Whats the Truth about Tibet?, page 5
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reply posted on 4-8-2008 @ 09:50 AM by money order
reply to post by Odessy


Well, my take on the whole Tibet/China thing is that Tibet was no Shangri-la before the Chinese came. I have not been to Tibet but know many people who have been there and the general consensus is that most Tibetans are pretty happy with the present arrangement. Tibetans pay no taxes. They are not required to conform to the 'One Child Policy' that the Han Chinese do. They have preference in being accepted into university. This is also the case with all other ethnic groups (besides the Han) in China. The Tibetan language is an official language of China and Tibetans are free and encouraged to maintain their cultural practices and religion. The monks are paid a small stipend from the state and their monasteries are maintained by the state as places of cultural importance. Though this may not have been the case during the Cultural Revolution. Life expectancy for Tibetans has increased hugely since the Chinese have provided health care. Before the Chinese health care was practically non existent for the average Tibetan. Same for infant and maternal deaths, all much reduced due to better access to health care and a higher standard of living and education. Literacy is now widespread. Life in Tibet before the Chinese came was bleak for the vast majority. Many were slaves. Others were serfs. There were few free men and no free women. Most lived life little better than livestock. It was a theocracy but there were some non clergy elites as well. Between these two groups all the land and people were owned. The 'Yellow Hats' were the dominant Buddhist group. This is the same cult that the Dalai Lama belongs to. It is not the only Buddhist group in Tibet. Other have their own leaders and do not follow the teaching of the Dalai Lama. Children were taken forcibly into the monasteries to work as slaves/monks. The Chinese said that no one would be forced to stay in the monasteries if they did not wish to. Thousands left. Those that stayed are paid by the state. There was much sexual abuse of women and children in the monasteries. The CIA trained and funded a guerrilla army (made up of the elite who had left with the Dalai Lama) but just like the Bay of Pigs the locals were quite happy with the new system and they did not take up arms and fight for their 'liberation' when it was offered to them. Most of the CIA guerrilla forces just disappeared and were not heard from again. One can only presume they were done away with by the locals. The Dalai Lama is a shrewd political operator. He was paid for many years by the CIA. He talks peace but consorts with all the tyrants of the world. He has never come out and said a word against any tyrant or supported any other resistance group besides his own. Silent on South Africa under Apartheid, death squads in Latin America, poverty anywhere. He objected when Pinochet was arrested. Supports the Iraq war (the US side that is) He was educated by a committed Nazi. He has very odd religious ideas. He is not all peace and love and bliss. There is also Karma. Everyones place in life is because of what they did in a previous life. All the poor have miserable lives because they were bad and all the rich have good lives because they were good. How convenient.

Life may not be perfect in Tibet but it sure seems much better than it was. They already are politically autonomous. Beijing is a long way away. By the way Tibet sit on a huge pile of uranium and other mineral wealth. Beware of the Western media and what they have to say and just as importantly what they don't say. There is definitely an agenda there. The west wants to get its hands on Tibet too. They will not be 'liberated' by Washington or London or Wall Street. Many people in the Free Tibet movement are very genuine and well meaning but used by others for their own ends.

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