Newsletter 24/10/2023

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Living Earth Movement for International Cooperation On Climate Solutions Particularly Between the U.S. and China

Would you like to attend a meeting on a very important topic that is not only informative for you and supportive of others, but also in itself making a difference?

We agree with U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders that hope for the future depends on cooperation between the United States and China. The direction pushed by American policies recently have increased the possibility of a war that the world might not survive. There have been times when relations seemed to move somewhat in a positive direction.

Sadly, for some time now American policy seems built on treating China as the No. 1 enemy. If the United States will not consider a world governed by a community of nations, and if China will not permanently subordinate itself to the United States, it is hard to foresee a livable future for our descendants.

I am suffering from the physical and mental deterioration decline of old age and keep considering"retiring." But there are so many Americans and so many Chinese who would like for the world's two most powerful (and also most polluting) nations to work together to preserve a livable planet, and there is so little activity working to build on their readiness, that I feel called to keep trying.

I hope you do too. And that you care enough to set aside the time this Thursday afternoon to be informed, to support like minded people, and to actually contribute toward the goal of a mutual understanding that encourages cooperation..

The vast majority of Americans take for granted that their thinking and feeling about China as a threat is based on facts. In fact it is based on propaganda that is selective about the facts it reports and often fudges on them. If this is countered only by what is thought to be Chinese propaganda, Americans will increasingly want our nation to restrain China not to cooperate with it.

Our major project has been to write papers on topics that are usually treated in the United States in a way to arouse feelings against China. We think China, like all nations, makes mistakes and has goals that put China first above global interests. But we think that if we open ourselves to all the facts, we will see that China is a nation with whom cooperation on such matters as global warming is possible. The Chinese do not want an unlivable planet, and their actions have certainly been no worse than ours. If we treat them as companions on a wonderful planet that we are both seriously wounding, there is a chance for needed changes to occur.

Our papers are intended to show this on a variety of controversial topics. You are asked to help us make them as accurate as possible, believing that the truth is on our side and not on the side of the propaganda of a nation that declares China its greatest enemy. Also, as important as being accurate is being convincing. The initial Understanding China Papers we will discuss include:

Chinese vs American Ways of Thinking
China’s Ecological Civilization
Economic Hitmen American and Chinese
The Two Mountain Theory

Please help us. Your help has a chance of also helping to save the world.

John Cobb

Understanding China Program Papers & Dialogues

Thursday October 26th, 1:00 -2:30 pm PDT
Zoom Link: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86819756431
Meeting ID: 868 1975 6431

Background Of the Understanding China Papers

Once the controllers of American foreign policy decided that China was our Number 1 enemy, the information we received about China was unlikely to be completely fair and neutral. Since the enmity is military as well as economic and cultural, our government wants us to support it in acting against China on all those ways. Hence the information we receive is presented in such a way as to encourage us to think badly about China. Many Americans have no ready access to any other information about China.

We have wanted to offer an alternative. What are the facts? How does China look if we do not read about it as our enemy? Can we understand Chinese actions? To understand may or may or may not be to approve, but it is to locate actions in a common world and not demonize the actors. They act out of a different culture and historical experience. If we understand them, then when we need to do so, we can work with them. Our goal is to encourage cooperation on global issues for our own sake and for the sake of life on Earth.

We hope you will find our papers generally accurate and fair. Most of all, we hope that you will share our opposition to war with China and not allow American propaganda to make us psychologically acceptant of war. The Chinese see matters differently from Americans. They seek to advance the wellbeing and power of China and thereby they threaten the unilateral control of the world by the United States.

They make their share of mistakes, but they are human beings, like us, who will work with us to solve the planet’s problems if approached as such. Of course, our little group also makes mistakes and formulates facts in unfair ways. Sometimes, no doubt, in seeking to be fair to China we may be unfair to the United States. We apologize and ask your help to distort less.

On some topics, our group knows that it is not currently able to judge the facts reliably. In such instances, a different approach is possible. American propaganda may be confronted by Chinese propaganda. We will make no claim to adjudicate. But it is good for Americans to know how the Chinese understand what has happened as well as American propaganda on these topics.

In our own efforts to understand, we have encountered interpretations that are quite new to us. We have no way of judging them, but we think we have a better chance of acting responsibly when we know how the Chinese understand what has happened. Accordingly, to the papers above that represent our opinions, we add this one explicitly presented as what we have elsewhere explained to be Chinese propaganda. We think we are accurately presenting Chinese propaganda to supplement the American propaganda that dominates the American media.

We think Americans will find helpful and interesting the Chinese under-standing of China’s takeover of Tibet, what happened at Tiananmen square, the tensions between Hong Kong and China, and Chinese policy about the Uyghurs interesting. We think that the Chinese understanding of these matters is accurate. We make no pretense to have the information needed to judge the correctness of the understanding.

John Cobb

The recent China Town Hall we partnered with the National Committee on U.S. China Relations to coproduce featuring U.S. Ambassador to China Nicholas Burns validated the timeliness and significance of our Living Earth Movement programs. We will provide details in a special report next month.

In the meantime, please help us share information about our programs that are designed to help Americans better understand Chinese people, culture, and governance with anyone who may be interested.

Please also support our nonprofit organization with your time, energy, and donations by credit or debit card via Donor Box, mail us a check, or donate stock via Stock Donator.Feel free to contact me anytime I may be of any possible assistance at 760-212-9931 or charlesbetterton@gmail.com. Thank you for your participation and support!