Aegis of Reason

First of all know that I am not Chinese, so you might think it to be strange that I am far from being completely pro Tibet. I am going to start by saying that the history of policy of China on Tibet is far from perfect and certainly there is a lot of things that need improvement (Don’t hack me Chinese hackers!).

It is difficult to understand why I would not completely and blindly support such a wonderful person as the Dalai lama. To the west, a tradition of self determinism and democracy, the idea to free Tibet is very appealing. We have all seen movies like seven years in tibet, we all got angry when the Chinese take the country back.
It is interesting to mention that a lot of people in my university that are unflinchingly pro tibetan independence at the same time cant find the country on a map, much less have a historical and political understanding of the situation.

Everyone seems to think that Tibet prior to the arrival of the PLA in the 1950s was a wonderful place to live. All Tibetans were very much like the Dalai lama, living their lives free of materialism with a greater spiritual connection and free of any form of corruption.  Well it was if you think the dark ages were the same thing. Tibet was far from being heaven on earth, the country was controlled by warlords and slavery was the norm. The German Schaefer expedition saw that the country indeed had the living standards of the middle ages. People did not live past 30 years of age. Not only was slavery the norm, but horrendous practices took place in Tibet, something that could be compared to medieval torture and punishments were given to the peasants by their warlord rulers. There was little or no infrastructure, disease, and education.

The (not entirely peaceful) takeover of Tibet by China changed a lot of that, introduced secular education, and believe it or not, really increased the human rights of the majority of the people there. (the warlord rulers were really angry, well what can you expect when their lands were taken away and redistricuted during land reform?)

However the question of whether or not the takeover of the country by China was legitimate remains. Well we have to remember that Tibet had been part of China much longer than the United States has existed. The history linking Tibet under rule by China goes all the way back to Genghis Khan.

The real problem that divides tibetans and their discontent is the wedge of religion. And China did made a political mistake, but I would argue that secular government is far better than theocracy. Certainly the practice that the Chinese government does to oppress free speech is truly appalling. Similar with the treatment of political dissidents.
But again this is not only in Tibet, it is happening all over china. The country is yet to become a democracy. And here is the main argument of why the current drive to boycott the Olympics is a great mistake.

The Olympics are in a way a great coming out party by China  into the world.  You  might believe it or not, but  the west (including the United States) is slowly declining as the East is increasing its economy and influence around the world. it is expected that by 2050 China (and India) will have left the united states behind as the greatest economies. We have to use events such as these to open China into the world, to let a connection of the Chinese and the outside world, just as the outside world should connect with China.

These kind of protests and anti chinese sentiments are in reality harming the overall advance of democracy in that country. It is rather counter productive and ruin the real Olympic spirit.

I am a political science and history double major and I approve this message.