You wrote:
blackie, sir tom daly is either ready to pack his bags and sail for the old country, and so he is not living off of the legacy of conquest, murder, rape, looting, terror, and despair, or he is trying to right clear wrongs by making a country out of tibet, to presumably reverse history and re-introduce dalai lama led serfdom, or he believes in the fairy tales told by politicians when they are trying to gain power that a better world is just around the corner when he gets the ring to rule over all rings, before forced migration can commence, instigated by any one that will surely come along, thus putting the instigator/enabler in the clear.
There are all three types all over, and they either know or not know about the Great Game, and so they are either learned and evil, or unschooled and naive, and so, hypocrite, scoundrel, naïve and/or evil are words that come easily to mind.
Interesting all the things you are implying I am doing, trying to do or am thinking without ever having a discussion with me or knowing the first thing about what I think or believe. And, at the same time, seemingly trying to label me as one of your “types” - naive, unschooled, evil, hypocrite, scoundrel.
My response to your quite remarkable rant:
(Kind of long but please read the whole thing)
blackie, sir tom daly is either ready to pack his bags and sail for the old country, and so he is not living off of the legacy of conquest, murder, rape, looting, terror, and despair
Not going anywhere, I kind of like it here in the USA. Far from a prefect country but a better place to live than many. Your “legacy of conquest, murder, rape, looting, terror, and despair” could apply to a good portion of the history of the human race. Americans, Canadians, Germans, Russians, Chinese, British, Spain, Turks, Argentines, Mongolians, Portugal, Japan, most of Africa and just about every nation/race in Arabia, Middle East & North Africa - all guilty of conquest, murder, rape, looting, terror, and despair (I’m sure there are many others but you get the point). So by your logic, no citizen of any of these groups/nations should speak out against any injustice anywhere in the world because they live somewhere that has indulged in current or past atrocities.
What race or nationality I am is meaningless.
I am speaking out as a human being, not as an American or a white person.
he is trying to right clear wrongs by making a country out of tibet
No, not trying to make a country out of Tibet. Whatever it has been in the past (country, region, zone) is over for good and things must be dealt with as the current situation dictates.
Even the Dalai Lama agrees:
"A Tibetan should be a citizen of the People's Republic of China. I mean, a happy citizen of the People's Republic of China. I always feel remaining separate, weak, poor. Instead of that, join thousands of millions of people. Prosperity, dignity. Much better." (Dalai Lama, Seattle,4/13/08)
TIME: You've faced some criticism for giving up Tibet's fight for independence.
Dalai Lama: Some Tibetans now accuse me of selling out their right to independence. Even my eldest brother is for complete independence and he always accuses me [of this]. But my approach is actually in our own interest. Tibet is backward, it's a big land, quite rich in natural resources, but we completely lack the technology or expertise [to exploit them]. So if we remain within China, we might get a greater benefit, provided it respects our culture and beautiful environment and gives us some kind of guarantee. For us [it would mean] more modernization. The new railway [into Tibet], for instance. This is generally speaking a good thing, very beneficial for development, providing it is not used politically. (Dalai Lama,
Interview in TIME Magazine, 10/18/04)
"We are willing to be part of the People's Republic of China," the Dalai Lama told the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong, "to have it govern and guarantee to preserve our Tibetan
culture, spirituality and environment." (Dalai Lama, South China Morning Post, 2005)
to presumably reverse history and re-introduce dalai lama led serfdom
No, not trying to reverse history. The Dalai Lama has admitted many times that the old ways in Tibet were bad and needed to be changed. In discussions with the author Pico Iyer, he said that many of Tibet’s problems were self-inflicted and they Tibetans) did not study their ways honestly enough to undertake the needed reforms. After setting up the government in exile, he ranted at all the various religious orders to stop their conflicts and start working for the betterment of the Tibetan people. One of the first rules he instituted was allowing himself to be impeached by the government if necessary. He set up the Assembly of Tibetan People’s Deputies along the lines of the House of Commons structure and democratic elections were held in 2001 where exiles from 37 nations voted. Here’s a brief comment from Pico Iyer about the Dalai Lama’s intent in setting up his government - “The Dalai Lama seized the chance to get rid of much of the red tape and serfdom [yes, he actually used your favorite word] that had beset Tibet in the past ....and sketch a new improved Tibet that would draw upon what was best in its past, jettison the rest and, most important, learn from its mistakes by schooling itself in the ways of the modern, changing world.”
Maybe not perfect but certainly not serfdom either.
or he believes in the fairy tales told by politicians when they are trying to gain power that a better world is just around the corner when he gets the ring to rule over all rings, before forced migration can commence, instigated by any one that will surely come along, thus putting the instigator/enabler in the clear.
No, don’t believe in fairy tales. Politicians all have agendas and whatever they say must be looked at with a very critical eye. And as far a a better world just around the corner, I'll believe that when I see it.
there are all three types all over, and they either know or not know about the Great Game, and so they are either learned and evil, or unschooled and naive, and so, hypocrite, scoundrel,naïve and/or evil are words that come easily to mind.
No, I am not evil, unschooled, naive, hypocritical or a scoundrel and your implying that I am is an insult. But rather than respond with a similar spew of juvenile name calling, what I will do is close with the following:
As I said before, as a human being I can certainly respond and offer opinions on injustice and human suffering wherever I believe it is necessary whether it be Tibetans, Palestinians, Sudanese, Aborigines, US Indians or whatever. And in this case, I am opining on what I believe is pure and simple “ethnic cleansing”taking place in Tibet. The International Commission of Jurists goes one step further and labels it “genocide”. Look at this definition of genocide that I found:
“Genocide is defined as a murder of a people. You destroy their culture, their language, their religion, their traditions and values, their spirit. You indulge in demographic aggression, you introduce into their land hordes of outside population and you reduce them to an insignificant and powerless minority with a third class status in their own land. You destroy their monasteries, humiliate and torture the monks, you interfere in their worship, you try to destroy the soul of a people for whom prayer is life and life is prayer. You take away from them the
freedom even to keep and venerate the picture of their spiritual leader.”
Kind of hits the nail on the head as far as Tibet is concerned doesn’t it?
As I said before, there’s nothing wrong in speaking out on human suffering and that is my concern - the people and the terrible suffering they have gone through and are still going through. Not the politicians, not the governments, not the officials - just the people.
And if you don’t believe me or anything I’ve said - fine. If you don’t believe what you read on the subject - fine. But maybe you could go to the Torture Survivor’s Center in Dharamsala - maybe you’ll believe those poor people.
Here’s some final thoughts from the Dalai Lama’s acceptance speech when he received the Nobel Peace prize:
“The problems we face today, violent conflicts, destruction of nature, poverty, hunger, and so on, are human-created problems which can be resolved through human effort, understanding and the development of a sense of brotherhood and sisterhood. We need to cultivate a universal responsibility for one another and the planet we share. Although I have found my own Buddhist religion helpful in generating love and compassion, even for those we consider our enemies, I am convinced that everyone can develop a good heart and a sense of universal responsibility with or without religion........................I pray for all of us, oppressor and friend, that together we succeed in building a better world through human understanding and love,
and that in doing so we may reduce the pain and suffering of all sentient beings.” (Dalai Lama, 12/10/89, Oslo, Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech) |
