Mrs. Madville Times heard Scott Simon mention on NPR this morning that the Chinese government is pushing perhaps one and a half million people from their homes just to make room for the Olympics. (And we think we have it bad with eminent domain here at the hands of TransCanada and the DM&E!) Simon says that the folks with a vested interest in the Olympics -- the corporate advertisers, the American President counting on China's continued loans to pay for the Iraq War, etc. -- will tell us that such human rights abuses are simply the price of doing business.
So how about this price of doing business: suppose they throw an Olympics and none of us come? Just leave our TVs off, ignore the Olympics and the propaganda from China and the corporations waiting to cash in.
Some will argue that a viewer boycott or any form of boycott would punish the athletes. The sprinters and swimmers and such have sacrificed and trained their whole lives to reach the Olympics -- why deny them Olympic glory because of someone else's political crimes?
Ah, but the games will happen whether the TV is on or not. Even if no one is watching, the athletes will still gather and compete and win their medals. They will know they have proven themselves the best in the world. A TV boycott hits the folks who matter: the Chinese government, who think they can market themselves as a shiny bastion of progress and civilization, and maybe more potently, the corporate sponsors willing to make a profit on the backs of millions of oppressed Chinese and Tibetans. We're just one household... but we might as well start somewhere.
Let the athletes play. We just won't watch. We can use the extra time getting out running, jumping, and playing ourselves... not to mention looking for those "Made in China" labels and putting them back on the shelf.
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Read more on...
- China's forced evictions,
- China's exploitation of migrant labor,
- China's continued oppression of freedom of religion and thought,
- China's warm-ups for cracking down on dissidents during the Olympics,
- and the complicity of American companies in making sure Chinese citizens never read this blog or any other international source of truth.
The Olympics are supposed to transcend politics. Even if China tries to provide a shiny image, the world knows. The US shouldn't be critical since we partner with China on so many economic fronts. Didn't we invade a country five years ago without provocation? The first time in over 220 years that we were the aggressor. Could the world make a case against us just like they do with China?
ReplyDeleteYes, they could, and you can bet the Chinese will. And yes, sports should transcend politics. But when the Chinese government uses thuggish tactics to clear out thousands of people just to make room for those sports, well, then we have a dilemma.
ReplyDeleteWe can find other ways to deal with the Chinese than to punish our own athletes by refusing to watch them. Why should we hurt ourselves?
ReplyDeleteI suggest we do to the Chinese what they're doing to us: Hack into their computer networks. We can keep smiling all the while, deny everything, assure them that the very idea that we would do such a thing is patently ridiculous -- and we can make sure we end up on the black side of the ledger when all their processors have crashed. Ha, ha!
I remember then US Sen Jim Abdnor recounting how sick he felt at a ceremony for the US Team that wasn't allowed to participate in the Moscow Olympics. He said that watching Randy Lewis of Rapid City be denied the opportunity to be a part of a "goodwill" event he had been training for for years was sickening. Maybe when we mix politics with athletics - we devalue both?
ReplyDelete-Lee Schoenbeck
How can our athletes in good conscience compete in the very places where 1.5 million people have been forcibly removed from their homes?
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting to see the two very different ways the US Government is handling nations which mistreat their citizens. In the case of Iraq, invade the country and install a US friendly government. In China, skip going to a sporting event... Talk about inconsistent.
ReplyDeleteWhy can't the International Olympic Committee move and reschedule the Summer Olympics? Is the world not outraged enough to take such action?
ReplyDeleteActually, Stan, that's not a bad idea... and exactly what these authors call for.
ReplyDeleteErin, I am sympathetic to your feelings about 1.5 Million displaced Chinese, but that is not our problem, it is China's problem, and we're not supporting their travesty simply by allowing our athletes to participate in the Olympics.
ReplyDeleteHow about our millions of displaced citizens who are homeless, jobless, living on reservations in sub-standard conditions? Let's focus on our problems here in the United States and let a communist country evolve into a capitalistic society, which it is quickly becoming.
China and its people are becoming addicted to the money and that alone will bring societal changes the Chinese government can't hold back. The people will eventually win in China and there will be reform.