Political Views,

Stupidity About Way More Than Yellow Tibet
by Richard Oxman

Ignorance is not knowing. Stupidity is not wanting to know.

March 12th is the anniversary for Tibetan king Songzan Gambo’s marriage to Chinese princess Wen Cheng in 641. Although the union later formed the basis of China’s claim to sovereignty over the region, 100 out of 100 (“Free Tibet“) lefties who I interviewed didn’t know squat about the Tang Princess or China’s territorial arguments. (1)

In a recent article I lambasted celebrities, lefties et. al. for not delving below the surface of issues, for not knowing the fundamental details associated with causes they’ve embraced or ignored . That piece focused on Black Africa, but its connection to my Yellow China chit chat here is germane.

Do you hear me Jermaine? Am I coming across in Jiujiang? How ‘bout you, Jane? Joe?

The Chinese got the Japanese out of Manchuria, the Germans out of Shandong, the Portuguese out of Macau, and the Brits out of Hong Kong…restraining themselves from decapitating the Queen of England in the process (whilst Prince Philip worried out loud that he feared he’d get “slitty eyes” if he stayed in Cathay too long). Shitty of the Great Wally of China to have said that, but the Chinese have never been deterred by such nonsense. Russia was booted without much fanfare. And…we’re next.

If I’m wrong about the sky falling, I’m not wrong about it turning Yellow. They may not wind up ruling the U.S. –They may not want to or need to!– but they’re surely slated to call their Cathay shots and shunts, which includes not allowing themselves to be bullied on any fronts. (2) For all of their huge faults, you can count on them to wind up running their own show…even if they’re forcing the whole planet down as they outperform us. Pro forma.

The horrors that Joseph Campbell describes in delineating what the Chinese did to Tibetan monks is guaranteed to make virtually all Westerners cringe. But that has zero to do with the politically correct dialogue that’s bandied about respecting the Dali Lama. And Tibet –its cry for independence– is far from the only subject which concerned citizen activists refuse to learn something about beyond Richard Gere goody goo goo.

No, those involved are generally too busy with things like petitions. In general, people like to regurgitate something they fancy has a ring to it, a bit of an angle that’ll bring them social attention on some level or ring a few meaningless bells in some obscure barbershop…or take up time in a taxi.

Too few heed the the lesson from the Old Chinese Martial Arts Expert: “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I’d spend four hours sharpening my axe.”

One doesn’t prepare to cut down socially offensive forests by reviewing the New York Times daily or onlining Democracy Now!-type reports with a homemade latte. Or attending an occasional lecture, or writing articles, etc.

One takes an interest and follows one’s nose into unchartered territories, and keeps the faith that says changes will occur that’ll remain unseen. That claims unseemly injustices will be addressed in a much larger realm than what anyone can envision here on earth.

There is a holy injunction which dictates humility. And that humility is come by only through exposure to the vast, incomprehensible complexity of what concerns us, an understanding that we know much less than what we claim.

I’m all for research, self-education. However, concerned citizens do not –to take one example– have to learn Mandarin to improve their knowledge of China. They don’t have to study The Qin (Ch’in) to learn what’s necessary.

No, overcoming stupidity…and opening up intellectual vistas (which is a form of open heart surgery, I assure you)… is a function of unpretentious reverence for this Mystery called Life. For starters.

My mentor immersed himself in The Ornaments of Chinese Bronzes of the Late Chou Period for over twenty years without ever actually entering the PC socially-conscious forest with an axe. Yet he contributed to making me more radical than Mao.

I submit –an interesting word, given the context above– that readers have a vested interest in divesting themselves of their ignorance…in new ways. And that the means to do so will become apparent only if they fall to their knees in some kind of fevered prayer…followed by Deep Quiet. I certainly can’t provide the specific paradigm.

However, maybe what’s below will help.

In speaking about Chinese floods, Simon Winchester says,

“The country’s formidably well-annotated history records more than one thousand major inundations in the last two thousand years.” (3)

Well, the punch line is that a huge number of those catastrophes were equivalent to (or exceeded by far) the ravages of Uncle Sam’s historic Katrina.

One would think that such an epiphany –it was one for me– would be sufficient to keep U.S. citizens from taking on China confrontationally. Would be a basis for not supporting any warlike stances or actions vis-à-vis The Qin. Might encourage inquiry into The Roar of the Yangtze, its environs. (4)

But, again, that presupposes Humility. No Mass Stupidity.

Footnotes:

(1) Readers unfamiliar with the basics can begin with
http://www.rangzen.org/history/views.htm
or http://www.index-china.com/index-english/Tibet-s.html ,
and then contact me for additional leads; if anyone finds any pro-China arguments anywhere in leftist literature or online lefty outlets…let me know, please. Ditto respecting any Richard Gere websites.

(2) For one, as per Chomsky: “Unlike Europe, China can’t be intimidated. Europe backs down if the United States looks at it the wrong way. But China, they’ve been there for 3,000 years and are paying no attention to the barbarians and don’t see any need to. The United States is afraid of China; it is not a military threat to anyone; and is the least aggressive of all the major military powers. But it’s not easy to intimidate it. In fact, you can’t intimidate it at all. So China’s interactions with Latin America are frightening the United States. Latin America is also improving economic interactions with Europe. China and Europe now are each other largest trading partners, or pretty close to it.” See me for more, if you like.

(3) On page 148 of The River at the Center of the World (New York: Picador, 2004).

(4) Few on my block know that if the inhabitants of the river’s valley alone comprised a separate nation it would be the second most populous country on earth. My neighbors are more fixated on Yellow economic facts, and ways to finesse fighting for the future.

Richard Oxman, info@parisgraves.com, welcomes feedback in all humility. His most updated versions of recent writing are at www.oxtogrind.org.

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