Those Froggies sure put us to shame when it comes to staging a street riot ... http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7334545.stm
I knew it. If anyone can protest successfully, the hat goes off to the French. Sacre bleu! I am so glad that the olympic torch was extinguished.
Ah, those French.. they really do protests well, as they say on veut la change, on manifeste (if you want change, protest). Honestly, hardly a month goes by in Paris without some sort of protest or strike action going on.
very well done! and the government had the sense to not have the big party for the torch at the end of it all.
These protests are absolutely ridiculous, and led by a bunch of disillusioned idiots. The Olympics is far detached from the state of Chinese human rights and the occupation of Tibet; the torch relay is founded on tradition, not politics and should by no means be treated as a chance for political protest. The events that're happening in China have nothing to do with the Olympics, and they have existed since Communism infected the country. I'm not exactly entirely sure what these protesters are fighting for. If it means a return to the old Tibet, prior to Chinese occupation, then they're supporting a society that's built on serfdom, capital punishment, and a basic form of authoritarian state that hinders even the most basic of civil rights, along with the Dalai Lama being the head of it all with his servants and the like. This is truly bullshit.
No, they're fighting for freedom of expression, thought and speech. That's like saying people fighting to get rid of Hitler were fighting for a return to hyperinflation. I'd say the olympics do have something to do with China when they're hosted there, and the building of the stadium has involved even more in the way of human and animal rights abuses.
How is it a fight for freedom of expression, thought and speech? Also, it's nothing like ' people fighting to get rid of Hitler were fighting for a return to hyperinflation.' They were not fighting for a return to the old Germany; they were fighting for a new state that wasn't opressed by the current National Socialist state. Tibet will be run by the Dalai Lama, much like the Vatican and the Pope.
In the same way that the protesters are fighting for a new free state. The Dalai Lama has a much less authoritarian worldview than the Pope and the Chinese gov.
Yet he will enforce a penal code that includes corporal and capital punishment, serfdom which basically consists of slavery and oppression to the lower classes that will more or less become peasents living in squallor and poverty. Also, it will strip many people of their basic necessity of education to all and, perhaps, even clean running water -- Communism is a terrible and cruel thing next to Fascism, but atleast it gave Tibet those fundamental things to drag it out of being a country in famine. I'm not saying that Tibet should remain occupied, but I do question the authenticity of these protests.
He has condemned the feudal and legal systems of Old Tibet, and plans to not have them. Whether he will or not is a matter for contention, but I personally would trust him.
The torch procession is not founded on tradition, the first relay was instigated by the Fascist German government of 1936 purely for political purposes, when all is said and done was has this parade really got to do with Olympics I'd suggest sfa. People are quite happy to make show against most totalitarian regimes especialy when they present themselves as a target like the Chinese are currently doing, the wrongs of Tibet are just a tag for most to decry Bejing and its abuse of human beings.
Touché! Hahaha! Well, fair play, there's not much I can say about that. I honestly didn't know that.
if it's not that bad living in Tibet at the moment, then why do so many risk their lives to leave the country? i'm honestly rather shocked by the blaise attitude that supposedly the people don't have it as bad as they did ... have you seen or read the interviews with people that live there that have been snuck out of that region? or maybe it should just be an accepted practice to sterlize women against their will, and torture and kill anyone who speaks out against the country. maybe all nomadic people should be locked up in communities where they are unable to work and earn a living, and fear being killed if they say anything against the government. and why is there reason to question the authenticy of the protests? people are upset, because China is getting by with murder. and no the Olympics themselves are not a symbol of China, but China will most certainly be benefitting from the revenue of having the Olympics in Beijing. and THAT is what people are protesting against.
I never said that I condoned the occupation, because I don't. It's the protests that I'm dubious about, by the sheer fact that if Tibet was to return to pre- Seventeen Point Agreement it would henceforth become a society that is not far from its current state. Serfdom would merely revive a structure that should have long been buried.
The British are useless protesters. Yesterday's French protests, made me feel depressed to hold a British identity. I wish I was born a Frenchman. A young 25 year old living in a nice apartment overlooking the River Seinne. Each morning, I would have French breakfast on the balcony. I would be a rebellion in my sparetime. I would be damn good at it.
Where did you get this info from? It does not sit with the Buddhist philosophy I've read or any of the Dalai Lama's books I've read... am confused :&
Tibet prior to Chinese occupation wouldn't sit with much of the Buddhist teachings. I'm just raising the question of whether it should really return to the 'old ways', and I don't think the Dalai Lama's proclamation of a Shangri-La country fits into the reality of it. After the invasion of Tibet the Dalai Lama recieved thousands of dollars for his living expenses, as well as funding for a covert guerilla operation in Colorado. Many lives were lost in the resistance, which stands as a hypocritical prospect for the Dalai Lama's teachings against non-violence. Oh, and this movement was fought exclusively by serfs who made up 70% of the population anyway. This resistance wasn't built on morality by the US, but as a ruse to fight the Cold War. Of course, Tibet deserves to be free, I'm not saying otherwise.
Why is China so determined to hold on to Tibet? For purely economic reasons: according to this CNN report, a 7-year survey starting in 1999 estimated that Tibet has an estimated $128 billion worth of "copper, iron, lead, zinc and other minerals". http://money.cnn.com/2007/02/20/magazines/fortune/lustgarten_china.fortune/index.htm Could Tibet have developed these resources on their own? It seems most unlikely that they could have built up the industrial and transport infrastructures that the Chinese have been putting in place. Does this justify continued Chinese occupation of Tibet? Not really; you could have said the same about the British Empire in India or North America. Meanwhile it will be interesting to see how much this mineral wealth benefits the Tibetan people themselves. The signs are not encouraging so far:
