Sageman's Blog

Most Americans should be boycotting China by now already.

Boycott any and all corporate sponsors of the Olympics..that is for a start.

Comparing America to China is like comparing apples to oranges. China has a history of horrific human rights violations. They use fear to keep people from demonstrating and when they do they crack down on protesters harshly. Some of the people who protested in Tienanmen Square still sit in prison today. The fact is that if a country wont allow the natural freedoms to their citizens, The pursuit of happiness, freedom of speech etc... then those that have opened their eyes have an obligation to help.

We in America take our freedom and civil rights for granted. If we were to live in a country like China or North Korea for just a year I guarantee you would come home with a different perspective.

Something as simple as a boycott of Chinese products would have a huge impact economically on China, thus putting pressure on politically on them.

Though logically you wont see a change in china for a long while regarding human rights or civil rights, you might see them at least autonomy to them.

North Korea and China are two completely different societies. China is a relatively open society with open trade and tourism. Outside infuences are everywhere, like McDonalds and other Western companies. One of their largest industries is torism.
There has been a three way struggle for Tibet for centuries between India, China and Tibet. All feel they have a legitimate claim.

We do have a history of human rights violations I wouldn't disagree with you there. Yet just because of our past we are supposed to turn a blind eye to things happening in the present?

North Korea and China are different but neither is a place that any American would want to live in. In both country's if you were to write a blog like I have here it would get a you prison term. Sometimes the biggest human rights violation is living in a society where you are never truly free.

Most Americans would be uncomfortabble living in Europe, so that doesn't say much.
Hong Kong is a very free and capitalisic region that is having a profound effect on the rest of the country. China doesn't want to change it because it is so profitable.
China has thousends of US visitors every year. They have a lot of US businesses in Peking.
North Korea is a closed society.

First of all, thanks Sageman, for posting this. I didn't think anyone would do it. Most people don't seem interested in world news.

I'm afraid that nothing will really be done about Tibet. The world shrugged when the monks started that democratic uprising in Burma (in the most twisted irony, nations asked China to help them in their efforts to surpress the brutal crackdown by the government against the protesters. I guess they forgot about Tiananmen Square). The world will shrug again, and move on.

As much as I would love to participate in a boycott against Chinese goods, I don't think it'll work. Just about everything many of us own was made in China. Just visit your local dept. store and look at the labels. China has of of the most dominant export markets in the world, thanks to their near slave labor costs and unfair trading practices.

In short, as much as I'd like to see something done, I have no ideas what could be done.

Many people go to Hong Kong to work or visit. When they go home they are telling others about it. The Chinese are starting to demand freedom. There are 4 autonomous regions of China. These regions govern themselves. Tibet is one of those regions, and they are talking of seceding. That is the reason the Chinese army is there.

And those same analysts said the Soviet Union would never fall.
The Communist Party has already given up a lot of power. The people have had a taste of freedom. Capitalism has taken root and is thriving. Hong Kong has already infected the country with the Free Market and the government officials wi not be able to control it.
Those "analysts" want to maintain fear to control the US populaton.

When the Soviet Union collapsed, everybody was surprised. Nobody expected it.
The collapse was caused by outside influences. The western countries started openly trading and visiting Russia. They had access to people from other areas.
Poland's Solidarity Union was formed in 1980. Less than 10 years later, the Berlin Wall came down.

Uhm if by peacefully you are referring to the Opium Wars then sure it was peaceful alright.

Your facts are convoluted to say the least. Everyone suspected that the U.S.S.R. would collapse they were just not expecting at the exact moment it happened. Many political analysts had written on what would collapse the U.S.S.R., one theory was an economic collapse. The only reason social changes came to the U.S.S.R. was the collapse of their economy. Something Reagan was well aware of due to conferring with experts on the Soviet Union during his tenure in office as president.

Poland's solidarity movement did nothing but mobilize the Kremlin to crack down on political activists with in the Russian Borders.

It was a collapse... There wasn't a whole lot of struggling. The country had leaders in office who saw that the system was not working and disbanded the government.

Were you refering to the first Opium War that was between 1834 and 1843 or the Second Opium War that was between 1856 and 1860? They were started because China saw the horrific impact the opium trade was having on their citizens. I'm not going to go into specifics because it detracts from the message. The Chinese still hold resentment over the Opium War's to this day...

And yes predicting something really is predicting.... Predicting = Predicting...

I'm sure the people of Poland and the other Eastern Europe countries will be relieved that the tanks and troops in their streets weren't a real threat. Lech Walensa, who spent 10 years in prison for forming Solidarity, will be happy to know it was just a vacation for him. They thought he needed a rest.

They trained you well, neocon. Keep beieving what they tell you. If you think for yourself, you might see they have been lying to you.

Hey I've got an idea......Let's stick our noses into one more countries business and then we can blame Bush for that mess too!

Give it a rest....let China handle it's own business. We've already got enough on our plate without having to piss off China.

Oh PLEASE!!! Should we boycott Chinese products for Tibet? Yet another agenda item hidden in world events.

Let me rephrase that: Should we use the Chinese and Tibet issue as an excuse to boycott Walmart and others that are bringing in cheap goods? Should we support Tibet by buying Union made products here in America?

If a boycott from America even had an effect, it would just end up starving and hurting the "little people" in China. You are trying to associate capitalism in America with Communism in China!