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Yes, but those were actual attacks on someone. These are political statements ending in death of the person making the statement. I doubt those tactics would have been successful if they'd been aimed at stopping people from talking harshly about Yankees or Jews.

Yes, it is true that you really can't stop someone intent on igniting themselves.

Having just finished Sherman's Memoir, he dealt with the problem the same way the Israelis dealt with the problem in Gaza. Or perhaps it's the reverse the Israelis dealt with the problem the way Sherman dealt with the problem in Memphis. You can't dissuade someone from doing something directly, but if they do the undesired action you can make it so painful, short of loss of life, for those left behind that all will attempt to dissuade a perspective participant from taking the undesired action.

The Confederates were firing on Union boats in the Tennessee River. Sherman published notice that for every boat fired upon 10 families would be expelled from Memphis. He also destroyed every farm, home, cornfield, and barn within 15 miles of Memphis. Four more boats were fired upon; he expelled 40 families in response to the additional firings - the firing ceased.

The Israelis similarly, in response to attacks on Israeli patrols in occupied Gaza notified all who lived in Gaza that any further attacks on Israeli patrols would result in the expulsion of Palestinian families from Gaza. The attacks continued, the Israelis expelled entire families; people who had live in that area for generations were expelled. The attacks similarly stopped.

When reading statements from foreign leaders, we always have to keep in mind that the words they use may have different meanings in their country. The word socialism in China has an entirely different meaning from the meaning in Russia, and bears little similarity to the meaning in Europe or the US. As used in this article it means clamping down on the quasi legal free enterprise and business movement and returning everything to state control. It has occurred to me that if this happens and we allow it to continue without some form of sanction against Chinese trade, then the US is essentially admitting that Communism is better at production and distribution of goods than Capitalism. This doesn't seem appropriate to me, and this will certainly be raised internationally if we go along as we have been for the last fifteen years. I don't think this will go much further without some type of sanction though. It will be interesting to see who supports and opposes this sanction and what form it takes.

I'm puzzled as to how you punish people who have killed themselves. I suppose the Chinese can be very repressive towards street gatherings, but grabbing someone doused with gasoline and ready to set themselves on fire really isn't what cops signed up for. Willingness to fight or even die for the state doesn't mean they are willing to suffer third degree burns to try to prevent a determined suicide. Shooting these people would just make matters worse. Punishing their families after they are dead is just going to amplify the martyrdom.

I wonder how many of the top people in the USA, government and business, would be able to withstand a midnight surprise investigation similar to the one Serdyukov had? I doubt many could.

9-Nov-12 World View -- China reacts furiously as Tibetan self-immolations sharply escalate

Putin fires Russia's defense minister, paralyzing the army

** 9-Nov-12 World View -- China reacts furiously as Tibetan self-immolations sharply escalate
** http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi ... 09#e121109



Contents:
China reacts furiously as Tibetan self-immolations sharply escalate
China's Hu Jintao says Socialism will prevail in final speech as president
Putin fires Russia's defense minister, paralyzing the army


Keys:
Generational Dynamics, China, Tibet, self-immolation, Dalai Lama,
Xi Jinping, Xi Zhongxun, Hu Jintao, Communist Revolution,
Vladimir Putin, Anatoly Serdyukov, Viktor Zubkov,
Eugenia Vasilyeva, Russia