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Seduced by the Dalai Lama
He may be a global icon of goodness, as Pico Iyer's biography reminds us. But is the Dalai Lama the political leader Tibet needs?
By Louis Bayard [2008-03-25]

  • Troubles with it all

    I stumbled on a vigil being held for Tibet yesterday in Harvard Square. As I looked at the people, I suddenly realized they were all Tibetan, and singing, I think, Tibetan hymns. There was no media there--odd, to me. Whenever I was involved in that kind of thing, that was very important. I was this white guy, standing on the periphery, and wound up really moved.

    I'm glad you're writing this. Similar questions dawned on me as I read up on the situation afterwards. Wasn't MLK's non-violence about achieving definite ends? But I wish you could have moved beyond your critical pose, and told me about the alternates in Tibet, the missed opportunities, the different paths.

    I'm in the habit of reading a lot of news online. It makes me want answers very badly, but rarely gives them to me. I think I ought to read other stuff. Any ideas?

    I know it annoys grizzled older types, but I'm the classic helpless liberal. I've never figured out what to do with my bedraggled good impulses, and watch something like this, far away but suddenly real to me, at a loss.

    -- thehappychickenwillsmile
    [Read thehappychickenwillsmile's other letters]
    Monday, March 24, 2008 08:35 PM
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