(no subject)
I usually avoid posting in Orbis Ter..ter...however you spell it. OT. Anyway. But after reading the threads on the Chinese earthquake and the Burma cyclone, I had to call G on his absolute callous, hateful posts. My god, thousands upon thousands of people dead, even more suffering, and he wants to argue that because they haven't overthrown their government, they deserve their fate? Not that he knows anything about those governments, of course. As Sparky pointed out many times, Burma has tried to oust the junta many times. Sadly, the people with the most guns win.
I just can't wrap my brain around such utter lack of compassion. I hate the Chinese government. The list of human rights abuses and environmental irresponsibility perpetuated by that government goes on and on. But the people? In Dr. Johnson's class, he talked to us a lot about the common people of China, how they lived, how the government's actions impacted them worst of all. He had pictures and slides to show of what China really is like, not just some nice stock footage of the Beijing skyline.
Those are the people suffering after the earthquake, not the power-grubbing idiots in Beijing. And Burma is no different. You think the military officials of the junta have spent a single night hungry, thirsty, or without shelter since the cyclone?
And yes, while I'm generally all for respecting the sanctity of other countries' airspace and borders, I do think that the US and UN and any other powers that be should resort to unauthorized air-drops of food and water if the junta continues to refuse to cooperate. And not because it will win us friends in the region and theoretically undermine the junta's power. Because it is the right thing to do.
I just can't wrap my brain around such utter lack of compassion. I hate the Chinese government. The list of human rights abuses and environmental irresponsibility perpetuated by that government goes on and on. But the people? In Dr. Johnson's class, he talked to us a lot about the common people of China, how they lived, how the government's actions impacted them worst of all. He had pictures and slides to show of what China really is like, not just some nice stock footage of the Beijing skyline.
Those are the people suffering after the earthquake, not the power-grubbing idiots in Beijing. And Burma is no different. You think the military officials of the junta have spent a single night hungry, thirsty, or without shelter since the cyclone?
And yes, while I'm generally all for respecting the sanctity of other countries' airspace and borders, I do think that the US and UN and any other powers that be should resort to unauthorized air-drops of food and water if the junta continues to refuse to cooperate. And not because it will win us friends in the region and theoretically undermine the junta's power. Because it is the right thing to do.