Carrying a Torch for Tibet

I have to confess that although I don't care for China's occupation of Tibet, the cause just doesn't motivate me to march. I'm not all that excited about the Olympics in China, either. I have that American malaise: So far from me, So far from my mind.

So, it is with almost-bated breath that I will watch the news this afternoon to see how the Olympic torch run goes in San Francisco. I'm kind of rooting for the underdogs - the Tibetan protesters.

I thought about going down to watch the torch run, but in the end, it just doesn't seem worth the hassle of running the gauntlet of protesters that began assembling this morning. I probably won't even bother watching much of the Olympics later this year, either.

After all of the problems China has foisted on us - lead in children's toys, killer heparin, West Coast air pollution, and Mt. Everest-sized hubris about it all, who can be bothered to watch China brag about itself again?

There is such a thing as playing the bad boy successfully. But Mick Jagger, China ain't, and it never will be.

China so wants us to see the Olympics, see it in its glory, respect it. Power is not glory. The world has seen China and shrugged.

China thinks that it is a star. Instead it is a sad Norma Desmond. It plays to "...all those lovely people out there in the dark." But the audience gave it the go-by when Mao took over. Now it is the world's shop girl.

To paraphrase Joe's advice to Norma, there is nothing wrong with being who you are, unless you are trying to be who you are not. If you want to be a brutal ruler over billions, then be a brutal ruler over millions. Accept and glory in the world's scorn and derision. If you want to be the world's low-end manufacturer, then do so. Just don't get pissy when the world catches you killing people with illegal substitutions in the medicine to make more money.

If you are going to be evil, you can't expect love and respect from the world. You have to accept the consequences from the choices that you have made.

If China wants to trade in its rhinestone tiara for one with real diamonds, it needs to get serious about customer service and product quality. If your goods are shoddy and you refuse to satisfy your customer, well then, other third world countries are just ready and waiting to replace you in your customers' hearts. As quickly as the money came, it can go.

If you try to sweep the Himalayas under your store's carpet, eventually customers will trip on Everest. No one wants to shop in a dimly lit, unkempt shop when there are bright, clean shops around the corner.

So China is a world-sized bummer of a country. We should protest or do something about that. And, you know, I'm gonna get going any day now with doing something. No, really. Maybe.