FREE TIBET
Out of context: Reply #16
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- AndyRoss0
1) The Dalai Lamas and the monks kept Tibet mired in near-absolute serfdom until the middle of the 20th Century! It's historical model is along the lines of ancient Egypt, with the masses turning all wealth over to worshipped-as-Gods-on-Earth religious leaders (many of whom were, frankly, scheming and ambitious politicians of the worst stripe).
2) It's a landlocked area, with few natural resources besides scenery. Which, until recently, has never been a valuable commodity.
3) Recent western intellectual veneration of the Buddhist religion, antique cultures in general, and quiet men wearing robes, have blinded the West to the fact that Tibet has neither a tradition of human rights, a tradition of equality before the law, or a tradition of fair and equitable distribution of political and economic power. Traditionally, it has been a theocracy, with all money and powers flowing to self-anointed religious leaders.
4) The Tibetans of today act as though Tibet was always an independent nation. The truth is it has always been extremely elastic, at times run by the Mongols, at times by the Chinese, at times trading off its independence in deals with larger powers, like the British Empire, and various Indian constructs.