Re: Boycott of Olympics
_dhj_ said:
You mean during the past fifty years when the Chinese government freed Tibetans from feudal theocracy and practices like slavery, introduced secular education and scientific institutions, modern government, transport infrastructure and modern society. During this period Tibet's GDP increased 30 fold and average life expectancy increased by more than 30 years. Today, Tibetan monks are still permitted to practice their religion, traditional cultural sites are preserved etc. Of course, Tibetans still regard the Dalai Lama as some sort of divine entity they are slaves to and the Dalai still wants to return as ruler and bring Tibet back to feudal theocracy. All I can say about the Dalai's comments re 'cultural genocide' is that some cultures are superior to others.
I did not say anything one way or another regarding a boycott; I simply asked
why a boycott of the Olympics would work when history has shown us it does nothing. There is some good in all evil, just the way there is some evil in all good. Yin and Yang: everything exists in duality, with some parts crossing over into the other. Testosterone makes us males, but we all have some level of estrogen in our system, just as women, whose gender is dictated by estrogen have some testosterone. Yin and Yang.
I believe it was the Chinese who introduced that concept to us.
bassistx said:
It's like vegetarians donating to McDonald's House thingy.
It's just not right.
You truly think right and wrong exist in this world? That everything is black and white? Please don't tell me you are so naive: there is a whole number of shades of grey that you cannot see in between. Sometimes we have to make decisions we don't agree with; sometimes we have to do things that go agaisnt everything we stand for, simply because there is more good in doing it than in not doing it. Boycotting the Beijing Olympics might be morally right, but it will do nothing for Tibet. China will not care if we don't go; they'll just see more opportunities. And not going would be counter-productive to the spirit of the Olympics, which is designed to end things like the occupation of Tibet. By not going we will have effectively exploited the people twice: once by contributing nothing to their cause, and a second time by denying the global unity the Olympic Games are supposed to represent. And we would have done it all simply so we can sleep soundly at night. Like I said: there is some evil in all good, and some good in all evil. The ability to understand that - and live with it - is what separates good leaders from great leaders. But right now, you see the world as it is, and the world as it should be. You need to learn to see the gap in the middle.
