The economic struggle in the United States is clearly visible and other strong Western countries are also struggling financially. What worries me about this is not only the internal issues that could arise from this but the external affairs that could be affected.
It is a scary feeling, having economic strains within a household. But an Op-Ed article I read in the New York Times, brought a more frightening possibility to mind: that economic struggles could greatly affect a countries standing on moral issues. This specific article, Did Britain Just Sell Tibet? written by Robert Barnett, describes Great Britain’s change in opinion about the freedom of Tibet based on economic issues.
The troubles in Tibet have been greatly publicized, and Britain has always sided with and supported the idea that Tibet is independent of China. Due to economic struggles, Britain, along with many strong Western countries, has turned to China for money. In return for this help, Britain has announced their change in opinion concerning Tibet’s independence, they now believe Tibet is part of China.
This change in opinion is very disheartening. The idea that opinions can be bought or sold scares me very much. I am upset that Britain has changed their brave, public stance on Tibet to receive money from China. I can’t help but wonder what else can be bought, sold, or traded between countries. I just can’t believe Britain would go so far as to trade freedom.
1 comment:
This is crazy, it is scary that the economy is becoming so bad that people would go as far as selling someone else's freedom. Britain should be ashamed of their decision. You should not be able to put a price tag on such value as support. This is embarrassing, and shows that our economy needs to get better, ASAP!
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