It was the statement that caused all the pearls to be clutched – when Chamath Palihapitiya, part owner of the Golden State Warriors, said he didn’t really care about the genocide the Chinese communists are committing against its Uyghur Muslim population. The Pavlovian virtue signaling reflex kicked in, from almost everyone, about how outrageous such a statement was. Then everyone who made it went right back to not giving a damn about the Uyghurs, just without saying it.
First, what did Palihapitiya say? “Nobody cares about what’s happening to the Uyghurs, okay. You bring it up because you care and I think it’s nice that you care. The rest of us don’t care. I’m just telling you a very hard, ugly truth. Of all the things that I care about, yes, it is below my line.” He said it on a podcast while having a discussion with some left-wing guy who kept citing Eleanor Roosevelt.
I don’t even care enough to look into whether or not he was a guest on the podcast or one of the hosts, it doesn’t matter. What he said was true for him and, with very rare exception, everyone else too.
Think about it, and be honest with yourself – have you changed anything about your life, in any way, because of what the evil Chinese communists are doing to the Uyghurs? Not because they started the pandemic and lied about it, or just because they’re evil communists who oppress their people and threaten the world, but specifically for their treatment of the Uyghurs. I’m betting it’s nothing.
I’ll be honest, in my life I’ve done nothing. I’ve tweeted about it a few times, at least I think I have, but in terms of using it as a weapon against some leftist or an account tied to the commie government. Otherwise, I haven’t done anything. I don’t buy Nike products anyway, and I’m not going to stop buying Apple products. I don’t know what else I buy that comes from China, probably some, but I’m not buying new TVs or whatever, so there’s not a lot I could do. Still, I probably wouldn’t.
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It has nothing to do with who is being oppressed, what they look like, or their religion, it’s geography, mostly. I don’t support genocide and despise communists, but what am I supposed to do – spend my life being miserable because someone else is suffering? There is always someone else suffering, through luck of birth we were born in the greatest country in the world; most people born aren’t as lucky, I get that. But if people’s happiness were dependent upon the good behavior of the species, we’d all be miserable constantly.
Still, that simple fact hasn’t stopped the virtue signaling brigade from coming out in full-force. Why? When was the last time the NBA spoke out against any of China's oppression? Hell, aside from Enes Canter Freedom, is there another person associated with the NBA who’d say anything critical of China?
Lord knows there’s enough – the threatening of Taiwan, the suppression of Hong Kong, the pandemic and disappearing the scientists who pointed out the government’s culpability. There is no more evil government on the planet. But what are we supposed to do about it?
Our leaders sold out this country long ago. China was given most favored nation trading status, they were welcomed into the World Trade Organization. You name the mistake when it comes to containing communism and the free world made it, in spades. Should we really be shocked when totalitarian jackasses act like totalitarian jackasses? Or when communists go after religious groups? Progressives in this country would love nothing more than replacing religion with government, China is just a few small steps ahead of them.
China is dining out on the world’s indifference. But I don’t mean indifference in a negative way, per se. You can’t care about everything, or even most things, you never really see with your own eyes or are not directly impacted by. The genocide against the Uyghurs is horrible, but it hasn’t made a difference in your life in any way. It’s not cold to admit that, it’s just true.
As everyone, including Palihapitiya, scrambles to distance themselves from what he said, it’d be better to be honest. What China is doing is horrible, but it hasn’t impacted your life at all. If you cared, you’d sell Nike stock, not buy their products, and actively try to discourage others from buying it. Not because they use Uyghur labor, but because at the very least, they likely use forced labor.
But you don’t, nor should you unless you are actually compelled to by your conscience. It doesn’t make you a bad person. When tragedy befalls the American people, do you really think the rest of the world is losing sleep over it? No. They might feel bad, but then they move on. It’s human nature.
So you aren’t a bad person for not being consumed by the Uyghur genocide, but you kind of are if you pretend to be and do nothing about it beyond demanding the world acknowledge you care.
Derek Hunter is the host of a free daily podcast (subscribe!), host of a daily radio show on WCBM in Maryland, and author of the book, Outrage, INC., which exposes how liberals use fear and hatred to manipulate the masses. Follow him on Twitter at @DerekAHunter.
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