[Vision2020] In Praise of Asian Monarchs: Past and Present

[Ted Moffett]

Professor Gier knows more about the world than I ever will... However, I
could not help but consider that waiting till "the Trump nightmare is
over," as Gier phrased it, could be a wait long past the 2016 general
election, even if Trump loses.  If Trump wins, stronger wording than
"nightmare" will be mandated to describe the outcome.

Trump is sometimes lauded by his supporters for being direct speaking,
non-politically correct, off-the-cuff, not a calculated insincere
politician.  However, this is itself a media generated fabrication from a
reality TV show promoting businessman who makes money off branding the
glitzy Trump rich powerful fantasy.  Trump is duping the public with a
managed image of not being a cynical dishonest professional politician, as
he manipulates media more than willing to be in on the scam as they rake in
the advertising dollars from the ratings bonanza Trumps outrageous behavior
generates.

My point is simple: Trump will continue a major role in the media, in some
capacity.  "The Trump nightmare" will not be over past the 2016 election,
win or lose, because he is highly profitable for a profit driven media,
with tens of millions of followers.  We will be subjected to more nonsense
post Nov. 8 2016 similar to the Obama birther garbage the irresponsible US
media wasted bandwidth on... It is easy to predict Trump continuing attacks
against H. Clinton post election that will receive massive media exposure,
with Clinton in the White House.

Fundamentally, Trump is not the problem.  The profit driven sound bite
infotainment media that masquerades as professional journalism is the
problem, or a large part of the problem, that has allowed a man like Trump
to be on the verge of leading the most powerful nation on Earth, coupled
with a money driven political system (publically funded elections,
anyone?)

And of course, Trump is granted power by a public who eagerly follows his
antics,
If people simply tuned Trump out, on TVs, cell phones, computers etc. these
profit driven forms of media would cease granting him huge media exposure.
---------------------------------------
Vision2020 Post: Ted Moffett


On Thu, Oct 27, 2016 at 10:04 AM, Nicholas Gier <ngier006 at gmail.com> wrote:

Good Morning Wild-Eyed Visionaries:
>
> I will continue to boycott the national election until the Trump nightmare
> is over.  I'm following Michelle Obama's advise of going high when they are
> going low.
>
> nfg
>
> *In Praise of Asian Monarchs: Past and Present*
>
> Nick Gier, The Palouse Pundit
>
> In late May, 1992, against the advice of the State Department, I travelled
> to Thailand for a two-week visit. On May 17, an estimated 200,000 Thais
> gathered in Bangkok to protest the rule of Gen. Suchinda Kraprayoon
> <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suchinda_Kraprayoon>. He called out his
> troops, and thanks to U. S.-supplied M-16 rifles, 52 protesters were
> killed and hundreds more wounded.
>
> Just after I landed at the Bangkok airport, I learned that King Bhumibol
> Adulyadej had met with Suchinda and opposition leader Chamlong Srimuang,
> and the general agreed to give up power.
>
> For 70 years the Thai people had adored King Bhumibol as a Bodhisattva, a
> “Being of Enlightenment.”  He died on October 1, and millions of Thais
> openly grieved the loss of their great monarch.
>
> Sitting above the tumult of Thai politics (12 successful military coups
> since 1932), King Bhumibol had always been able to bring the various
> factions together. Over the decades he gained the respect of his people by
> traveling among them and seeing to their needs.
>
> Sadly, the military has once again taken over, but this time the king made
> the mistake of siding with one side in the power struggle.  The Thais loved
> him so much that they were willing to forgive him. Now their main concern
> is that Crown Prince Maha Vajralongkorn, a playboy thrice married, is seen
> by many unfit to rule.
>
>   The Shah dynasty of Nepal had ruled since 1768 and was highly respected.
> When I visited there in 1992, I saw thousands of Nepalis standing in line
> to receive a personal blessing from King Birendra.
>
> On June 1, 2001, King Birendra and nine members of the royal family were
> gunned down by Crown Prince Dipendra. Gyanendra, the surviving younger
> brother, ascended to the throne, and his first act was to suspend the
> Parliament and shut down the press.  A massive Gandhi-style movement forced
> Gyanendra to back down, and in 2008 the monarchy was abolished.
>
> The small Himalayan state of Bhutan used to be ruled by a violent and
> corrupt Buddhist ruler, a position equivalent to Tibet’s Dalai Lama. In
> 1907, at the urging of the British, Bhutan welcomed its first king, Ugyen
> Wangchuck, and he founded one of history’s most enlightened monarchies.
>
> When I traveled to Bhutan in 1999, Harvard educated Jigme Wangchuck was
> celebrating his Silver Jubilee, confirming the tradition of righteous
> Dharma Kings.
>
> The Bhutan is a poor country but its people have universal education and
> health care. They like to say that their goal is not Gross National
> Product, but Gross National Happiness, which I experienced first-hand as I
> toured the country.
>
> Acting as a beneficent philosopher king, Jigme Wangchuck banned plastic
> bags and the import of highly polluting motorcycle taxis from India. He has
> decreed that timber exports would cease, and the result is that, in
> contrast to neighboring Nepal, the Bhutanese landscape is verdant and
> unblemished.  Taking seriously the Buddhist belief that the Himalayas are
> mountain goddesses, the king banned mountaineering while allowing trekking
> in the foothills.
>
>  For a thousand years Burmese kings successfully ruled the most
> ethnically diverse country in Asia. In the late 19th Century the British
> took over the country, and they brought in missionaries, Indian civil
> servants, and Muslim immigrant workers. Centuries of religious harmony
> between Buddhist and Muslims was undermined, and now militant Buddhist
> monks are leading attacks on Muslims.
>
> In 1706 the Sixth Dalai Lama resigned and died under mysterious
> circumstances. One of the current Dalai Lama’s most amazing confessions is
> that Tibet, from that time forward, would have been better governed by
> kings rather than high lamas such as himself.
>
> I’m left wondering if the Dalai Lama really means, even given the less
> than stellar performance of his predecessors, that it was best not to have
> had his enlightened leadership in the world.
>
> Nick Gier taught religion and philosophy at the University of Idaho for 31
> years.
>
> A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they
> shall never sit in.
>
> -Greek proverb
>
> “Enlightenment is man’s emergence from his self-imposed immaturity.
> Immaturity is the inability to use one’s understanding without guidance
> from another. This immaturity is self- imposed when its cause lies not in
> lack of understanding, but in lack of resolve and courage to use it without
> guidance from another. Sapere Aude! ‘Have courage to use your own
> understand-ing!—that is the motto of enlightenment.
>
> --Immanuel Kant
>
>
>
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