Sick of the Democratic Primary

So we are finally on the eve of replacing the worst President in US history. Instead of a message of hope going out from the Democratic candidates, with the help of the media and an American public that has an appetite for filler instead of issues, we watch Senators Clinton and Obama trade barbs. No wonder so many disengage from the political. I am sick of it as well. But to let the nation go to waste... or have our soul and ideals sold out by a corrupt administration... Well, we can't simply shrug it off and say "it can't be helped, it's politics" if we expect any kind of better world.

My friend Olaf is in Africa. His wife works for an NGO. He is German, his wife French. He asked me not long ago about the American presidential race. He said, "You know, there are people everywhere in the world to whom its a question of life or death who rules the WhiteHouse. We all have to live with the US election results but cannot change it: there is actually a 'democracy deficit' on a global level. "

Olaf is right. I am disappointed that the country in which I live has chosen to wreak violence all across the world, while Americans countinue their day to day lives. I had hoped that the terror attacks might have given Americans a different perspective... some introspection and circumspection would be nice. "So this is what it is like to live under a constant threat of random violence..." but no, it became a situation that allowed Bush to use fear and channel it to paranoia so his administration could trample the constitution.

I love my family, and enjoy some simple pleasures in life. I would like others to live without fear as well. How to I help promote that?

Protest China over Free Tibet? WHY?

Some have asked me to join in protesting China over the Olympic Games. I will NOT. I am not protesting China over Tibet. If we were to choose a topic to protest, it would be MANY of their other policies, but not Tibet. Some may wonder if my position comes from the pages of books like "Chinese Village, Socialist State" that you would find my issue with China in Tibet. They Don't.

Why aren't we protesting China in Manchuria? There used to be a Manchuria and many ethinic Manchurians... infact they dominate China for a time. But the Manchurians have been utterly diluted by the Han Chinese... There is no Manchuria to "Save". So I find it ridiculous to think the same wont happen to Tibet.

The problem with Tibet is the Tibetans themselves and the structure/practice of Tibetan Buddhism. Go to this link and click on "Political" from this link:
http://college.holycross.edu/projects/himalayan_cultures/2004_plans/rdillon/index.htm
OH WAIT... - You can't click on the Political link and read it because it was taken down because it was too hot to handle. Basically, on that former link I challenged a lop-sided documentary called "Red Flag over Tibet" and I also used a video that aired on PBS called "Lost Treasures of Tibet" go to this website and READ my lesson plan - it is the last one on that page.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/teachers/ideas/3006_tibet.html

Note that PBS's NOVA editors were so nervous about my challenge to another biased film that they had to add an Editor's Note!

My argument is that Tibet was NEVER FREE - Therefore, "Free Tibet" is an oxymoron. The Tibetan people have lived under the repression and control of the Tibetan Buddhist Monks and about 200 aristocratic families that kept everyone in perpetual servitude prior to the Chinese occupation. In some ways, I believe that the Chinese have freed the Tibetans more than any Tibetan Buddhist has to date, even the Dalai Lama. It was like the Chinese Maoists were the Reformation to a region domintated by religiously-masked rulers... just as the reformation changed Europe and produced the Protestant ethic in Europe, that lead to ideals by the likes of Locke, Hobbes, Montesquieu, and ALL of the existentialists... so have the Chinese disrupted the domination and servitude of the average Tibetan by the Lamas. So in my view, the book "The Struggle for Modern Tibet: The Autobiography of Tashi Tsering" is required reading and an indictment of BOTH the Chinese and the Tibetan regimes and the way both structures exercised power in people's lives. look at that Nova web page... my 4th bullet point about the monastary in Mustang. Who can answer that?

Another question: Where does American self-righteousness come from (Richard Gere)? The domination of anglos over the natives in North America and Australia and New Zealand is just one in successive waves of migration patterns that spread out and dominate... as Arabs from the Arabian penninsula... or today as we see a 'reconquest' of North America by Mexico. I am not saying it is right or wrong. Migration and rises and falls of ethnic groups is human nature and the story of human history.

When Diana's mom died I went out to California for the funeral. I stopped by Cal while I was out there to look up one of my professors. I am so sad to hear that my US diplomatic history professor retired from teaching. I wondered who is replacing her? I wondered because it is troubling to know that she is gone when I consider the news-making professors at Cal. I was disgusted to read about John Yoo's position as a faculty member at UC. I wish he'd stayed and taught at his own alma mater (Yale) or Harvard... I wrote the my alumni magazine my feelings on this:

-----Original Message-----From: Dillon, Michael Sent: Monday, April 07, 2008 8:48 AMTo: 'californiamag@alumni.berkeley.edu'Subject: Prof. John C. Yoo

As Cal's magazine does annual reviews, I hope we consider UC's most ignoble character of the year as well... kind of a Darwin award for the individual student, alumni or professor with the biggest ethical lapse. This year's release of the memo arguing for torture would then make Cal Law Professor John Woo the singular candidate. I have studied the shift from radical collectivism by the Mormons to their arch-conservatism - a shift that took place over 130 years. Berkeley's shift from the epicenter of radicalism to being part of the machinery of an administration that advocated torture is indeed an interesting reflection on the change in the types of people attracted to Cal or being attracted to teach at Cal. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/04/opinion/04fri1.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=sloginThis article in the NY Times certainly made me disappointed that the professor is associated with UC Berkeley.

Rex Michael Dillon,'03 (History & Religious Studies)