Should Tibet be free?

If China had taken over and not changed a thing, would Tibet still be free?

If they were considered a state of China, like Florida is a state of the USA, and all they had to worry about was keeping the speed limit on highways low in order to maintain government subsidisation, would they still be free?

Is freedom really just freedom of religion?

Is freedom of religion all that really matters?

Sure, I'm tired of paying for it.

If we steal it then we can sell it for a huge amount of money.

[Edited on Dec 16, 2004 by Drek77]

Thats right China.. I may have something you want..
thats right... All the Tea

Define "free", define "free" again, no and no.

God forbid I get a serious response...

Well, if the Beastie Boys think Tibet should be free, then so do I.
I don't know a whole lot about the issue, so my opinion doesn't really count.
But if they want to be separate from china, then they should be allowed that. The same as if the majority of the people in florida decided they wanted to be their own country.

haha you want a serious response? ok then, hehe, i personally would like to see a free tibet, i think it's a shame when the leader of a religion/philosophy/but-in-this-case-most-importantly-culture is not allowed in his home country because of a communist takeover, and no i'm not trying to be blacklisting here, but the communists DID take it over, hehe, i think the world would benefit from the spiritual knowledge and even cultural significance created by a free-tibet

after visiting nepal, i dont know what to say...

i was at a bar hanging out with some 2nd generation tibetans whos parents left for nepal when china came in. and i wondered what their view on regaining their land back as a free independent nation.

"of course i don't like that china is ruling my country," one said
"but we can't do anything about it," said the other
"you could always fight for it," i responded
"that won't work b/c china's to powerful. and its not in our nature to fight really."

at first i passed it off as them being to passive (wow was i wrong!). i thought about it for a while and realized that what they said was true and even if you tried to actively get tibet free through diplomatic means it could spark a world war because who would really back tibet militaraly if china changes their mind? the us and eu have no intrest in fighting china...

it stropped becoming a question of should... to me its a question of could...

Where is that from? Is that Family Guy? I think I might go crazy until I can remember.

in a manner of speaking, yes. but thats was never Chinas intention. Thus, the motives speak for themselfs. And personally speaking, i think Buddism(sp) is more a matter of a life, than religion. Tibets been denied its way of life, and no matter how we internalize it or debate it, verbose about the philosophical aspects, or challenge the logic behind the tragedy - its still a monumental lose in terms of culture.

I'd like to see Tibet free. I'd also like to see Xinjiang free, and maybe Inner Mongolia too. National self-determination is rarely a bad idea in my books. One of the big problems now is that China migrated tons of Chinese people into these territories, knowing that the original inhabitants are distinctly non-Chinese and thus have a claim for independence. Now it's not as simple as "the people of Tibet (or Xinjiang or Inner Mongolia) want to be free". Some do. Some are Chinese and want to stay part of China. Others are not Chinese but are comfortable with life under China. A referendum would be nice, but now we're getting into silly talk.

No, because they'd be under the rule of a tryannical Communist dictatorship that's murdered and imprisoned civilians for speaking out.

When they start shooting people or sending them off to slave labor camps for not keeping the speed limit low, then your analogy might be apt.

I'd say the problems with Communist China go a whole lot further than their restrictions on freedom of religion.

I'm not sure how much religious presecution they actually suffer under China at this point. Are peaceful Buddhists being slain left and right?

And if they aren't going to fight for their freedom, which they seem to be against the idea of anyway, then how can the Beastie Boys and Bono take on China? Are fundraiser concerts going to change the Chinese government's idea about the whole thing?

So...no one should do anything?

Ahhh the quest for independance. The typical problem that eventually arises from all non homegenous countries. Tibet though has been claimed by China for centuries just like Taiwan. Whether or not Tibet should be free in the eyes of the west the Chinese don't see it that way as to them its ancestral lands that have been returned. If Tibet should be free, maybe the Mormons in Utah should have been allowed to become free as well back in the 1800's The thing today is no country wants to give up its territorial sovreignty, like Russia for instance which has been fighting a long bitter suppression effort in Chechnya. Russians see Chechnya and the rest of Russia as lands they rightfully conquered and colonised centuries ago and its now theirs. So as to whether or not Tibet should be free..... if they can do it themselves sure, otherwise, no, for if they become free by foreign aid, it will just help strengthen the trend for independance movements elsewhere like Quebec away from Canada. Then the world will be farther away from getting off its lazy ass and unifying than ever before. My 2 cents.

No, if anyone feels strongly about something they should get off their ass and do something. So shame on me for criticizing Free Tibet concerts, honestly.

I just wonder if life under Chinese rule is miserable enough as to be fought against (not doubting that it is to a degree), and how life would change for freed Tibetans. As this is something I in fact know little about, I certainly won't argue. I was just putting out the first questions that came to mind.

I spoke to an exiled Tibetan monk about how he felt about the occupation. He gave me a very Buddhist answer. While he would like for Tibet to be free, he recognizes that the occupation has helped to teach people around the world about Tibetan Buddhism through press coverage and groups of monks traveling the world to press for a free Tibet.

clownbarf001- Whether or not Buddhism is a religion or a philosophy is a topic that is debated even within the Buddhist community. There is a book called Buddhism Without Beliefs by Stephen Batchelor which expresses Buddhism as a lifestyle in that it is something to be practiced rather than believed. While Tibetan Buddhists would agree that Buddhism is to be practiced, I think they also view it as a religion. Vajrayana Buddhism which is the sort affiliated with Tibet and is the denomination over which the Dalai Lama presides still has a very religious feel to it. It has gods, angels and demons, heavens and hells and rituals which reflect the influence of Tibetan mysticism. One of the major differences between Vajrayana Buddhism and the religions of the west is that the gods are not ultimate and heaven is not the goal.

Why would they want to be free?

Then "the terrorists" will hate them.

You know - "for their freedom".

I saw in the paper the other day that the Dali Lama (exiled Tibetan head of state) said that his country was actually better off under the rule of China due to the fact that Tibet has vast resources that it would be unable to exploit because of the country's backward and traditional nature.

... China hates freedom. Remember Tiananmen Square?

Someone tell Bush....

it's a shame to see people denied the right to live a life of peace and love. how could someone deny someone that? why would you want to?

Why?
My guess, $$$
We have a stupid joke at work; whenever a new employee asks "Why do we--"
everyone answers: "Money!!"

yeah i already knew the answer but it makes me so sad. i mean i just don't understand how you could do it? there has to be something telling you yo, these people, they are good people. why would you do this to them?

And where are the American Indians?
I don't know how that happened either.
It's as though I know how, I just dont understand how?.