The impermanent structure I've been meaning to photograph is gone.  I noticed it for the first time in April, and just never had my camera with me.  So today, I grabbed my camera and took the hike up the little mountain to this impermanent structure.

And it was gone.

The reason I took this hike to take this picture was because, scribbled on a beam in black sharpie, were the words "Free Tibet."  These two words made me wonder: is that the best we can do?  At best, it reminded those who saw it of China's irresponsible human rights stance.  Perhaps it reminded people of other human rights abuses elsewhere; Guantanamo, for example.  At worst, its a small act of vandalism that expresses a perceived helplessness against problems facing my generation.  Its a way of saying, "I don't want the world to be this way, but I have a sharpie."

The Olympics in China still took place.  Tibet is still not free.  And no one who walked by it became anymore 'aware' than they already were.

So maybe we should ask ourselves, is this the best our generation can do about this and other issues?  Petty acts of vandalism and small acts of violence, like throwing a shoe?  These acts have real consequences - Journalist Muntadar al-Zaidi could face seven years in prison because of the way he choose to express his political ideas.

So, in looking for other ways to create the change we want to see - what strengths do we have?  (like technology, as consumers, with more NGOs in the world than ever before).  How can we use these strengths?  What are our challenges? (like, the problems are large and complex, we like to by cheap stuff) and how do we overcome them?

Scribbling "Free Tibet" on a temporary structure is neither enough, nor the right way.  What do we need to do to step it up?