The Dali Lama is in Ann Arbor this weekend and I urge everyone to take advantage of this once in a lifetime opportunity.
The Dalai Lama at Crisler Arena from the Free Press
 Let me make it clear that I don’t intend this post to pass any judgment on the political situation in Tibet.  I’ve always sympathized with the Tibetan cause, but without any reason other than sinophobia.  However in a recent phone call with my girlfriend, she passed along her Chinese-born father’s advice that the Dalai Lama was “full of shit,” “the world’s biggest liar,” and the leader of a slave-state.  I was further informed that my former admiration for the Buddhist leader was based on a systematically biased Western media.  I’m not sure he’s factually correct, but I’ve had a soft-spot for him ever since he (though a Republican and a staunch opponent of the Chinese government) told me Chinese state television was like Fox News in Mandarin.  My point instead is that whatever one thinks of Dalai Lama, he is the spiritual leader of tens or hundreds of millions of people.  In the same week that the media is incessant in its fawning over the Pope’s visit to the United States, we would do best not to forget that we have, right here in Ann Arbor, a man who, loosely speaking, is Benedict’s equivalent for Tibetan Buddhists worldwide.  And yes, maybe this is just bitterness over the fact that I lost my tickets in my disgustingly dirty dorm room
Your girlfriend’s dad’s opinion is probably pretty biased, but his point of view-and the point of view of the groups of protesters outside Crisler this weekend-are too often attacked by the same people arguing for peace and justice. When I was walking in, the attitude towards the protesters seemed downright violent-one woman even started yelling at them. China’s human rights record is awful, especially in Tibet. Some of the things the protesters were saying, however, have some truth behind them. Tibet’s economic situation and its people’s standard of living has increased since the Chinese takeover. The takeover was far from fair, and it’s probably true that Tibetan culture is suffering under the strain of the influx of people from mainland China, but I feel like riots and violent protest can only hurt the people of Tibet in the long run, rather than help them. People in the US and elsewhere who demand a free Tibet don’t always know the trouble that it could bring-poverty, unrest, and a reversal of the prosperity Tibet has seen recently.