tibet

does anyone know what's going on with the Olympics situation? - an application for tibet to compete has been entered to the IOC but i'm not sure if they got it, it's been given to other non-sovereign states like palestine, but the IOC don't have the guts to give it to them.

Market Stalinism or theocracy? It's a tricky one.

Describing it like that makes it sound like living in Jack's imagination. I'd take my chances with the monks, tbh.

if that's what it is. it sounds nationalistic, but i was kinda hoping someone who had good info would chime in. but not the RCP.

there must be better ways to understand a situation than trying to fit it into a nationalist/not nationalist box. the guardian makes it sound ok.

so you think it's nationalist then?

i mean real fucking witty, pill head, a sock puppet whatever next. are the Tibetans rioting for more monks, is that the problem?

fuckwitted board i'm off to create a sock puppet account...

The Dalai Lama wants autonomy in Tibet not independence. It is called the "middle way". The Tibetans feel torn between their love of the Holiness and wanting true freedom for their country.

Many Tibetans have rotted in Chinese prisons becaue they have protested (by protesting I mean putting up posters and flyers of independence etc) however these allegations of independence have been flatly denied by the prime minister of the Tibetan government in exile.

Younger Tibetans are losing faith in the Dalai Lama's tactics - he believes that their source of power is compassion. They are beginning to react against these - some have devised plans to try and destroy the economic infrastructure of China.

These tactics are not new. The CIA funded the khampa warriors, who used violence against the Chinese for nearly 25 years. The CIA withdrew funds in 1973, shortly after President Nixon visited China. The Dalai Lama finally persuaded them to put down their arms in 1974 and has promoted protest through compassion instead.
The Khampa warriors have not been mentioned in the media very much, the media likes the image of the peaceful buddhist monk - not desperate human fighting for its home.

With a new railway line between Beijing and Lhasa, the situation will only intensify - Chinese emigrants will soon outnumber the Tibetans. Finally - the Chinese have already put pressure on Nepal to stop processing Tibetan refugees and are likely to do the same to India where the Tibetan government in exile is located.

actually, it is.

Oliver we all like a joke but you had to take it too far and become anti-semitic.
I don't understand where this anger has come from and I think you should go into the Jewish community and try to heal.

I think that certain ancient philosophers can hold interesting insight. I know that some people like Ken Knabb find zen practice rewarding , however if they are honest then they are conscious that where buddhism has actually acted as an organized religion it has been on the backs of peasants and workers just like any other.

Lots of smart people find insight in buddhism - it takes a real idiot to go around calling priests of any sort "communists".

I'm sure some people will like to quietly sit in temples in communism, but i'm sure others would like to play call of duty 4 .

ok, so nobody has any good info, then, except for auslander

It's a precept of Christianity to "love your enemies". Bible-thumping George Bush has an odd way of showing it.

communism does not = killing people. not =. i would suggest that there's even a negative correlation.

let me explain myself.

i don't care if you are drawn to these pages because of violence. neither do i post here because of pacifism. but what good did a lust for violence do for anyone except in the old testament?

Actually, it's thou shalt do no murder i.e. that is illegal killing. Killing per se was perfectly acceptable to the writers of the Old Testament, as their repeated calls for bloody genocide showed.

Anyway, surely the point here is that priests, monks, etc. in general, even when they're not directly exploitative represent ideologies that are diametrically opposed to the working class.

In Tibet, they are the nexus for the nationalist and racist aspirations of a suppressed and latent Tibetan bourgeoisie. The campaign against ethnic Chinese immigrants (largely forced into the area by the central government) is just another example of racist verbiage used to justify the aspirations of a local would-be ruling class that want the freedom to exploit "their" own population, their way. This is what calling for independence or autonomy for Tibet or any other country really means.

And please correct me if I'm wrong, but the Dalai Lama is the head of the Tibetan government in exile. He's effectively a monarch chosen not by blood but by some bizarre superstition concerning reincarnation, trained by senior Buddhist monks. Surely nobody here is suggesting supporting such an institution?