Dalai Lama Sees Change in China - to 'see' or to 'seize' change?

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:25:25 +0800

BBC NEWS | World | Asia-Pacific | Dalai Lama sees change in China

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia...

The Dalai Lama's visit to the UK comes at a time of tense relations with ChinaThe Dalai Lama has told the BBC he believes China is changing and that this could lead to a "more transparent" attitude over Tibet. In an interview with the Radio 4 Today Programme he said China's reaction to the devastating earthquake in Sichuan province was one sign of change. Tibet's spiritual leader said he wanted a "middle way" of autonomy, despite calls for independence among Tibetans. But he warned of growing frustration if there was "no improvement" in Tibet. 'Wider contact' Speaking during a 10-day visit to London the Dalai Lama said he was "quite optimistic" about the future. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

"Tibet's spiritual leader said he wanted a "middle way" of autonomy, despite calls for independence among Tibetans."

I get the distinct impression that this bloke is some sort of a bourgeois humanitarian.

The 'middle way' which he speaks of - which is a perversion of Buddha's 'Middle Way' which promotes the quest for enlightenment without self-mortification or addiction to earthly pleasures (sort of an 'anglican' buddhism) - is basically to sit-back and wait for the Chinese to handout some empathy to the Tibetans.

What he forgets is that the maintainence of Chinese tyranny in Tibet will, over time, and if not resisted, accustom the people to an apathetic way of life where one sees all creation as a means to self-aggrandizement - which is one of the quintessential features of China's 2000 year old culture - as it is a significant degree of apathy and focus on self-interest that is required for the acceptance of Chinese misrule and occupation. The rule is simple, where tyranny is left unresisted, into one's worldview, it is incorporated. Such incorporation is the ultimate coping method.

Secondly, his not seeking separation from China reinforces Chinese action in taking Tibet as alright so long as it leads to both sides learning to live peacefully together. In this, he promotes the general perspective that it is alright for any country to take any other country by force so long as living peacefully together is achieved at some future date and some degree of cultural autonomy is granted. So, analogically, Saddam wasn't wrong for taking Kuwait years ago; Hitler wasn't wrong in taking Austria and then attempting to take the rest of Europe; the west weren't wrong for their colonial banditry; England wasn't wrong for taking Ireland, amongst others; Israel wasn't wrong for taking Palestine; etc, etc, etc. What might make it wrong is their not working towards a peaceful coexistence.

But learning to live peacefully together is not a virtue in itself. It is the system within which they live that determines that. What this bloke essentially promotes is two things -

1. It is alright to take any country by force so long as you work towards a peaceful coexistence,

2. That peaceful coexistence is a virtue in itself and the socio-economic status quo promoted amongst the people as irrelevant.

To sit on the fence, in this context, and perhaps others, is to basically sit on the devil's trident and validate his forward march. To adopt a wait and 'see' attitude, as opposed to seizing change, is to firstly, give time to the conqueror to assimilate them to their way of seeing things, and secondly, to validate the right of any powerful nation to see-and-conquer as and when they please so long as a peaceful coexistence is arrived at eventually - no matter what the cost and consequence to human life and development.

Tibet: What's the fuss all about?

BBC NEWS | UK | Tibet and China: 7 questions

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7392519...

Here, two leading academics analyse both sides of the dispute. Dr Steve Tsang specialises in Modern Chinese Studies at St Antony's College, Oxford. Andrew Fischer is an expert in Tibet at the Development Studies Institute, at the London School of Economics.

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Parents blamed over Gang Culture

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Sun, 11 May 2008 19:05:13 +0800

Parents blamed over gang culture

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7393466...

Paul Erhahon and Kodjo Yenga were both killed by teenage gang membersA senior police officer has called on parents to take more responsibility after 10 teenagers were sentenced over the murder of two schoolboys. Sixteen-year-old Kodjo Yenga and Paul Erhahon, 14, were stabbed in separate incidents in London last year - both had been set upon by teenage gangs. Det Supt Matthew Horne said some were only 13 when the crimes took place. "To their parents I would ask them this: what were your kids doing? Where did you think they were..?" he said. Paul Erhahon was stabbed in the heart with a sword by teenage gang members who wanted to "earn their spurs", the Old Bailey heard. Father's tears Many wore hoods and masks and were armed with baseball bats, knives, swords and a bicycle chain when they carried out their attack near Paul's home in Leytonstone, east London, last April. Paul's father, also called Paul, wept as he read out a victim impact statement in court. He said: "People who have been nurtured to live outside the realms of a decent and law-abiding society murdered my son." Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play.

Interesting isn't it. Whenever something goes right, everyone takes the credit. Whenever something goes wrong, discredit and culpability is localised (or 'microcosmicised').

“Det Supt Matthew Horne said some were only 13 when the crimes took place.

"To their parents I would ask them this: what were your kids doing? Where did you think they were..?" he said.”

All it takes for many to start cheering when England scores a goal in the World Cup, or some bloke sprints past all others in a 100 metres scamper in the Olympics, is for an association to be made, however tenuous, between themselves and the ball-kicker or scamperer. Well, how about the case of the 'sword death gang' then?

To err on the side of caution and consider collective collusion in the above, amongst others, is to acknowledge the infallibility of human society and ready ourselves to do our utmost to undermine the foundation upon which such events see repetition in the future. To ‘localise’ problems and delegate responsibility to, for instance, ‘families’, can only be at the expense of ignoring the symbiotic nature of human society; the sociological consequences of life within a class-based system; and the myriad of psychological consequences that immediately move from the ‘possible’ to the ‘probable’ within such a scheme of things. I can understand when a significant mass of Americans and American-led peoples do that since they are trained to do so from childhood by sociologically nonsensical American productions that basically localises ‘evil’ in the ‘here and now’, or in individual characters, and thereby subtly compromising the viewer’s ability over time to recognise causes as effects of other causes. But to see such a tendency here amongst a people who are generally inclined to stave off their first reactions in favour of self-critical evaluation is quite disconcerting.

But, as is generally the case here, Justice Keith appreciated the culpability of the collective in the evils in society by recognising the relevance of professions well-versed in the art of detecting social culpability in such situations,

“Addressing Paul's attackers, he said: "So what turned you into the would-be killers that you became didn't start at home.

"There is self-evidently a culture among boys of your age to do with the carrying of knives which needs to be changed.

"How that change is to be achieved is for educationalists, sociologists and politicians to decide.”

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From state capitalism to neoliberalism

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 16:37:12 +0800

From state capitalism to neoliberalism

http://www.socialistworker.co.uk/art....

The end of the Eastern European regimes in 1989 was not inevitable. They fell because people did not want them. Strikes and mass demonstrations – and clashes with the security forces – finished them off.

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And the winner for the best platform for terrorism goes to....

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:54:16 +0800

Is Europe becoming a platform for terrorists?

http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/nol/threa...

One of the biggest threats to US security may now come from within Europe, US Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff has told the BBC. Do you agree?He said militant attacks and plots in Europe over recent years had made the US aware of the "real risk that Europe will become a platform for terrorists". Mr Chertoff said it was likely security checks on travellers from Europe would be increased. He cited deadly bomb attacks on Madrid and London, and a terror alert affecting UK-US flights in August 2006, as well as "people travelling from South Asia and the Middle East into Europe and carrying out attacks there". How serious is the terrorist threat from within Europe? Do you think security measures need to be improved? Have you a personal experience of being affected by increased security measures?Click here to read the main story

No.

'Global Apathy', 'Self-absorption', 'Americocentrism', and 'Ignorance', and the division of humanity via 'nation-states', is.

The above question by the BBC is just another instance of the microcosmicised and self-absorbed mindset that it took to bring about all these problems in the first place.

ed-infinitum

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Pope on Football

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 14:31:57 +0800

Pope backs football life lessons - bbc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/717...

He raised concerns about corruption damaging the image of the so-called Beautiful Game but said younger generations could learn from it. The Pope was meeting Italian football professionals and a delegation from the lower division Serie D. The German-born pontiff is said to be a fan of Bavarian giants Bayern Munich. "I'd like the game of football to be a vehicle for the education of the values of honesty, solidarity and fraternity, especially among younger generations," he told the footballing pilgrims.

“Pope Benedict XVI says football has a crucial role to play in teaching young people the important lessons of life - honesty, solidarity and fraternity.”

But the Pope seemed to have forgotten to mention the ‘important lessons’ football gives to the masses on the virtuous value of ,

‘intra group antagonism’,

‘depreciating the significance of oneself via vicarious identification’,

‘aggression and competition’,

‘inter-national antagonism’,

‘another being appreciated or depreciated by group identification as opposed to content of character’,

‘allowing one’s attention to be deviated from the national elite and locating it in the inter-national scene as opposed to the local one’,

‘its value as a cathartic vent to allay the negative consequences of the masses significance as nothing other than cogs and wheels in a machinery geared toward the aggrandizement of another’……….

That said, i'm not against football per se. Rather, it is our failure to complement a divisive pastime with pastimes that elicit equal or more fervour that are universalist in nature that renders the former 'deadly' in its socio-psychological impact.

Perhaps the Holy Books of Sociology and Psychology ought to be added between the 'Old' and 'New'. That might help prevent catholic clerics from supporting wholly non-catholic(non-universalist) pastimes. The failure to do this basically prefixes, 'sectarian', into the (sexist) phrase, 'brotherhood of man'. Obviously, the Pope doesn't see the seams on the ball.

Amen

ed-infinitum

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Generosity May be in the Genes?

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 21:46:00 +0800

Generosity 'may be in the genes' - bbc

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/713...

People had to decide whether to keep money, or give it awaySome people may be genetically destined to have a generous personality, Israeli research has suggested. A total of 203 people took part in an online task in which they could either keep or give away money. Gene tests revealed those who had certain variants of a gene called AVPR1a were on average nearly 50% more likely to give money away.

Firstly, as I have already mentioned in other essays, such studies basically serve to take self-control away from humans as opposed to impressing upon them the need to be altruistic instead of being opportunistic and self-absorbed if they are not simultaneously complemented by the work of social scientists. Perhaps my issue with such articles is that sociological views do not accompany them to counter any tendencies amongst the masses of readers to interpret them self-servingly or/and unintelligently.

Secondly, if such studies do not incite investigators to perform longitudinal studies for the purpose of discerning if being AVPR1a-deficient is an inborn deficiency, then its impact would be confined to allowing people to add a disclaimer for their selfish acts with a, ‘Sorry mate, me AVPR1a deficient’ and excuse themselves from buying a round of drinks.

Thirdly, even if it is found, after longitudinal studies, that the aforementioned deficiency is inborn, this only argues for the case that we are a product of evolution. In this case, the negative impact of competitive and exploitative human history can be plausibly held up as the reason for the current non-altruistic tendencies of the masses.

Fourthly, rather than excuse the masses from exhibiting altruism, it might be prudential to view it as a reason why people ought to intentionally practice altruism so that future generations may not be similarly impaired.

Finally, people ought to start inquiring after how and if the current global socio-politico-economic milieu serves to ensure that future generations are or are not born with such deficiencies and the degree to which this retardation is pervasive. If not, we are not far off from taking as fact that humans are competitive and opportunistic beasts and proceed with evolution from that point.

Ed-infinitum

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on Vox's 'qotds'

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 14:13:35 +0800

“What's your favorite carol or holiday song?”

“What is the best present you have ever given?”

“Write your own Wikipedia entry for yourself (or share the link if you already have one).”

“What's your favorite kind of homemade cookie? Share the recipe if you have it.”

Ever get the feeling that you’re being talked down to with the above QOTDs?

No, probably not. Everyone simply lurrrrves to talk about themselves. Nothing wrong with that. It reinforces one’s significance. Not a bad thing. But where is the complementary prod to concern yourself more with the interests of others. On an international level, there is no doubt that Vox thinks America as the centre of the world as evidenced by its focus on American ‘this is good’ pics, American politics, American pastimes, etc. How typically American. Sad. On an individual level, the self seems to be all that matters. One mirroring the other. Interesting. Egocentrism-cum-Ethnocentrism. Great proportions of each. I suppose that is what the ‘great’ in, ‘america is the greatest nation on earth’, refers to.

If one was to think about it, one would realise that the questions we ask later in life is significantly determined by the questions we were asked in our youth, or on a daily basis in our ‘adulthood’. It is the latter that determines what is worthy of focus. Of course, we cannot expect Vox, who opened up ‘vox’ for the sake of profit, to realise these things. (I remember informing them of the ‘bloggers 7-day strike for a free burma’ and they never even bothered to respond.) It takes genuine empathy to see further than one might otherwise do.

Don’t let Vox, America, the majority of ‘bloggers’, etc, underdevelop you. They, being abject ego/ethnocentrists, will fail to incite or respond to critical inquiry. It is the truth that suffers in the end, and along with it humanity – which America will predictably put down to ‘evil men’, ‘natural calamities’, ‘God’s will’, the late arrival of spidermen et al, and so on. The truth can never be ‘out there’ if America, and all those idiotic minds that it has played a significant role in retarding, has anything to do with it. It’s up to you. The truth can only be out there if you resolve to discover it, and put it ‘out there’ despite the intellectually ignominous tendencies promoted by the Juvenile State of America.

Ed-infinitum

p.s. no offense intended to my 'american' friends whom i view as 'despite' and not 'because of', America. But it must be admitted, that even they keep silent when other americans come by the spew forth inane rubbish mistaken for rational argument.

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The Royal Ideal

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 14:32:41 +0800

Thailand's revered king

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacif...

Not much can bring the life of the noisy, traffic-clogged heart of Bangkok to a halt. But on Wednesday the streets were hushed, the cars and buses banished. All you could hear were speakers playing the royal anthem, and thousands of flags fluttering in the cool winter breeze, held by people of all ages. Most were dressed in yellow and had waited for hours for a glimpse of a stiff and stern-faced old man passing in a motorcade, on his way to the gilded halls and temples of Bangkok's Grand Palace. And as it passed they shouted "Song Phra Charoen", "Long Live Your Majesty". Some had tears in their eyes.

There’s something seriously wrong with these people who worship, wave hankies, get teary-eyed and curtsy in the face of ‘royalty’ – same thing applies to that strange breed of humans called ‘fans’ who make millionaires out of people for kicking a ball, swinging a stick at one, pretending to be a hero on the silver screen, and singing an inane song. I would recommend psychiatric therapy to these people while taking away their right to vote till they’ve passed a constitutional test and proven their adulthood in ways other than arriving at a particular numerical age, being able to hold down a job, or be legally eligible to bear children.

But, I can understand the role the privileged play in ‘modern’ society. For without such a breed blinding the idiot masses, they would realise that without them, their own mutual competitive antagonism and alienation would lack justification. Humanity’s greed and mutual antagonism is justified by two methods. One, the worship of the privileged for being privileged, and Two, the theoretical opportunity to join their ranks and the instrumental freedom to trod on each other’s spines to do it. That is your laughable ‘modernity’. Medieval modernity would be more apt. For the rise of the ‘professional’ – one who is adept in one arena but generally ignorant – the belief that we are individuals – that allows our preprogrammed responses to be confused for self-motivated ones – the right to vote on the basis of age as opposed to intelligence – and the experience of ‘progress’ in salient technological arenas that detracts us from its regress in many other perspectival ones, amongst others, tell us that we can be wrong, but not wrong enough to doubt the very foundations upon which we appreciate reality, and upon which reality is built.

And thus, from Thailand to the UK, we still see throngs of mammals curtsying, crying and swooning upon the sight of some ‘royalty’ or pelvic thrusting, acting, or ball kicking idiot. I am not against the worship of Gods as they are, in essence, the worship of ideals. What ideal, pray tell, does any so-called ‘royalty’ or privileged individual, albeit unwitting, stand for? To do unto others what you do not want them to do unto you, so that you may be done unto like that which you do unto royalty? The ultimate source and justification of a colour gradient begins with a single distinguishable colour. Without this, the remaining shades of the gradient are not. Thus, the existence of royalty justifies the existence of its other shades. For is we can worship an individual for no other reason than the inherited status, we will surely be shorn off the ability to depreciate those who acquire their status with hard work, even if her/is boots be stained with the sweat and tears of others.

ed-infinitum

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How the super-rich just get richer

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 13:39:09 +0800

How the super-rich just get richer

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7...

By Helen Williamson BBC Money Programme Brand Beckham shows no sign of losing its commercial lureBritain has more rich people than ever before, and it is not just footballers like David Beckham and Wayne Rooney. With a global economy, successful people in all sorts of professions can now command global-scale pay packets. The mega-successful at the top of their profession are taking advantage of a phenomenon known as the "Superstar Premium". Advances in multi-media technology mean that today's superstars operate in a global marketplace. By being the best in their field, they attract a disproportionate amount of business compared to less successful competitors. Global exposure Economist Sherwin Rosen developed the idea of the Superstar Premium in the early 1980's to explain why some musicians were earning so much money. Before recording technology, even the most popular artists had their earnings limited by the number of people who could hear them perform live. When I was about seven, I said to my mother 'how much money do I have to earn to be able to eat caviar every day?' Vanessa MaeWatch a trailer for the show But with the advent of records, CDs and now the internet, the most popular artists can reach a much wider audience, and therefore earn much more money from doing the same amount of work. Vanessa-Mae is the world's most popular violinist, but unlike violinists 50 years ago, she has a global fan base. She has been able to take advantage of the Superstar Premium and is aware how the life of a musician has changed. "The exposure that you get around the world is only thanks to technology," she says. "If I had to flog my albums 50 years ago by taking a boat, I mean, it would have taken me five years to promote one album." It has allowed her to sell more than 10 million records world-wide and has subsidised the super-rich lifestyle she dreamed of as a child. "When I was about seven, I said to my mother 'how much money do I have to earn to be able to ...

I'll put it plainly.

The 'super-rich just get richer' by ensuring, with the aid of other organs of the elite, the pervasiveness of perspectival idiocy and gross ignorance amongst the non-rich and super-rich caste.

‘Wealthy’ and ‘Super-rich’ are simply interchangeable terms with ‘aristocracy’ and ‘monarchy’. The relative fluidity of movement from the working classes to the non-working one does not undermine the fact that the space in the upper echelons of society is significantly limited. Find out how the latter two were maintained in the past and you’ll come closer to discovering how the former two are maintained in the present. That is when my personally coined term, ‘medival modernism’, will began to make sense, if not dollars and you’ll began to realise that the only significant distinction between yourself and the peasant of the past is a change in fashion.

Ed-infinitum

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Burma - Sympathy for the Devil?

nobody@vox.com(ed-infinitum) — Wed, 14 Nov 2007 10:22:35 +0800

The loss of life, the loss of freedom, the loss of democracy, the arrest and detention of Aung San Suu Kyi amongst others…...are not enough for a self-absorbed people to fight for change. If it is only economic hardship or necessity affecting individual interests that brings about demonstrative reaction, then, if successful, it does not bring about freedom, democracy and the value of life per se, but rather a status quo that empowers the people to do unto each other that which was previously done unto them, since those who stood up, did so for themselves.

Thus, the plight of the Burmese people, whilst deserving of our sympathies, is equally deserving of our suspicion….unless we are not unlike them ourselves.

ed-infinitum

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