Free Tibet

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I have played around with the thought that democracies should band together and have a uniform "dictator tariff." You would have to exclude raw commodities like oil, but the price of other goods from non-democratic countries should be jacked up by forty or fifty percent. There should be a real economic incentive for countries to change.
Yes but democracy isn't the only type of government and in some ways not necessarily the best one. That is the most "popular" one in the world right now but in for example 500 years that could change. So that's why you shouldn't really force anyone to a certain government type since all of them have their pros and cons.
How would you like if your country would have to convert to communism because all your neighbouring countries refused to trade with you otherwise? I know I wouldn't like that even though communism as a concept is very equal (probably more equal than democracy), the problem is it has always been implemented in the wrong way or taken advantage of by some people.
BUT something should be done about China anyways.

I have played around with the thought that democracies should band together and have a uniform "dictator tariff." You would have to exclude raw commodities like oil, but the price of other goods from non-democratic countries should be jacked up by forty or fifty percent. There should be a real economic incentive for countries to change. Do you think the big corporations will allow anything like that? At least in the US, the government follows what the corporations wants it to do. So, this will never happen. Secondly, there is the grey area about democracy itself. There seems to be a tendency to promote democracy ONLY if it results in a government that is acceptable to the power-wielding nations. If not, then never mind that people have democratically voted for somebody - the results are conveniently ignored. Finally, most countries have some form of human rights abuse going on or other. Those are again conveniently ignored when countries like China are made a scape-goat. Talk of double standards!

Fat chance mate..... besides who gave a shit about Tibet until the Olympics ? No one..... a little like the East Timor..... no one gives a shit until an overacting American celebrity can jump on the back of a cause for their own personal publicity ....... what about free Iraq ? Does that mean I shouldn't buy Pepsi ? Dick breath.Agreed. The Dalai Lama knows how to exploit the US/western media. How famous is the guy as a result of all this? Exactly what is it that Tibetans can't do now? It is about political power and control. Not human rights. If you really want to free oppressed indigent people... why not focus on Zimbabwe, Myanmar (Burma), or North Korea, where the real problems are?

Recipe

1 egotistical democracy advocate in non-democratic country/region
I lb US media looking for conflict to sell news
1-2 celebrities looking for publicity
8 oz US politicians looking for photo ops and a popular issue to banner wave on (hey Nancy Pelosi- could you even find former Tibet on a map before?)
14 buckets of US citizens/politicians who are afraid of China surpassing them in economy and world influence.
1 hypocritical human rights smokescreen.
I local world event (Olympics or G7 meeting are good)

Stir until aroma attracts sheep.

The Beastie Boys gave a shit. You're just a shithead.
Couldn't have stated it anymore eloquently myself...thanks...

Yes but democracy isn't the only type of government and in some ways not necessarily the best one. That is the most "popular" one in the world right now but in for example 500 years that could change. So that's why you shouldn't really force anyone to a certain government type since all of them have their pros and cons.
+1.

Just like government setups, the problem with a tariff is how do you honestly apply it given human nature. Everything looks good, in theory, but breaks down when personalities get involved. They end up being a political tool and causing everything to be more expensive, causing the world economy to suffer as a result.

Recipe

1 egotistical international democracy advocate
I lb US media looking for conflict to sell news
1-2 celebrities looking for publicity
8 oz US politicians looking for photo ops and a popular issue to banner wave on (hey Nancy Pelosi- could you even find former Tibet on a map before?)
14 buckets of US citizens/politicians who are afraid of China surpassing them in economy and world influence.
1 hypocritical human rights smokescreen.
I local world event (Olympics or G7 meeting are good)

Stir until aroma attracts sheep.ROTFL!

Do you think the big corporations will allow anything like that? At least in the US, the government follows what the corporations wants it to do. So, this will never happen.
Of course, but I am just saying that if the U.S. acted smartly it would use its soft power to encourage positive change instead of relying on trade to encourage the people to rise up and topple their authoritarian governments.

Agreed. The Dalai Lama knows how to exploit the US/western media. How famous is the guy as a result of all this? Exactly what is it that Tibetans can't do now? It is about political power and control. Not human rights. If you really want to free oppressed indigent people... why not focus on Zimbabwe, Myanmar (Burma), or North Korea, where the real problems are?

Recipe

1 egotistical democracy advocate in non-democratic country/region
I lb US media looking for conflict to sell news
1-2 celebrities looking for publicity
8 oz US politicians looking for photo ops and a popular issue to banner wave on (hey Nancy Pelosi- could you even find former Tibet on a map before?)
14 buckets of US citizens/politicians who are afraid of China surpassing them in economy and world influence.
1 hypocritical human rights smokescreen.
I local world event (Olympics or G7 meeting are good)

Stir until aroma attracts sheep.
I bet that Dalai Lama has a secret garage in his monestary where he hides his Ferraris and his big ass RV. The diet is probably a sham too. In the back there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken joint.

There might be a few people in the world who think that human rights are not a way to scam your way to political power. They might actually believe in them.

I bet that Dalai Lama has a secret garage in his monestary where he hides his Ferraris and his big ass RV. The diet is probably a sham too. In the back there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken joint.

There might be a few people in the world who think that human rights are not a way to scam your way to political power. They might actually believe in them.Human Rights are fine... unless they are politically inconvenient. Where were human rights considered when America almost wiped out the entire indigenous population upon settling their new country?

Where were the human rights when the US wiped out hundreds of thousands of civilians in Hiroshima and Nagasaki? Why did they wait only three days before dropping the second one? It was a guinea pig test of two different bombs and showing the world that they have the shit... and spun afterward as having saved lives in the conflict. Japan was almost at surrender point before the first one.

Do Americans regard foreign human life the same as they regard US human life? 4,000 US dead in Iraq. It is a tragedy. Does anyone in America even know or care how many Iraqis have died?

Darfur - lets just turn our backs and hope it goes away. Nothing political to gain there. Though I would regard the right to live and not be murdered for my beliefs as being high on the list of inalienable human rights.

Zimbabwe - who gives a fuck?
North Korea - They got the bomb
Burma - old story, hard for CNN to sell.
Darfur - what's a few hundred thousand less Africans?

BTW - egotism doesn't equal materialism.

Before 9/11... China was being ramped up by the media and politicians as the new evil empire (McCain was using it as a football in his 2000 campaign). The huge defense corporate industry needs an evil nemesis. Peace is shit for them. And politicians can use it to justify chest-beating and rallying cries. America needs its baddies so they can be the goodies. Then for five years, it has been about Osama BL and Iraq. The media and pols have ignored China mostly. Now the Iraq story is starting to induce yawns. And no new terrorist attacks for a while. Presidential campaign on the horizon. Coincidentally McCain is there. We don't get to see the hidden machinery behind the puppets. But they're there.

I bet that Dalai Lama has a secret garage in his monestary where he hides his Ferraris and his big ass RV. The diet is probably a sham too. In the back there is a Kentucky Fried Chicken joint.

There might be a few people in the world who think that human rights are not a way to scam your way to political power. They might actually believe in them.Actually you bring up a valid point. I probably used the wrong word with regards the Dalai Lama... as egotism is the antithesis of Buddhism.

I should have used the label "smart person with a strong political cause who knows how to play the US". Ahmed Chalabi is a classic example.

A toy with lead-paint will do much worse for China than a boycott of the Games. I know a lot of people who are scared off Wal Mart and all the cheap Chinese crap they're selling.

A year ago or so, we got to see the first car made in China. What a PoS. Apparently it didn't survive even the most modest crash tests. There's no need to start a boycott. The Chinese manage to get themselves in the shitter well enough.


Re Tibet: I think the biggest problem is that Tibet is aggressively settled by the Chinese and thereby the cultural identity of the Tibetan people is destroyed. It is in fact not unlike European settlers driving native Americans away from the land and into reservations. And I think we all agree that this wasn't the most stellar moment in human rights history.

A toy with lead-paint will do much worse for China than a boycott of the Games. I know a lot of people who are scared off Wal Mart and all the cheap Chinese crap they're selling.

A year ago or so, we got to see the first car made in China. What a PoS. Apparently it didn't survive even the most modest crash tests. There's no need to start a boycott. The Chinese manage to get themselves in the shitter well enough. Yes, but it is American consumerism that is prompting cheap Chinese "crap" to come into the US market. All consumers want is "cheap" - so you pay for it in other ways. On top of that it is the big corporations in America who are branding the "cheap crap" of China and selling them in Walmart. Regarding cars, many will also call American cars as POS. Also keep in mind that China is a developing economy. You cannot expect the same quality as from other countries which have had many years to refine quality.


Re Tibet: I think the biggest problem is that Tibet is aggressively settled by the Chinese and thereby the cultural identity of the Tibetan people is destroyed. It is in fact not unlike European settlers driving native Americans away from the land and into reservations. And I think we all agree that this wasn't the most stellar moment in human rights history.Exactly. While what is happening in Tibet is not right, it is also not proper for the Western countries to criticize after they followed the same (or worse) thing when they were occupying other nations. It is all a calculated effort to reap political mileage. I don't think most of the "leaders" crying hoarse on the issue really give a rats ass about what is actually going on.

Yes but democracy isn't the only type of government and in some ways not necessarily the best one. That is the most "popular" one in the world right now but in for example 500 years that could change. So that's why you shouldn't really force anyone to a certain government type since all of them have their pros and cons.
How would you like if your country would have to convert to communism because all your neighbouring countries refused to trade with you otherwise? I know I wouldn't like that even though communism as a concept is very equal (probably more equal than democracy), the problem is it has always been implemented in the wrong way or taken advantage of by some people.
BUT something should be done about China anyways.
I'm sorry? What country ever chose to be communist?

A toy with lead-paint will do much worse for China than a boycott of the Games. I know a lot of people who are scared off Wal Mart and all the cheap Chinese crap they're selling.

A year ago or so, we got to see the first car made in China. What a PoS. Apparently it didn't survive even the most modest crash tests. There's no need to start a boycott. The Chinese manage to get themselves in the shitter well enough.


Re Tibet: I think the biggest problem is that Tibet is aggressively settled by the Chinese and thereby the cultural identity of the Tibetan people is destroyed. It is in fact not unlike European settlers driving native Americans away from the land and into reservations. And I think we all agree that this wasn't the most stellar moment in human rights history.It was cheap Japanese crap in the seventies. China just makes what it is asked to. And it doesn't have the same technological human capital as more developed countries. Not yet at least. But they do build satellites and launch rockets to place them in orbit.

Before 9/11... China was being ramped up by the media and politicians as the new evil empire (McCain was using it as a football in his 2000 campaign). The huge defense corporate industry needs an evil nemesis. Peace is shit for them. And politicians can use it to justify chest-beating and rallying cries. America needs its baddies so they can be the goodies. Then for five years, it has been about Osama BL and Iraq. The media and pols have ignored China mostly. Now the Iraq story is starting to induce yawns. And no new terrorist attacks for a while. Presidential campaign on the horizon. Coincidentally McCain is there. We don't get to see the hidden machinery behind the puppets. But they're there.
strauss' political theory 101

I'm sorry? What country ever chose to be communist?I know this will be very bad example, but it is an example on the given subject.
After WW2 in former Yugoslavia the elections were held... Parliamentary elections where candidates were from communist party and parties which were governing Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
The subject is very dubious even now, lots of political records from that time have been hidden or destroyed, so the whole truth will never be available to public.
The fact is, elections were held and controlled by communists, voting was formally secret but in fact public (blind boxes). And many prominent politicians from time of Kingdom were intimidated and didn't take part in elections.
Also, in that time, Yugoslavia was mostly agricultural country with very modest level of regular and political education. Result of that is - minority knew what the elections are about and what they mean for the country and majority was easy to manipulate.
It's not hard to conclude what happened at the end. The results of elections were interpreted by communists as final people's decision to overthrow king and to abolish political pluralism.
That's how a country chooses to be communist.

Make your own personal stand to Free Tibet - don't buy ANYTHING made in China...otherwise, you're simply paying lip service...
Fruck you lound eye. No chinese made carbon fibre girls bike for you anymore. advocating this damage fine people repubric. You only can buy crap itarian steel bike. Ha ha. Very funny.

I'm sorry? What country ever chose to be communist?
Looks to me like people around here need a good endorphin release or something . . . :D

Fruck you lound eye. No chinese made carbon fibre girls bike for you anymore. advocating this damage fine people repubric. You only can buy crap itarian steel bike. Ha ha. Very funny.
Ignorance is still very much alive and thriving quite well I see...