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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpvIKX6oNro
We look like clowns to the Chinese.
I'll have to co-sign on that one.
i surprises me not that the average chinese would do just that, being so much used to thinking in terms of groups rather than individuals.
my individual decision is to not buy any chinese products. not only because of tibet or the lack of democracy in china, but also because they're mostly rubbish, sometimes toxic and are too many times manufactured with utter disrespect for the environment, and for the workers.
If you were really for protesting the rights of oppressed people, you would head to Washington to protest, not Beijing. You would stop buying oil, and many American products. American companies and exporters that procure these products from destitute regions, and US government Bushies that have lax regulations on these products are the folks you should direct your ire at, first.
Your statement about the Chinese engaging in group think is another poignant irony.
Genocide of American Indians. - No
Slavery-No.
Jim Crow-No.
Lynchings-No.
Discrimination-No.
It all depends on your definition of what torture is, is.
The pot calling the kettle black. Yes, torture and lack of freedom anywhere is wrong, but if I were the Chinese I would say to the US--you first.
Still I'll quote MLK: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." Just as I am concerned with human rights AKA civil rights here in America, so am I eager for civil rights elsewhere.
each of those who speak out about injustice in, say, china, has first the right to do so, and also is right on the point.
it does not help to say one cannot complain about one thing if one does not complain about all things. and i cannot accuse of hypocrisy those who now protest against china, because i can only see their protest now and have no knowledge about other protest they might be engaged in.
in this sense, my crticism of group thinking has no irony at all.
i do indeed see what the us has done over the 200 odd years, and i do think that the us was founded on genocide, build up through slave labor and is imposing its will on many peoples of the world. i also know some about communist dictatorships, to give just another example.
but if the torch had passed near by me and i had gone out with a tibetan flag, you'd have called me a hypocrite. and that would really have been much besides the point.
Jill, I agree that we should address injustice everywhere. I just don't see the same enthusiasm to call into question the atrocities of the West.
I would add that Bush is following a great American tradition with respect to crushing human rights.
You have a point about calling out hypocrites. If the protests are meant to truly move the chinese to change, then the perception of the recipients of criticism must be taken into account.
And from the chinese POV, their critics are either officials or citizens of nations that have as much or more blood on their hands.
for starters i assure you that i do not protest in my condition as member of a bloodthirsty nation. i do it on grounds of personal conviction. anybody to whom that concept sounds chinese is beyond my ability to take into account his or her perception of reality.