Free tibet!

[Fleet]

In the defense of "AmeriCanadians," the fact that we aren't intervening to raise the standard of the minor miners is more than likely responsible for their working under such inhumane conditions. I say that to introduce the hole in your entire argument: the awful conditions in China, or the Congo, or in "Arabia" are not caused by any form of direct western intervention; it is the result of totalitarian governments refusing to treat their workers like human beings.
You can't guilt trip someone for drinking coffee, just because the beans were grown in Cuba.

The awful conditions are caused by Western corporations who, more often than not, collaborate with pro-western puppet governments. I don't want the White House to intervene, I want the CEO's, the Generals, and the politicians, all parts of the same monster, rounded, put on trial, and executed by their own people.

China has handled foreign companies differently than others, it isn't entirely right to compare them to the Congo.

And if you think American working conditions are better than you need to visit the Appalachian Mountains.

 

[Relent<]

Well, given the choice between working in--say--a mine in west virginia as an adult who is fully prepared to encounter those hazardous conditions; or a child working around dangerous industrial machinery, with little alternative than an early career in prostitution, i'd have to choose the former.

Not every corporation, or government conglomerate is a hell spawn sent from the depths to consume the world. Not that any of this has much of anything to do with Tibet. And concerning how China has handled its foreign companies, due to their censorship of "sensitive" information--say, free opinions, rights of the press--neither I nor you nor anyone can really say anything about how China has chosen to handle anything; especially matters of commerce.

At the end of the day, we can't do anything about these countries, and so we aren't. We'd like to see every child going to school. We'd like to see less child murder and rape in Darfur. We'd like for women in India to be able to walk off of a college campus without having acid thrown on their faces. But they're over there. And we're over here. If given the opportunity to help them, with their consent, we will; we have. Look at the tsunami in Indonesia; we didn't give a shit about their communist government. We gave aid to an area that needed, regardless of whatever our motivation was. And then we left. No military occupation; no evil empire to stake a claim at the soggy ground when its defenses were lowered.

Execution, indeed...

 

[Slaver123]

Oh so brainwashed. Typical American.

Well that's about the dumbest thing I've ever heard anyone say... (Uh-oh; "Troll" Alert!!)

A government's power needs to be limited; in America our Constitution and Bill Of Rights limit the power of our leaders and any nation without such safeguards will degenerate into tyranny of one sort or another. Compared to the US (and other nations who value liberty) China has an ABYSMAL record of human rights violations- just ask Amnesty International for details.

How exactly does that make me "brainwashed"?

(I probably just wasted my time explaining things to a "troll"- oh well, I got to give a "shout-out" to Democracy)

 

[Slaver123]

Don't we have the, although unwritten, right to earn a paycheck so we can pay our bills and support our families? Or are people considered human garbage unless some manager approves of them and grants them the ability to practice their right to support themselves and live like human beings? So if some manager doesn't like us we can die in a gutter?

.

OK, I read some of your posts and no longer think you're a "troll".

 

[Relent<]

In other words,

 

[Relent<]

Quote Quote: Originally Posted by Fleet

Don't we have the, although unwritten, right to earn a paycheck so we can pay our bills and support our families? Or are people considered human garbage unless some manager approves of them and grants them the ability to practice their right to support themselves and live like human beings? So if some manager doesn't like us we can die in a gutter?

.
I hadn't even seen this part. But i already have the concession. In terms of American History, we tried that. That is to say, one person works for an unregulated company or commercial gathering of people to earn a wage. It didn't end well. Ultimately, the owners and operators of said companies could treat their employees like crap, and there wasn't a whole lot we could do about it. They didn't just make stuff up for the sake of making it up; statutes such as this arose out of necessity, etc.
which brings us back to government, I suppose. Though still not Tibet.

 

[PurpleStyle]

Yes, at the expense of the poorer countries.

How many people in the Congo had to die so snot-nose AmeriCanadians and European kids can have computers? They're made from coltan, a material that is mined and put into many electronics. The mining conditions are harsh, and people often get shot in wars for materials, backed by corporations and puppet governments.

Wait a second, weren't you the one complaining about how "us westerners" mettle in the affairs of other people, so what relevance are the mining conditions in another country? We import the materials. Why don't you complain to the "government" of Congo? :lol If you shed anymore crocodile tears, I'll have enough to fill a backyard swimming pool.

How many Arabs must die for your SUV's?

0, I drive a Honda Civic.

Of course, you could point out the hypocrisy of me owning a computer. But it's required for many things these days. A lot of places where I want to work require I submit an online application.

Acknowledging the fact that you're sanctimonious? That's probably the only reasonably intelligent thing you've said in this topic. I say reasonably intelligent because...

Which leads me to another thing, why are jobs treated as a privilege by Americans? If I'm willing to work for my money, shouldn't I have a job? Why can't a lot of us find one? Don't we have the, although unwritten, right to earn a paycheck so we can pay our bills and support our families? Or are people considered human garbage unless some manager approves of them and grants them the ability to practice their right to support themselves and live like human beings? So if some manager doesn't like us we can die in a gutter?

Oh wait, I forgot, we can't guarantee people jobs in an effective manner because we're all afraid the Tea Party will shoot us for being, *gasp*, "socialists." Totalitarianism can fix that.

...you're not just sanctimonious, but painfully unaware of the situation at hand. What does the Tea Party have to do with us lacking jobs? That has to do with the United States not being an industrial nation anymore. Once again, I invite you to come back once you have something intelligent to say.

If that's not possible; then I have a wonderful suggestion for you. If this western world is so poisonous to you, you're free to drop off the grid and live on your own, in the wild. You won't need to worry about things like oil and coltan because you'll be too busy making sure you have enough sharpened sticks so you can hunt for a meal each evening.

 

[the_jimmy_james]

I just think it's cool that he said something about coltan. That sounds like a character from Flash Gordon.

Coltan, leader of the Fat People.

 

[Slaver123]

I'm tired of the term "Westernization", it's almost a myth anyway, as is American "Colonialism". We're NOT a colonial power like Great Britain was; just think about it, if we functioned like the old British Empire (or Spain, or France, or Rome) once we'd conquered Iraq we'd hog all that cheap oil for ourselves- but we didn't (obviously cause the price of gas is still astronomical)

Sorry if I ramble a bit, still getting over a fever....

Coca Cola and Ford won't free or enlighten anyone, nor will they enslave a country. People were slaughtering each other in the Congo (the "Rape Capital" of the world, BTW) long before it was "Colonialized" into the Belgian Congo, and they'll be slaughtering each other for generations to come unless they have the same sort of mass-awakening the rest of the world needs. The Congo is kinda like Iraq, it's made up of ethnic groups that all hate each other, held together by an iron-fisted dictatorship for the past several decades, you can't blame America for it. (Blame Belgium, if anyone)

What the world needs is LIBERTY and the rule of LAW; Democracy (or "representative government" or "Parliamentary govt" if you prefer) is the only system that guarantees peoples' individual liberties to any decent degree AT ALL, and that's what we should be trying to "export" to the rest of the world, not soda and microchips.

In defense of 'evil corporate capitalism', it DOES lead to a higher standard of living for impoverished countries. Which actually serves the cause of Liberty, cause when people are a little more prosperous they have resources for education etc and it creates a more positive climate which (ideally) promotes Democracy all on its own. This is my hope for China; a friend from Hong Kong explained it to me shortly before it reverted back to Red China's control. Know why his family and others fled to America? They were afraid of the overwhelming BUREAUCRACY of Beijing taking over and ruining Hong Kong- and he was right. China's central govt has been wise enough to keep their hands off Hong Kong, mostly- which is funny, cause it means they KNOW their own ways will run it into the ground. I hope the Chinese people recognize that individual liberty is the real path to prosperity, and I hope Democracy will flourish in China someday soon, fueled by it's improving prosperity. Meanwhile, the grey-faced soulless bureaucrats keep their stranglehold on the whole country and pretend to be economic geniuses for adopting some of OUR free-market ways of doing things...

...these same grey-faced bureaucrats who continue the cultural genocide in Tibet! Tibetan culture is FASCINATING, but for whatever reason Red China has wanted to erase it from the face of the earth for decades. WHY?