Sho Fukamachi Online

With the recent trouble in Tibet, I was reminded of this excellent 1999 article from The Atlantic, which influenced me greatly on the issue, prompted me to research such matters independently rather than relying on oversimplified and biased accounts from activists and/or governments, and provided yet another good lesson on how things are never as simple as they might seem.

On the subject of the youtube ban – with so many people so utterly ignorant of the Tibet situation, yet happy to protest anyway (FREE TIBET!) – who can blame the Chinese government for wanting to restrict media they believe will further inflame misinformed tension? Personally, I believe in near-total free speech – I don’t know anyone more hardcore about it, in fact. But it’s pretty easy to see the other side of the coin, too – I have never met a “FREE TIBET” type who knew even the most basic facts about the situation, but that’s never stopped them.

The debate between an assumption of a rational, informed, curious and self-educating population (who should be granted access to all speech, of all type, always) and an ignorant, uninformed, incurious population who believe whatever crap they hear (for whom a rational case can certainly be made to censor unhelpful or misleading information) is far from black and white. I have my beliefs, axiomatic to my broader political opinion, and I won’t back down from them – but I can easily understand how others reach different conclusions about the informational trustworthiness of the public.