseshoe version 2.0.

I knew someone would give me a hard time about “peaceful.” I wanted to say, “peaceful in comparison to the occupation of Iraq or Palestine,” but I try to hold to a minimal standard of elegance and lack of pedantry in my commenting.

Semantic pedantry is overrated and too often used to pad inane statements.

Jesse, for some reason your comments were marked as spam. I rescued them from the filter. Sorry about that.

What a perceptive spam filter…

You beat me to it JH

haha . funny guys. really, im laughing. no, really!
thanx david. i was wondering what happened…
really, i am still chuckling.
drink beer? i’ll buy! hope you like the dark stuff. geary’s is the best. well, for my locality anyway.

I prefer Dutch, if you have any.

I have to give it to Jesse, Geary’s is the real deal.

I wish I could find it down here……

Denney: What’s up with the new distinguished and intellectual look? Not that you didn’t look distinguished and intellectual before, just askin’…

Someone told me I looked like I was twelve in my other picture. Naturally, I reacted.

The date of the older picture was from 2004 (my junior year of high school). I resolved to update my picture to 2008.