Family Planning, Chinese Style
China’s one-child policy is frequently framed as an economic and social imperative, implemented not wilfully, but rather as a necessity. Those favoring this argument often fail to acknowledge that the supposed necessity of state-sanctioned birth control came after decades of Mao Zedong dictating that the population give birth to hordes of children, so they could prop up the numbers of the People’s Liberations Army (PLA) and contribute to the country’s labor drive. The wombs of Chinese women have thus been the property of the state from the time the Communist Party came to power.
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Is all racism created equal, or is some racism more equal than others?
There’s no surer gauge of the depth and breadth of someone’s stupidity than the potency of his racism. The science on this has been settled for some time; we are all, if traced back far enough, evolved from bacteria. But, paradoxically, the equivocalness of this has a tendency to prevent any serious examination of racism. Liberals (small-l, that is) often condemn anything and everything that could be construed as being racist, without honestly confronting their own prejudices. Conservatives, on the other hand, often cry ‘political correctness gone mad,’ without acknowledging how hollow and meaningless such a retort is and, seemingly, ambivalent to claims of offence from minorities.
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We need to talk about radicalisation
PM Tony Abbott blames the Muslim community for not doing enough to curb radicalisation, but until the West confronts its role in the process nothing will change, writes Tim Robertson.
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East Turkestan’s Uyghurs: The Wrong Minority, With The Wrong Faith, In The Wrong Place, At The Wrong Time
China’s rate of economic growth is unlike anything the world has ever seen and, with the United States in decline, there will likely come a time in the not too distant future when China is – as America’s been since the Second World War – the world’s singularly dominant power. Thus, a question that inevitably looms large is: Will China become an expansionist and neo-colonial power and what form may this take?
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Beyond Cricket
Cricket has been embraced by both sides of the political divide, but the greatest book ever written on the subject was authored by a man of the hard left, the late great Trinidadian Marxist writer and historian C.L.R. James. Beyond a Boundary is a memoir that entwines James’ love of cricket with his life’s political struggles and learning.
read moreInterview with Flashpoints Radio about Tibetan self-immolations
Here's an interview I did with Flashpoints Radio is the United States about the recent wave of Tibetan self-immolations. The interview begins at around 36 mins.
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