Tell it to Steven Hawking. A person's physical stature does not limit his/her potential for work that does not rely on his/her physical stature (e.g., English teaching, as well as physics). The cultural attitude that those who are discriminated against because they do not fit the culturally desired norm should be outcast or should be provided for by special environments that can be sold as entertainment venues to those who will not deal with their own prejudices is a cultural attitude that perpetuates discrimination against all who are 'different'. The problem here, as elsewhere, is a matter of dehumanizing those who are 'different' - prejudicial culture that regiments anything that deviates from its standards, rather than dealing with the prejudice itself. Why not have a theme park within which 'foreigners', with all their funny habits, can be kept, so that they do not disturb the 'normality' of cultural prejudices? Actually, there could be many: one for 'black people', one for Tibetans, one for Japanese, one for gay people, one for Han Chinese people who have given up their 'traditional' clothing for 'western-style' clothing (e.g., the great majority of Chinese, over the past century or so) - in fact we could subdivide and subdivide until nothing was left but mutual nonrecognition. All these would help to maintain the narrow identities of 'normality' that can be relied upon to advance support the cultural attitudes that promote the continuing inability of people to recognize each other as human, and to celebrate and accept their differences - not as entertainment items, no matter how 'cute', but as full human beings. How different is all this from apartheid?
This effort to maintain prejudice can, of course, be profitable to those who invest in it, and convenient for social engineers and political elites who want to maintain an elite power status by reliance on it.
The place is an insult to our common humanity and a spotlight on cultural attitudes of exclusion. Those who find that they enjoy such displays should take a good look at the nature of the culture that has formed them so narrowly. Cultures change; cultures have always changed; cultures are presently changing and will continue to do so; there is nothing sacred about cultural attitudes. Our common humanity is an ongoing project, and those who imagine they are not part of such a project are simply contributing their own blindness to it, and limiting themselves in the process. It's not the 'dwarves' who are the problem, its the people who will not accept them as within the boundaries of 'us'.
Daughter of Flying Tiger visits memorial 73 years after father's death
Posted byThe AVG, the original flying Tigers, were a mercenary group of American airmen under the command of Claire Chennault. The AVG was disbanded in July of 1942, but following their disbandment the name was attached to the airmen of the regular US Army Air Corps, who flew out of Kunming, for the most part, until the end of World War II. Some of the original AVG members resented this, but the name pretty much stuck and was used in war propaganda. William Wallace must have been a member of the US Army Air Force (Corps?), to judge by the dates of his participation in the war effort and of his death.
Both the AVG and the air force played very significant parts in providing air cover for ground operations and shooting down Japanese airplanes.
Yunnan to spend 500 billion on roads
Posted byGood, important.
But of course the machine running this operation is still going to be producing increased relative poverty.
Yading Nature Reserve: A hidden gem in southwest China
Posted byLooks & sounds beautiful. I agree with you about the wisdom of a bit more acclimatization.
When Yunnan's Yi dress up as tigers
Posted byPlenty of tigers in Yunnan a century ago, especially down around the borders with Laos & Myanmar.
Spring Festival news: Drugs, fraud and saving the Nujiang
Posted byArticles 1 & 3: capitalism marches on.