spudbuddy

wow. respect for a human being now wears flag colors? amazing. when history bites ya back, it's not a bad idea to look a little beneath the surface. A lot of people who read me, assume I'm American. I'm not - which shouldn't matter a hill of beans. My point of view is not particularly owned or vested in any national or religious partisanship. Bully for me, eh? I'd imagine that your gut response to exactly what you see in front of your eyes, should tell you how you need to respond. A second-class citizen is still exactly that. And power structures are what they are. And these exist all over the planet, which adds up to a considerable amount of oppressed people. -many of whom (most, I'd say) never get to voice opinions in places like this... shame.

Sorry, I misunderstood the point. On that issue, I agree the actions of the Belgian gov't are absurd. I personally have no patience for blatant propaganda in schools. Recently the BC gov't agreed to add a 'gay issues' course in Grade 12. I was appalled even though I am a strong supporter of gay rights. Schools should be places where children are taught to detect propaganda, analyze it, find their own facts and then make up their minds. Might be nice for the kids to get a bit of background whilst perusing the works of Oscar Wilde. As I recall, at that paricular age - homophobia liberally mixed with housebrand teenaged angst was all the rage (and so much wasted effort, really.) Governments have been known to be absurd. (You just noticed?) In spite of the approaching debacle of globalized trivial pursuit, a board game played entirely by neocons - even THEY don't have the power or stupidity to engage us in the historically glorified insanity otherwise known as war - Since the world was young, parents have taken on the chore of socializing their kids as they see fit (in spite of whatever forces stand in their way.)

I suppose somewhere down the line when fuel costs make it prohibitive to ship long distances, more manufacturers and retailers will concede that in fact $2/hr to a Mexican instead of $2/day to a Chinese is the way to go. ("Just in time" delivery is no friend of the wind-powered sailing ship.) Somewhere in Shanghai is a very large model of what they consider the future of their "New York of Asia" to be...an interesting model. It looks rather like Manhattan - only imagine Manhattan having balooned out to include part of New Jersey, Brooklyn, Queens, the Bronx, Staten Island, and throw in Yonkers, New Rochelle and White Plains for good measure. (tens of thousands of skyscrapers and highrises.) Gigantism is alive and well in the east. That's a lot of elevators. Mark Hertsgaard talks a lot about heavy industry in China - and what it's doing to the water and the air. I suppose that consumers in North America can get all up in arms about human rights issues, and that's not a bad thing. I think that rising energy costs will one day make this economic model a thing of the past. Sad to think of China squandering its newfound wealth on skyscrapers, freeways, and various other mass-consumption theme parks and entertainments. Mao apparently really had the hots to rule the world. But that was never intended to benefit the proletariat. If the race to the bottom creates such misery in so many people - something's got to give, sooner or later. Same thing with India, really. Corporations can salivate all they want about the prospect of a couple of billion new consumers - but it's still whistling up a pipe. Massive climate changes will slap us up the side of the head in short order. You're just as robbed with the fountain pen as with the gun, son.

No, it's not pretty - that video. Seems strange that the western world has ignored China for so long... (of course, it was never easy to get reliable information...that bamboo curtain has proved more impenetrable than the iron one, in some ways.) I'm a librarian, and I've only just begun digging up current reading material. I'd recommend: Jung Chang's "Mao: The untold story" China's history has a lot to do with where they're at - back even before the Boxer Rebellion, the Opium Wars... China's relationship with the rest of the planet is an interesting one. I find it sad that even though I live in a western city with a huge Chinese population, I know precious little about how these people feel about the land of their ancestry. I will say this however: In spite of recent economic developments - China is an extremely volatile society. Even if 10% of the population were to ever rise into a middle class, consuming by western standards - that alone would represent something in the neighborhood of 130 million people. This would leave well over one billion people out in the cold - not invited to the party. How long would they stand for it? I find it highly unlikely they'll just stand on the sidelines and cheer. It is human nature to want in on the goods, too. I don't believe the planet has the resources to provide these standards for that many people. The numbers - are mind-boggling. I find myself wondering just what China's game plan really is - what they think is actually possible in the long run? Upon reflection - there almost seems to be (in relationship to the international corporate globalized mindset) - a determination to extract from the Chinese worker - something resembling the wealth assembled in the southern states by using slavery. Perhaps not quite so blatant - but I've seen photographs of the legions of factory workers, all lined up in their blue uniforms - performing rites in an eerily cultish fashion. When I was a teenager in high school, I came upon some photographs of Chinese children performing military drills - quite chilling. Now I wonder - with all the activity going on - western involvement - how long can they keep western influence at bay? It makes one rather disgusted - by the amount of western consumption of the fruits of all that toil of tears - all that turmoil. However, that has been our pattern for some time now. A manufacture of goods that do not provide the worker with adequate pay. It's an old fight, isn't it? (ironic as hell - Jack London and his Iron Heel, followed by his "Yellow Peril." That Chinese curse folowed us into the future. We do live in interesting times! You're just as robbed with the fountain pen as with the gun, son.