Dalai Lama is a Marxist

[LANTIRN]

http://content.usatoday.com/communit...rx-communism/1

Usually what we hear from the Dalai Lama is an insistant yet soothing voice for compassion and peace.



So Tsering Namgyal, a journalist based in Minneapolis, was jolted by the Dalai Lama's talk to 150 Chinese students this month at University of Minnesota. Writing at Religion Dispatches, he says:

Midway through the conversation, His Holiness, much to their surprise, told them "as far as socio-political beliefs are concerned, I consider myself a Marxist ... But not a Leninist," he clarified.

After all, China is constantly pressing to legitimize its takeover of Tibet in world opinion. Meanwhile, the Buddhist spiritual leader is the global symbol of Tibetan opposition what they consider the obliteration of their independence and religious culture.

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The Dalai Lama, who withdrew from his political position as head of the Tibetan government in exile earlier this year, is still the face of the cause to most Americans.

When one student asked it this didn't contradict the Dalai Lama's philosophy, he replied:

Marx was not against religion or religious philosophy per se but against religious institutions that were allied, during Marx's time, with the European ruling class. He also provided an interesting anecdote about his experience with Mao. He said that Mao had felt that the Dalai Lama's mind was very logical, implying that Buddhist education and training help sharpens the mind. He said he met with Mao several times, and that once, during a meeting in Beijing, the Chinese leader called him in and announced: "Your mind is scientific!" -- an assessment that was followed by the famous line, "religion is poison."

According to Namgyal, two other speakers pointed out that both Buddhism and Christianity, perhaps riding in with the surge in western-style capitalism in China, are both on the rise there today.


He's continued chatting up on China this week during his 11-day tour of Australia. The Associated Press reports he told a crowd in Mebourne that his enemy was

Not China. Some hard-liner Communists. They really brought a lot of suffering.

[Cannonball996]

Marx's theory was about the evolution of capitalism into communism. that capitalism starts out with everyone somewhat equal, but over time some of those people start to build their business, and take over other businesses and they cycle continues and reach a state where the vast majority of the population find them selves working for those capitalists who control the means of production. eventually capitalism reaches a state people have little control of their country the property and businesses are all owned by a small amount of people, and the government falls to corruption and is no longer effective. eventually the workers having given up their faith in their government, and religion rebel against their society and communist system is the result.

was Marx right? certainly capitalism has gone in that direction, when Marx published his theory most Americans owned their own businesses, today most Americans work for someone else. Marx never anticipated the creation of credit and the middle class, or that a capitalist government would take on social aspects. but then you look at what the banks did in 2008 and the power they hold over the american people and marx's theory makes a little more sense.

Marx's theory has yet to be proven one way or another, capitalism has yet to fail. Lenin and others tried to skip capitalism and force communism onto societies transitioning from monarchies.

[Gargamel]

Marx's theory was about the evolution of capitalism into communism. that capitalism starts out with everyone somewhat equal, but over time some of those people start to build their business, and take over other businesses and they cycle continues and reach a state where the vast majority of the population find them selves working for those capitalists who control the means of production. eventually capitalism reaches a state people have little control of their country the property and businesses are all owned by a small amount of people, and the government falls to corruption and is no longer effective. eventually the workers having given up their faith in their government, and religion rebel against their society and communist system is the result.

was Marx right? certainly capitalism has gone in that direction, when Marx published his theory most Americans owned their own businesses, today most Americans work for someone else. Marx never anticipated the creation of credit and the middle class, or that a capitalist government would take on social aspects. but then you look at what the banks did in 2008 and the power they hold over the american people and marx's theory makes a little more sense.

Marx's theory has yet to be proven one way or another, capitalism has yet to fail. Lenin and others tried to skip capitalism and force communism onto societies transitioning from monarchies.

Capitalism hasn't yet failed... But communism has....

IF communism is the evolution of capitalism, and communism has failed, what does that tell you?

Hell, China thrives on its "free market" zones.... Seems to me Marx's theory is bullshit.

[Broncojohnny]

Marx's theory is bullshit because it ignores the fact that people will always put their own needs first. There is much more corruption in a Communist system than anywhere else and there is a ruling class too.

When someone says they are a "Marxist" what they really mean is that they are a fan of the rosy textbook nature of communism that doesn't exist anywhere except in fantasy. The Lenin and Mao version of communism where millions of people starve to death because of the ruling class is the reality. It has been proven many times before, is being proven today in North Korea and it will be proven yet again in China within our lifetime.

[YALE]

Sounds like he hasn't had to run his own government in exile in a while, much less his own country. Still, big hitter, the Lama.

[LANTIRN]

Marx's theory is bullshit because it ignores the fact that people will always put their own needs first. There is much more corruption in a Communist system than anywhere else and there is a ruling class too.

When someone says they are a "Marxist" what they really mean is that they are a fan of the rosy textbook nature of communism that doesn't exist anywhere except in fantasy. The Lenin and Mao version of communism where millions of people starve to death because of the ruling class is the reality. It has been proven many times before, is being proven today in North Korea and it will be proven yet again in China within our lifetime.

Actually I do not think we will see China fail as a communist state. The free market mandated by Briton when they handed over Hong Kong forced the Chinese to realize that the free market system worked very well. They have since expanded and as mentioned before have "free market zones". These zones are far more successful than the non-free zones and as we have seen have been able to compete and even in some areas overcome the U.S. I don't think China will fall as a failed communist state like the Soviet Union did, or North Korea is about to. China seems to have figured out Capitalism is the best system, and is transitioning to that without admitting it. The Soviets didn't really get that concept fast enough and the result was a broken state that has only recently began recovery. China won't remain a communist state, but they won't fail either as they will transition, whether they want to admit it or not.

Now whether they will also evolve on human rights is doubtful and has yet to be seen.

[Pro88LX]

*Carl Spackler*A looper, you know, a caddy, a looper, a jock. So, I tell them I'm a pro jock, and who do you think they give me? The Dalai Lama, himself. Twelfth son of the Lama. The flowing robes, the grace, bald... striking. So, I'm on the first tee with him. I give him the driver. He hauls off and whacks one - big hitter, the Lama - long, into a ten-thousand foot crevasse, right at the base of this glacier. Do you know what the Lama says? Gunga galunga... gunga, gunga-lagunga. So we finish the eighteenth and he's gonna stiff me. And I say, "Hey, Lama, hey, how about a little something, you know, for the effort, you know." And he says, "Oh, uh, there won't be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness." So I got that goin' for me, which is nice.*Carl Spackler*

[SMEGMA STENCH]

Marx's theory was about the evolution of capitalism into communism. that capitalism starts out with everyone somewhat equal, but over time some of those people start to build their business, and take over other businesses and they cycle continues and reach a state where the vast majority of the population find them selves working for those capitalists who control the means of production. eventually capitalism reaches a state people have little control of their country the property and businesses are all owned by a small amount of people, and the government falls to corruption and is no longer effective. eventually the workers having given up their faith in their government, and religion rebel against their society and communist system is the result.

was Marx right? certainly capitalism has gone in that direction, when Marx published his theory most Americans owned their own businesses, today most Americans work for someone else. Marx never anticipated the creation of credit and the middle class, or that a capitalist government would take on social aspects. but then you look at what the banks did in 2008 and the power they hold over the american people and marx's theory makes a little more sense.

Marx's theory has yet to be proven one way or another, capitalism has yet to fail. Lenin and others tried to skip capitalism and force communism onto societies transitioning from monarchies.

Heh heh. You want to think that people give up on religion when things get bad. That's funny. If that were the case, religion would not exist today, in any form. I like how you always have something to say that goes completely against a glaring reality. Keep in mind I'm not talking about any one religion, rather all of em.

Anyway, I'd still agree with you that captialism if left unchecked, will eventually devolve into communism due to all the reasons you listed. Its happening now, here and in many other countries around the world. Its like a vicious cycle. Captialism is good for a while, then the corruption and greed, and then communism/socialsim. Then a big fall, where nothing is good for anyone, for about 20 years. Then, que capitalism again. Restart the cycle. So how do you break the cycle? Where everyone is happy? Simple. Actually throw the offenders in prison for long term, and no white collar prison either. Throw them in there with the rest of the animals. Enforce the monopoly laws and all those other laws that the elite get to break every day.

Marx's theory gets off to a good start, but then fails because he didn't have sufficient data. He didn't live to see the true effects of communism, which would be the soviet union and n. korea and cuba and all the rest of the pathetic failures. If he had lived to say... 1980, he would likely have changed his mind because he didn't even like the definition of the term "marxism". He said it sucked and it wasn't what he was about. Or something like that but you get the idea.

[Cannonball996]

but the soviet union and china are not marxist forms of communism, remember marx said you have to go through an evolution of the rise and fall of capitalism before you reach communism. the soviets and the chinese skipped a step, capitalism, and forced everyone into communism. you need to go through the processes of the rise and fall of capitalism, because even though capitalism fails it still creates industry and wealth (just that none of that belongs to the people). Russia, China and the others that tried to force communism missed the step that would have created wealth and industry, and were essentially forcing underdeveloped societies from feudalism right into communism.

[YALE]