And I don't remember anyone protesting for the freedom of the former Soviet republics.
[/rant]
Maybe you don't remember because you are 16 and weren't alive then?
Seriously, this thread is out of control.
The arguments I've heard have been;
Sick of looking at "Free Tibet" stickers
Don't like the look of the protesters
Too many protesters/too much focus
Protesters are ignorant
I don't think these arguments need any refutation, although I will say that I wish the media would spend more time on other deserving topics, but hey its the media.
Then there's;
Tibet has always been a part of China
Well, Iraq never recognised Kuwait, Kuwait was trying to destroy Iraq and the US basically gave permission for Iraq to invade. Yet somehow we went to war to fight for the enduring freedom of the Kuwaiti and then Iraqi people.
East Timor was once part of Indonesia, yet Australia sent troops there to protect them while they held a referendum to vote for their independence.
Tibet has its own culture, language, religion and did have their own "Government". They're pretty strong indicators that their desire for independence, their movement for secession, should be given a fair hearing.
And then for some reason, people started talking about;
Hitler and the Nazi's
Well, considering that this thread got revived due to the Olympics, There was a lot of talk about an Olympic boycott when the Nazi party were in power.
Stalin and Russia
Again, there was a boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
And since when does a country/Gov/leader have to be the worst human rights violator or massacre the largest number of people in history in order for people to question their human rights record?
I'm just asking people to look past the disproportionate amount of media attention that Tibet receives, their prejudice against hippies and see the issue for what it is. As much as you guys are right in claiming that its "cool" to love Tibet at the moment, you seem to be oblivious to the fact that there's an equal and opposite effect, and you're part of it.