Source: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/asiapcf/04/29/china.tibet/index.html
More Riots in Tibet
We just finished reading about Chinese history and Chinese culture where we learned that the guiding belief in China is the notion that a unified China is considered a necessary step towards achieving true power. If a divided China is deemed weak, then the occupation of Tibet is in synch with their desire for unity. The goal of unity feels heavy-handed to outside observers. I would suggest that the heavy-handed tenor feels oppressive because we draw parallels to Tibet with occupations that have redefined our own western world. Where the sprawling Roman Empire sought to expand, their push for power recognized the unique cultural components that defined the areas that fell under Roman rule. Rome’s respect for unique cultures is what allowed their empire to explode across Europe.
China’s notion of assimilation is problematic because it denies cultural identity. This is a huge divide that creates a great deal of dissent. If China allowed Tibet to be “Tibetan” respecting the culture and the peoples, the occupation of Tibet would not be so turbulent. China’s assimilationist notion of squashing unique Tibetan culture, along with attacks on spirituality have escalated the issue into a holy war. In the recent riots, Tibetan Buddhists led a protest that erupted into violence. Eighteen people and one police officer were killed. The monks led ten people (including five monks) to destroy government offices, rob businesses and commit arson.
Meanwhile, those responsible continue to protest that many more (than the 19 people killed) were killed as a result of Chinese-inspired violence against Tibetans. Because China has used force, and even murder, to achieve their goals, those in Tibet feel justified to respond with deadly force.
Violence begets violence. This little lesson continues to escape Chinese authoritarianism. Violence is a last resort. The riots in Tibet are yet one more of many voices that howl the message loud and clear – China's leadership is fraternity of megalamaniacal yokels who spewer out a collection of haphazard policies and rhetoric that continues to fail miserably. One of the key goals of any bureaucracy is to listen to the people. Bureaucracies that are deaf to the commonwealth can count on the voices of the commonwealth growing louder. Voices turn into howls. Howls turn into protests. Protests turn into riots. And riots sometimes escalates into bloody revolt and revolution.
China - wake up and listen to what your people are saying! Wake up and listen to what the world is saying! Wake up and LISTEN. Discourse is preferable to blood. Great progress can be made and nobody has to die along the way. Flex those muscles till the veins pop out. Brute force is not power. It is not greatness. It is weakness and ignorance and weak willed politicians who lack the strength of character to do what is best for China.
While China is leafing through history and hanging their hat on archaic cosmology, they should stop and ask themselves why the Qing Dynasty failed in 1911. The PRC is making many of the same mistakes. The more disconnected they become from the wants and needs of their people (even those in Tibet), the more fuel they pour into the hearts and souls of the commonwealth. All it takes is one charismatic leader and the whole regime will come crashing down. Mao Zedong was wrong. Political power does NOT grow out of the barrel of a gun. Political power grows from respect. If the bureaucracy respects their people and listens to the voice of their own, they will earn their absolute respect, trust and loyalty.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Hijacked Prejudice
The Uyghurs who live in China's forbidden province are an ancient civilization that has developed in isolation for nearly 4000 years. Although little has changed in nearly 1000 years, the CCP has actively tried to suppress the Uyghurs since 1949 by using strong-arm tactics and strong-arm policies that marginalize Uyghurs and threaten their way of life.
Uyghurs live primarily in Xinjiang, which is closed to all outside media. Those reports that have traveled beyond the wall of silence are alarming. Over 10,000 political arrests and over 1000 executions underscore the preferred method of suppression. The suppression is a clear example of terrorist-style authoritarianism which relies on fear to dominate the Uyghers.
Public executions are used both to punish, and as a warning. In one example, five men were executed for hanging the Turkistan flag on a statue of Mao Zedong, an extreme punishment for what most would consider a minor offense. In another example, a woman explains how a large tub was filled with water and brought to boil. Several Uyghurs were executed by being dropped into the scalding water. The Uyghurs are genuinely afraid.
Violence is used squash even the slightest infraction. In addition to strong-arm authoritarianism, economic pressures and mass migrations have further disrupted the Uyghurs way of life.
They are China's poorest people. Very few houses have running water or any modern facilities. Traditional mud homes still house many Uyghurs. Migrations to the area have caused additional strife leaving fewer opportunities to earn a living. As a result, many are now homeless.
Adding to their difficulties, oppressive pricing structures cause widespread misery. In a region where farmers earn less than $100/year, the excessive pricing means many families are denied basic subsidence. The current price for a bag of flour is 60 to 70 yuan (U.S. $10). Recent riots have resulted from the soaring prices of commodities.
The Uyghur's primitive way of life has become a target. China wants to assimilate the Uyghurs to the Chinese way of life. Mass migrations, economic pressure and the threat of physical violence are employed to destabilize, erode and breed-out the Uyghur culture entirely.
Much of the interest in this region is because of the oil reserves near Xinjiang which produce approx. 10-million gallons of oil annually.
Chine mutes international pressure by exploiting cultural prejudice against Muslims. For instance, after the 9/11 attack in the United States, Beijing took the position that Uyghur groups were connected with al-Qaeda, asserting that one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, was a “major component of the terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden," although there is no hard evidence to support this claim.
Uyghurs live primarily in Xinjiang, which is closed to all outside media. Those reports that have traveled beyond the wall of silence are alarming. Over 10,000 political arrests and over 1000 executions underscore the preferred method of suppression. The suppression is a clear example of terrorist-style authoritarianism which relies on fear to dominate the Uyghers.
Public executions are used both to punish, and as a warning. In one example, five men were executed for hanging the Turkistan flag on a statue of Mao Zedong, an extreme punishment for what most would consider a minor offense. In another example, a woman explains how a large tub was filled with water and brought to boil. Several Uyghurs were executed by being dropped into the scalding water. The Uyghurs are genuinely afraid.
Violence is used squash even the slightest infraction. In addition to strong-arm authoritarianism, economic pressures and mass migrations have further disrupted the Uyghurs way of life.
They are China's poorest people. Very few houses have running water or any modern facilities. Traditional mud homes still house many Uyghurs. Migrations to the area have caused additional strife leaving fewer opportunities to earn a living. As a result, many are now homeless.
Adding to their difficulties, oppressive pricing structures cause widespread misery. In a region where farmers earn less than $100/year, the excessive pricing means many families are denied basic subsidence. The current price for a bag of flour is 60 to 70 yuan (U.S. $10). Recent riots have resulted from the soaring prices of commodities.
The Uyghur's primitive way of life has become a target. China wants to assimilate the Uyghurs to the Chinese way of life. Mass migrations, economic pressure and the threat of physical violence are employed to destabilize, erode and breed-out the Uyghur culture entirely.
Much of the interest in this region is because of the oil reserves near Xinjiang which produce approx. 10-million gallons of oil annually.
Chine mutes international pressure by exploiting cultural prejudice against Muslims. For instance, after the 9/11 attack in the United States, Beijing took the position that Uyghur groups were connected with al-Qaeda, asserting that one group, the East Turkestan Islamic Movement, was a “major component of the terrorist network headed by Osama bin Laden," although there is no hard evidence to support this claim.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
From a western perspective, the notion of child labour sounds appalling. In the West, we coddle our children. We like to regard them as simpering, helpless little things that require the utmost care and diligence. In truth, they’re not nearly so fragile.
When we read about children being treated as small adults elsewhere in the world, it feels messed up and the hair on our neck bristles. We are Pavlov’s dogs, thoughtfully drooling. Our cultural admonishment over the condition of children is the point that is out of whack. We like to look to the east and howl disapproval.
Meanwhile, right here in North Carolina, you still find young people helping out around a family farm. Even Al Gore, in his Inconvenient Truth movie reminisces nostalgically about working on a tobacco farm. For Al, his story represents happy memories. Today, I reckon Al Gore’s mother and father would have a sit-down with child protective services to defend themselves about why their precious little boy was working in the tobacco fields.
The history of the west is filled with stories about working children, and children who left the household to work apprentice jobs at a very early age. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that the idea of child labor came under scrutiny. The reason child labor came under scrutiny had very little to do with the age of the worker. The primary concern was working conditions where children were put in harm’s way. The age issue came into play because young children lack the fine motor skills of a mature individual, a deficiency that could result in serious injury.
It may sound like I’m making light of the child labor issues in China. I’m not. I’m well aware that children are *sold* to factories. I’m also well aware that children are *kidnapped* to work at factories. In both examples, the real issue isn’t age. It’s slavery. What I’m saying is the west needs to get off their self-righteous pedestals and quit howling about child labor like it’s a special area of concern. The issues of slavery/forced service and safe work conditions are far more compelling. If a worker loses an arm or dies from poisonous fumes, why does the age of the worker matter?
I’m inclined to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche’s way of looking at the world, that any worthwhile achievement in life comes from the experience and overcoming of hardship; that any existence that is too comfortable is worthless; that suffering and failure should be welcomed by anyone seeking happiness; that we feel pain because of the gap between who we are at the moment and who we could ideally be. And finally, in Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” he provides a working definition, that good is “that which makes us stronger” and evil is “that which makes us weaker.”
Although Blecher’s Hegemony suggests that the workers in China lack the unity and organization to rise up against the state, I would argue that the working class in China already possesses the means to make themselves stronger, to improve their lot in life, to make themselves stronger. At the end of the day, the fight isn’t our fight. It is up to the downtrodden masses in China to face their own demons and find their own solutions. Even if we had the means to fix their lives right away, we would be wrong to do so. We don’t have the right to steal away the empowerment they will earn for themselves when they are victorious with their own struggles.
Sources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01908/800/chinarussia.htm
http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/15889
When we read about children being treated as small adults elsewhere in the world, it feels messed up and the hair on our neck bristles. We are Pavlov’s dogs, thoughtfully drooling. Our cultural admonishment over the condition of children is the point that is out of whack. We like to look to the east and howl disapproval.
Meanwhile, right here in North Carolina, you still find young people helping out around a family farm. Even Al Gore, in his Inconvenient Truth movie reminisces nostalgically about working on a tobacco farm. For Al, his story represents happy memories. Today, I reckon Al Gore’s mother and father would have a sit-down with child protective services to defend themselves about why their precious little boy was working in the tobacco fields.
The history of the west is filled with stories about working children, and children who left the household to work apprentice jobs at a very early age. It wasn’t until the industrial revolution that the idea of child labor came under scrutiny. The reason child labor came under scrutiny had very little to do with the age of the worker. The primary concern was working conditions where children were put in harm’s way. The age issue came into play because young children lack the fine motor skills of a mature individual, a deficiency that could result in serious injury.
It may sound like I’m making light of the child labor issues in China. I’m not. I’m well aware that children are *sold* to factories. I’m also well aware that children are *kidnapped* to work at factories. In both examples, the real issue isn’t age. It’s slavery. What I’m saying is the west needs to get off their self-righteous pedestals and quit howling about child labor like it’s a special area of concern. The issues of slavery/forced service and safe work conditions are far more compelling. If a worker loses an arm or dies from poisonous fumes, why does the age of the worker matter?
I’m inclined to agree with Friedrich Nietzsche’s way of looking at the world, that any worthwhile achievement in life comes from the experience and overcoming of hardship; that any existence that is too comfortable is worthless; that suffering and failure should be welcomed by anyone seeking happiness; that we feel pain because of the gap between who we are at the moment and who we could ideally be. And finally, in Nietzsche’s “Beyond Good and Evil” he provides a working definition, that good is “that which makes us stronger” and evil is “that which makes us weaker.”
Although Blecher’s Hegemony suggests that the workers in China lack the unity and organization to rise up against the state, I would argue that the working class in China already possesses the means to make themselves stronger, to improve their lot in life, to make themselves stronger. At the end of the day, the fight isn’t our fight. It is up to the downtrodden masses in China to face their own demons and find their own solutions. Even if we had the means to fix their lives right away, we would be wrong to do so. We don’t have the right to steal away the empowerment they will earn for themselves when they are victorious with their own struggles.
Sources:
http://library.thinkquest.org/03oct/01908/800/chinarussia.htm
http://www.china-labour.org.hk/en/node/15889
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
The Fix
Hollywood loves a good war story. Almost every war story I've ever watched takes place on an overcast day. It's one of those things movie-makers like to do with war movies and horror movies, the dark backdrop that makes every scene visually dull. That backdrop screams DULL and the gloomy texture makes most of these films feel lethargic. They do it to create a mood. But that convention of creating mood also frames the mental picture that becomes the way in which much of the Western world views an entire country. Modern entertainment manufactures reality. For instance, when I think Middle East, I think SAND and Camels. When I think New York, I think CITY. When I think Vietnam, I think JUNGLE. And when I think China, I think PRIMITIVE and DARK. At least that's what the cinematic version tells me to see.
BMX bikes, in-line skates, skateboarding, Rock music and American Idol - those things feel as American as Chevrolet's baseball, hotdogs, apple pie commercial. They feel out of place in China.
This however, is the New China. China's government is very hip to the idea of creating the illusion of freedom; the illusion of opportunity and prosperity. Their desire to create this illusion is so profound that Beijing displays huge billboards tht read: "What New York Has, Beijing Has As Well." They idolize the Western model, but decline to take that next step - the step towards true Democracy.
In an attempt to find a happy medium, "Chinese official tend to approve of imports that can be described as wholesome and harmless." Their efforts to find a happy medium pokes a stick at the dichotomy of trying to maintain a market economy while simultaneously clutching at authoritarian control. They aren't seeing the bigger picture.
Freedom is the ultimate designer drug. The first line is the most fantastic high. Then you are absolutely hooked. The withdrawal symptoms are awful. They range from mild suffocating tremors, anti-authoritarian rhetoric, energetic text messaging, lethargy, marching in protest and standing in front of tanks. Extreme withdrawal is often accompanied by acute burning of government vehicles, destruction of property, violence and Ø t-shirts. The only known treatment is institutionalization or death.
As the West wafts into the Far East, all of China is catching a contact high. China's making a stab at treating the widespread addiction. They're attempting to use substitution therapy. Substitution therapy is illusory and is not sustainable. It will only work short-term. When these goggly-eyed freedom-fiends begin to feel that insatiable craving, the withdrawal symptoms will be unmanagable by anything less than the real deal.
It really isn't that complicated. Smokers use Chantex; heroin and opioid addicts use methadone, and freedom fiends can be satiated by carefully controlled doses of rock music, "Super Girl", skateboards and Yueqin Hero video games. So what happens when substitute therapy quits working? Jonesing and jonesing bad. You can always go back to the drug of choice. In the absence of Chantex, there is always nicotine. In the absence of methadone, jam a heroin needle in your arm. In the absence of illusory freedom...REAL freedom. For the most powerful high known to man, there is no satisfying alternative.
So here's a fun little homework assignment that will help underscore the power of this designer drug. 1: Go buy some crystal meth. 2: Go to your nearest biker bar and make sure everyone knows you have it. 3: Make sure everyone there also know...nanner nanner, you can't have any. (for added effect, put your hair in pigtails and dance around like an elf singing La La La, all fer me - none fer you, La La La, dancing around and gently patting the bikers on their buttocks; La La La, all fer me - none fer you!). It's a sociology experiment. They'll understand. They'll just laugh and laugh with delight. It's perfectly safe. I'll drop by with a shovel and some plastic bags to pick you up in just a bit.
Maybe the Chinese Government needs to quit dancing like taunting elves. The imminent wave of freedom-addicted, stoned-out-of-their-skulls-for-the-next-angry-fix crowd isn't going to allow them to dance and pat their bottoms forever.
Authoritarian leadership in China is walking a fine line. They fear losing power and prestige, and their fear inspires them to make decisions that are sometimes disadvantageous. It encourages me to consider Thomas Jefferson's words, "when the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." It's a good sound bite. But is it just rhetoric or was Jefferson right? Because if Jefferson is right, then perhaps the growing pains in China are, in fact, the growing pains of liberty.
Most of us have grown up with suspicion and even a little animosity towards China. I still feel this way. But the possibility of what China might become is exciting. If the most powerful nations on earth come together, rather than remain divided by ideology and fear, won't that bring us one step closer to world peace? And perhaps, even one step closer to world-unity; a unified world with mutual respect and an appreciation of how our differences make us all stronger. Nobody wants a homogenized world anyways.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s02-woap.html?s=widep
BMX bikes, in-line skates, skateboarding, Rock music and American Idol - those things feel as American as Chevrolet's baseball, hotdogs, apple pie commercial. They feel out of place in China.
This however, is the New China. China's government is very hip to the idea of creating the illusion of freedom; the illusion of opportunity and prosperity. Their desire to create this illusion is so profound that Beijing displays huge billboards tht read: "What New York Has, Beijing Has As Well." They idolize the Western model, but decline to take that next step - the step towards true Democracy.
In an attempt to find a happy medium, "Chinese official tend to approve of imports that can be described as wholesome and harmless." Their efforts to find a happy medium pokes a stick at the dichotomy of trying to maintain a market economy while simultaneously clutching at authoritarian control. They aren't seeing the bigger picture.
Freedom is the ultimate designer drug. The first line is the most fantastic high. Then you are absolutely hooked. The withdrawal symptoms are awful. They range from mild suffocating tremors, anti-authoritarian rhetoric, energetic text messaging, lethargy, marching in protest and standing in front of tanks. Extreme withdrawal is often accompanied by acute burning of government vehicles, destruction of property, violence and Ø t-shirts. The only known treatment is institutionalization or death.
As the West wafts into the Far East, all of China is catching a contact high. China's making a stab at treating the widespread addiction. They're attempting to use substitution therapy. Substitution therapy is illusory and is not sustainable. It will only work short-term. When these goggly-eyed freedom-fiends begin to feel that insatiable craving, the withdrawal symptoms will be unmanagable by anything less than the real deal.
It really isn't that complicated. Smokers use Chantex; heroin and opioid addicts use methadone, and freedom fiends can be satiated by carefully controlled doses of rock music, "Super Girl", skateboards and Yueqin Hero video games. So what happens when substitute therapy quits working? Jonesing and jonesing bad. You can always go back to the drug of choice. In the absence of Chantex, there is always nicotine. In the absence of methadone, jam a heroin needle in your arm. In the absence of illusory freedom...REAL freedom. For the most powerful high known to man, there is no satisfying alternative.
So here's a fun little homework assignment that will help underscore the power of this designer drug. 1: Go buy some crystal meth. 2: Go to your nearest biker bar and make sure everyone knows you have it. 3: Make sure everyone there also know...nanner nanner, you can't have any. (for added effect, put your hair in pigtails and dance around like an elf singing La La La, all fer me - none fer you, La La La, dancing around and gently patting the bikers on their buttocks; La La La, all fer me - none fer you!). It's a sociology experiment. They'll understand. They'll just laugh and laugh with delight. It's perfectly safe. I'll drop by with a shovel and some plastic bags to pick you up in just a bit.
Maybe the Chinese Government needs to quit dancing like taunting elves. The imminent wave of freedom-addicted, stoned-out-of-their-skulls-for-the-next-angry-fix crowd isn't going to allow them to dance and pat their bottoms forever.
Authoritarian leadership in China is walking a fine line. They fear losing power and prestige, and their fear inspires them to make decisions that are sometimes disadvantageous. It encourages me to consider Thomas Jefferson's words, "when the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." It's a good sound bite. But is it just rhetoric or was Jefferson right? Because if Jefferson is right, then perhaps the growing pains in China are, in fact, the growing pains of liberty.
Most of us have grown up with suspicion and even a little animosity towards China. I still feel this way. But the possibility of what China might become is exciting. If the most powerful nations on earth come together, rather than remain divided by ideology and fear, won't that bring us one step closer to world peace? And perhaps, even one step closer to world-unity; a unified world with mutual respect and an appreciation of how our differences make us all stronger. Nobody wants a homogenized world anyways.
Source: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0614/p01s02-woap.html?s=widep
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
