Sharon Stone's comment...
I know that Sharon Stone is getting flogged for the comment she made at the Cannes Film Festival about the earthquakes in China being caused by bad karma.
The thing is recently I heard a similar comment made when I was spending time with girlfriends here in Seoul.
My reply was if all these people in China suffered and died because of the actions of the Chinese government that the same can be said when bad things befall Americans.
I just think it's flawed logic, if you can even call it logic, to tie the cause of natural disasters to government policies.
So to Sharon and others, please think a bit more before making those sorts of comments. There is definitely cause and effect. I've got my issues with China on quite a few issues. However, I also love many things about the country. I am in awe of its culture, its history, and its recent economic development.
However, do you really believe that people are made to suffer in a strict karmic balancing act due to the action or inaction of their respective governments?*
If so, think a bit more critically about your beliefs.
More links:
China responds to Stone comments
Sharon Stone: Was China quake "bad karma?"
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*That's not to say that governments don't impact the lives for better or for worse of their citizens. Of course they do. However, I don't think massive natural disasters apply. A governments response or lack thereof to a natural disaster, yes. But the natural disaster itself? That's lunacy.
I am thinking Sharron Stone is brainless and heartless when she made that comment....that means she is simply a 300% idiot. These people died and suffered in the earthquake are common people. It is a natural disaster.
ReplyDeleteIt's a symptom of privileged I think. Stone doesn't have to worry about much in terms of survival. When you have that much free time, and people in entertainment do, then you can sit around and spin stupid theories like this.
ReplyDeleteWould anyone have dared to say the same about the 2004 tsunami that struck Thailand and many other nations from SE Asia to India and even as far off as the continent of Africa?
If they did ('cause I'm sure some did) they weren't as famous as Stone, but all of these people need to reevaluate their simple "if A then B" theories. It's just an example of faulty logic lifted straight from Logic for Dummies ;)
China is a whipping boy on many levels. In some ways it's justified but I know some people who upon the mere mention of China start scowling because all their focus is on Chinese policies they don't like. That's fine, but that's very much the environment she's in I think. An environment where liberal, rich people spin half cocked theories about how big bad China is being punished. Instead these people ought to notice that the people caught in this have very little to do with Tibet or human rights except that they happened to have been born poor in China.
BTW, I'm not just bashing liberal rich people here. The person who said a similar thing to me I think was basing it more in protestant Christianity, so the onslaught of faulty logic is coming from many angles.
Yeah, all those people who have died and whose homes are gone, it's their fault. They brought it upon themselves. That's just idiotic.
I'd question the true justice of karma if it's about taking out poor and virtually helpless people who don't have the power to make decisions.
Expat Jane totally agree with your post especially the logic for dummies. Take for example Sean Penn who was with Hugo Chavez of Venezuela last year.
ReplyDeleteMaria Conchito Alonso was on Fox(I agreed with everything she said)criticizing Sean for not seeing the whole entire situation in Venezuela.In other words if he wanted to know what Venezuela was really about then he should've visit the poorer areas of Venezuela to get a better understanding of
suffering and struggle not just suck up to the leader.
In Sharon's case it's a well you are the bad guy and Tibet is innocent. Also I am somewhat leery of these celebrities screaming they are personal friends with the Dalai Lama. I am like do you really understand the situation do you really even care or are you just impressed by the Dalai Lama.
She's a fuckwit.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, a good friend of mine married a man from Tibet. Another girl I know lives there. I think the Tibet issue is a serious one. However, China's stance on Tibet has nothing to do with this earthquake and it's just idiocy to throw that out there. But when you're making money on movies and endorsements what do you care? You know your driver will be there to ferry you about town, so you can say all the heartless and stupid stuff you want.
For Americans, it is really easy to finger point other countries on many issues, no matter what the background of those issues are, because America has been successful and is still No. 1 on this planet.
ReplyDeleteIf people really cares about Tibet, they should first find out where it is located(I bet many people don't even know), and read its history before they make subjective comments.
Tibet ("Xizang" in Chinese) has been closely connected to China for thousands years. The region heavily depends on China inland regions for natural resources, financial help and had been depending on military interference when conflicts broke out among slave owners (it followed a serfdom system until 1951 when the communist party drove slave owners out of the region and freed all slaves). The title of Dalai Lama was crowned by the Chinese Emperor of Qing Dynasty. So, Tibet is different from countries neighboring China like Bangladesh and Nepal, which are also buddhist countries, that it had been netted into Chinese history and culture.
Dalai Lama does not represent Tibet nor Tibetan ethnic Chinese. He was influenced by an Austria explorer with western values and western lifestyle since he was a little boy, that was why he could not get along with the communist party after they took over, which people understood. But that does not mean all tibetans had the opportunity to be touched by the "angel" and all westernly civilized as he is. He is the lucky one. But that does not give him the authority and capability that he would manage Tibet better than someone else. Don't forget, he himself was a slave owner.
As we can see, China itself is adopting some western values and making progress in many areas, at its own pace, but that pace is already fast enough to shake the world in many ways. It is a huge country, with billions of people. It is not easy to change. But it is changing, to make their life better. Shouldn't people in the U.S. happy to see?
During this earthquake disaster, majority of the victims were not Han Chinese, which comprises the majority of the Chinese population. They were ethnic Chinese including Jiang, Yi, and Tibetan. But Chinese do not differentiate ethnicity as much as Americans do, we consider all people living on Chinese land are Chinese, we are a family, no matter if you are ethnically Jiang, Yi or Tibetan. We look the same, we were descended from the same ancestors.
So, my point is, like people say, Tibet issue is not an easy one. It does require wisdom and patience and peace in mind. However, the fact that Tibet was, is and will forever be a Chinese region, is undebatable.
That's one thing I like about China. If you're Chinese, then you're Chinese (at least it seems that way. However, maybe I ought to ask not Han Chinese but other ethnicities what they think.)
ReplyDeleteFor me, the Tibet issue is one I don't know much about. I know there is a dispute. I know the Dali Lama is an exile. I know that many people disagree with it. It's a China issue that flows over to Western sensibilities because so many Westerners have explored Eastern religions. Honestly, if that wasn't a pastime of well-off or affluent Westerners, I don't think the Tibet issue would really register that much. That's not to say it isn't important.
To say that a natural disaster was caused because of the Tibet issue is a bone headed thing to say.