Re: [Marxism] Friendly Feudalism: The Tibet Myth

[Walter Lippmann <walterlx@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Let me tell you, Greg, that I was surprised to read the conclusion
to Parenti's comments, too. I'd been expecting something more in the
"Just say no" tone knowing - and often liking - Parenti's comments
as I do. 

If you've read Bettina Aptheker's comments on the Dalai Lama, from
her recently-published (2006) memoir, it's my impression that he's
someone who expects, and is, revered as something akin to a God on
earth. Read Aptheker's description of the meeting with the Dalai
Lama which she attended, the way everyone - including Aptheker - 
refers to him as "His Holiness" and so forth, and a decidedly 
un-democratic impression came over me. 

Somwhere at home I've got this wonderful photograph of the Dalai
Lama together with Jesse Helms. It needs to be scanned and then
posted to the web. He really does get in bed with some very, very
unsavory people. And I'm not referring to Betting Aptheker here.

As far as being distrustful of "representative democracy", we're
receiving quite a series of lessons in that as we watch the way
"representative democracy" is being conducted in a contest over
who can collect the most tens of millions of dollars to purchase
air-time, print advertising, and so on. Creating a genuinely
democratic system isn't a simple process, and where the private
property capitalist system is dominent, that's especially not
the case. 


Walter Lippmann
Still in New York
=============================================================
GREG McDONALD wrote:
i appreciate Parenti's nuanced critique, but again, even though the  
group around the D.L. seems to be advocating a movement toward  
representative democracy, Parenti seems to distrust it. He is  
correct, from what I know, in his assessment that most Tibetans want  
him back, but they do not want a return to feudalism. Let's see. 
The D.L. is moving toward democracy, the people want him back, both  
groups seem to want to move beyond feudalism, so why not give them  
the chance? It could be the first and only marxist-buddhist democracy  
on the planet.

=========================================
     WALTER LIPPMANN
     Los Angeles, California
     Editor-in-Chief, CubaNews
     http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CubaNews/
     "Cuba - Un ParaÃso bajo el bloqueo"
=========================================

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