reflections

On Wednesday we took a trip to the International Spy Museum. While this was certainly very cool and informative, for me the real highlight of the day was seeing the Dalai Lama speak. It's not every day that you get a chance to see one of the world's great religious leaders and Nobel Peace prize winners address such a large and diverse crowd. To be honest I did not know much about the problem in Tibet before this past week, just the bare bones of the issue. However, after watching a film on the conflict for one of my classes, reading up and going to see the Dalai Lama, I realize just how big of an issue it really is. Unfortunately we seem to have a very short attention span, not just here, but throughout the globe. It was not that long ago that Tibet was a huge issue, but now we have all but forgotten. This past Monday my professor for Views from the third World asked who thought they had a real grasp on the situation and only a couple seniors raised their hands, they were the only ones old enough to remember when it was actually on the news, when we actually cared. Something the Dalai Lama said struck me, he said that United States support of Tibet had been unwavering. He said this even though we removed all support in favor of stronger economic ties with China, even though we are funding their suffering through the grape vine. Maybe when he looks at the United States he sees more than just the fickle support received from our government, maybe he sees the individuals that keep the struggles and hardships of the Tibetan people in mind even when our government and media seem to have stopped caring. Not every American has to have a short attention span. Darfur was on the news constantly not that long ago, but now coverage is a lot more sparse. The same goes for every huge global humanitarian issue. We care for awhile, forget, hear about it again and think that the problem has returned when really it never stopped.
Even with the fickleness of the media and government towards these issues it was reassuring to see that the US did not cave into China's wish for us to cancel the event. Though the repercussions will be slim to none even with things carried out as planned it is at least a comfort to know that we cannot be that easily made to go back on our word. Perhaps that can serve as a sign that their may still be hope for the good reputation and honest word of the US government in the future.