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'.
Kunming scientist works to change world with perennial rice
Posted byNow THAT would be something!
Report: Communally owned forests hold key to healthier China re-greening
Posted byNote practical functional adaptation to forest regrowth and re-use of land for agriculture practiced by slash-&-burn (swidden) mountain groups before their territories were restricted, which required re-use of same land in much shorter periods - and they knew, through their cultural history, that this wouldn't work, and said so - but of course the explosion of the human population made continuation of these traditional long-period of regrowth practices impossible. Now they are blamed for being ignorant and ruining mountain slopes (in China, Thailand, many places).
Fact is, there are simply too many people.
Interview: Brian Eyler on Baihetan, China's second largest dam
Posted byAnd note the comment about owners making money simply out of selling stock.
Human efficiency is an interesting concept.
Interview: Brian Eyler on Baihetan, China's second largest dam
Posted byAnd forget about air conditioning in a city where it's never needed.
Interview: Brian Eyler on Baihetan, China's second largest dam
Posted byThe Curmudgeon says: Maybe the Western dam experts criticisms of just about every dam in Asia are right.
In vis-a-vis arguments concerning fossil-based, nuclear and hydroelectric sources of energy, perhaps the shining truth behind them all is simply that this particular species of animal consumes too much damn energy for the good of the planet, including that of our particular species. Perhaps solar, tidal, etc. development will prove me wrong. In the meantime, walk, get a bicycle or ride the bus. Healthier and less socially divisive too.