h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

After reading the article on the Dalai Lama and his people of Tibet.
I am left wondering if we shall ever see a change there. When the Dalai Lama and his people are
able to return to their own land. I would like to think so. It would be justice.

It's hard to be optimistic when the World Bank is funding Han Chinese colonisation. Tibetans will soon be outnumbered in their own country.

JTG

It is hard to be optimistic. Especially considering the ppl that run the world bank more or less direct the decisions of most western governments through lending and interest and debt. Our PM ain't gonna do anything to rock the boat. He is also a member of the Bilderberg Group (for more info check out http://www.schnews.org.uk/bilderberg/index.html OR http://www.bilderberg.org/), something he shares with Bill Clinton, no doubt the new president (be it George W. or Al) several eastern heads of state, and most of the people with all the money. Bearing in mind that 70% of statistics are made up on the spot, something I heard a couple of years ago may have relevance here - 365 people own HALF the planet. hmm. I can't forsee the stopping of destruction in Tibet unless the world's economy collapses (that at least will stop investment in 'development' of Tibet), or many thousands and millions of people in each country bombard their governments with letters, emails and maybe phone calls to ask them why they are doing this, and what they are going to do to stop it. I've recently come across a way that this might be possible......have a look at http://www3.bc.sympatico.ca/amatrixforcreation/AMC-pages/introduction-goals.html . I hope this interests some people, and you don't ALL think I'm a dribbling, raving idiot. 8)

Hi Fat Freddie. Thanks for the comments and the links. I must admit that I'd not heard of the Bilderberg Group. Secret elite groups have to be exposed to the light of day... like so many vampires. If you need a cause for optimism, it is that this is becoming easier to do. It's much harder for the puppet masters to work in secret than it was, say, a century ago. Which means that, for better or worse, the great writhing mass of humanity are in a much better position to influence the course of events now than ever before... and we've not done too badly in the past when a serious shake-up was called for.

As for Tibet... I think that, one way or another, it must play a role in the world economy; the world is just too small for it not to. The task we face is to challenge the corporations and power brokers, who have raped and pillaged the rest of the world, to behave like responsible people in this instance. This is made more urgent, of course, because the PRC are hell-bent on literally changing the shape of the planet, and the cost in human lives and human misery that they are willing to pay for their vision of tomorrow seems to have no limit.

The guilt we all share is that we have, in the past, been willing to accept the rich and the powerful as pillars of our societies, as patrons of the arts, leaders, and role models. We have conveniently overlooked the fact that many of their corporate logos are spattered with the blood of people too far away for us to give a damn about. The same people in shiny suits who sit on committees, play golf, and go to the opera here are getting richer by killing and torturing and burning people's homes somewhere else. They don't do it in person, of course... but they do it. We have to confront them and make them stop.

JTG

Hiya.....thanks for reading my reply. You mentioned the task that we face - what makes you think we will be more successful now than any times in the past? To me, the only way we can get the big corporations into line, and actually thinking about what they do to indigenous peoples through 'development' is by using the most powerfull tool we have - that of refusing to buy, invest, and otherwise give them money. Now this is going to be hard because of two main points: There's not enough information at large to get good, hard, and reliable data about what conglomerates are actually up to, and the other is consumer apathy and greed. I'd like to enlarge upon that last point. A grreat many people are starting to realise the damage we are doing/have done to our planet and are doing something about it, be it campaigning, moving data, exercising our rights as consumers, joining VSO etc. etc. However, a great many more people are still wrapped up in materialism, and therefore, conciously or unconciously, aiding so called 'progress'. What is needed, before any worldwide revolution, is an 'internal' revolution, where individuals realise their responsibilities and begin to act. This has already started happening, and in part refers to your last paragraph. Personal responsibility is the current biggest challenge we face I think, and information needs to be disseminated as widely and as accurately as possible to enable people to make thier own choices. Another obstacle to that is a person's unwilllingness to think for themselves, a fact evident from the large volume of tabloid sales in this country.

I.

Change is a slow process, especially when the changes are unwelcome. Our best hope for the future is with the children, who already have a much more enlightened outlook than their parents. They are much more adept at sharing new ideas that are beyond the reach of teachers and parents; and, I believe, they will make up their own minds that the world isn't good enough. There is a growing impetus for change that is being stubbornly resisted by the people with a vested interest in keeping things the same; but it will become increasingly difficult to resist the desires of the next generation. Of course, you're right to point out that stupidity and greed are very useful ways of safeguarding the status quo; but I believe that life will become much harder for the plunderers over time. The shrinking world makes this almost inevitable, because the alternative is a future of tyrannical repression; and I don't think the next generation will stand for it. This is a point of view that was expressed by the Dalai Lama, regarding a conversation he had had with Her Majesty the Queen Mother, in which they had compared the attitudes and aspirations of young children today with those of children at the beginning of the last century: The kids of today (the young ones anyway) have a sense of global community and empathy with children in strange places to a degree that is quite new. This is something to feel hopeful about, I think.

Of course, we can ill afford to wait for our children to make the world a better place; so, as you say, we each have to do what we can right now to help the cause. In addition to direct action against specific corporations, we must also campaign vigorously to make sure that our elected officials are supporting the right agenda. And those who drag their feet must be replaced. I think we also have a responsibility to remain optimistic about a better future, for the sake of the children. Optimism and pessimism represent a choice that is, to some extent, a self-fulfilling prophecy; and the first step towards a better future has to be a commitment to the idea that it is possible.

JTG

I thin kwe're saying the same thing in a different way! good on yer!

Cheers Fred!

JTG