Friday, May 30, 2008
Before the recent earthquakes in China, you may remember there were a lot of news articles concerning anti-Chinese protests in the West, nominally in support of Tibet. While I certainly support justice and freedom for the oppressed, I couldn't help but watch the protests and think: these Westerners are protesting against China, but they're protesting in shoes and underwear that's made in China. So then what exactly are they accomplishing?
Maybe this is cynical, but I think that most of what we do, we do to make ourselves feel good about ourselves. The same goes for the things that we believe. I had trouble expressing this suspicion just right, until I read this article in Le Monde Diplo. The first six points in the article are about the complicated history between China and Tibet, which I don't know enough about to comment on. The last three points, however, neatly summarize how I feel about the protests, and I quote:
A main reason why so many in the West have taken part in the protests against China is ideological: Tibetan Buddhism, deftly spun by the Dalai Lama, is a major point of reference of the New Age hedonist spirituality which is becoming the predominant form of ideology today. Our fascination with Tibet makes it into a mythic place upon which we project our dreams. When people mourn the loss of the authentic Tibetan way of life, they don’t care about real Tibetans: they want Tibetans to be authentically spiritual on behalf of us so we can continue with our crazy consumerism.
On a related note, you may also have heard of the protests in Korea lately, regarding the importation of US beef into Korea. This is a very big issue in South Korea, as there are many concerns (some real and others just rumors) about the possibility of US beef being contaminated with mad cow disease. The Korean graduate students in my department are also very emotional about this issue, and even though I fundamentally agree with them, they will still scream at me unless I agree with them using the exact same arguments as they do. Which is hard, since I am not completely fluent in the Korean language.
The Koreans here are passionate enough about this issue, that they are talking about holding protests here in Texas, to show their support and to send pictures of the protests to news organizations back home. I would admire their passion, if they were not constantly inviting me to join them at lunch for hamburgers at their favorite dive bar close to campus. Maybe there is no corruption in Korea, (that was a joke, laugh) but here, when you spend money on beef, the producers of that beef take your money and use it to lobby American politicians who exert pressure on Korean politicians to import US beef.
I can't get over this nagging feeling, that it is inconsistent to yell loudly and emotionally about injustice, and then financially support the very people who created those injustices. If we go to protests and make a big show for the cameras, but continue to act irresponsibly as consumers, then what are we really doing, other than making ourselves feel better about ourselves?
Maybe this is cynical, but I think that most of what we do, we do to make ourselves feel good about ourselves. The same goes for the things that we believe. I had trouble expressing this suspicion just right, until I read this article in Le Monde Diplo. The first six points in the article are about the complicated history between China and Tibet, which I don't know enough about to comment on. The last three points, however, neatly summarize how I feel about the protests, and I quote:
A main reason why so many in the West have taken part in the protests against China is ideological: Tibetan Buddhism, deftly spun by the Dalai Lama, is a major point of reference of the New Age hedonist spirituality which is becoming the predominant form of ideology today. Our fascination with Tibet makes it into a mythic place upon which we project our dreams. When people mourn the loss of the authentic Tibetan way of life, they don’t care about real Tibetans: they want Tibetans to be authentically spiritual on behalf of us so we can continue with our crazy consumerism.
On a related note, you may also have heard of the protests in Korea lately, regarding the importation of US beef into Korea. This is a very big issue in South Korea, as there are many concerns (some real and others just rumors) about the possibility of US beef being contaminated with mad cow disease. The Korean graduate students in my department are also very emotional about this issue, and even though I fundamentally agree with them, they will still scream at me unless I agree with them using the exact same arguments as they do. Which is hard, since I am not completely fluent in the Korean language.
The Koreans here are passionate enough about this issue, that they are talking about holding protests here in Texas, to show their support and to send pictures of the protests to news organizations back home. I would admire their passion, if they were not constantly inviting me to join them at lunch for hamburgers at their favorite dive bar close to campus. Maybe there is no corruption in Korea, (that was a joke, laugh) but here, when you spend money on beef, the producers of that beef take your money and use it to lobby American politicians who exert pressure on Korean politicians to import US beef.
I can't get over this nagging feeling, that it is inconsistent to yell loudly and emotionally about injustice, and then financially support the very people who created those injustices. If we go to protests and make a big show for the cameras, but continue to act irresponsibly as consumers, then what are we really doing, other than making ourselves feel better about ourselves?
