Is anyone else pissed that people actually want to boycott the Olympics? I understand that they want to stand up for Tibet, but hell, think about the athletes that have trained to hard to get there. I have been seeing more and more articles about people trying to protest and boycott, but they do not understand how hard the people have trained to get to Beijing and how much they sacrificed.
The abuse received by Tibet dealt by China has happened to other countrys, but where were those protests? Just because something high profile comes along, the people automatically believe in their own cause. If it weren’t for the Olympics, 80% of the population wouldn’t care or know about Tibets fight with China. But yet, they still want to destroy the dreams of the athletes attending.
I remember when they boycotted the Russian Olympics. A lot of dreams were destroyed back then. If I remember correctly it was over the security of the athletes, or so they said.
The Olympics are not a political sport lol. It is a celebration of athletes and a testing ground for new and improved drugs.
[quote]streamline wrote:
I remember when they boycotted the Russian Olympics. A lot of dreams were destroyed back then. If I remember correctly it was over the security of the athletes, or so they said.
The Olympics are not a political sport lol. It is a celebration of athletes and a testing ground for new and improved drugs.[/quote]
The Moscow olympics were boycotted because the USSR invaded Asscrackistan.
Perhaps the Olympics are supposed to transcend politics, but they don’t.
I for one am happy that people around the world are protesting China. It is an indication that their PR machine didn’t work.
Tibet is just the symbolic center piece of the cruelty of the Chinese government. The examples of which are just to many to list.[/quote]
I definitely agree with you there. There are a lot of reasons not to hold the Olympics in Beijing, but I don’t think Tibet even cracks my top 10, although some of what they’ve done there, such as imprisoning dissenters, is a problem throughout China.
[quote]ElbowStrike wrote:
But yet, they still want to destroy the dreams of the athletes attending.
Ahh, yes. Because the Olympic Dreams of free people are more important than the life and liberty of the oppressed.
So sorry for “ruining” some athlete’s dreams by not watching them on TV.[/quote]
America doesn’t exactly have a pristine human rights record either. I mean, hell, we invaded a sovereign nation and overthrew its government without provocation or even a declaration of war. Why the hell aren’t people boycotting the Super Bowl or the World Series?
[quote]Wimpy wrote:
America doesn’t exactly have a pristine human rights record either.[/quote]
America and China are hardly comparable when it comes to human rights abuses, but yes America’s record is not pristine.
But to equate them is like saying getting some shit on your shoe is the same as getting covered head to foot in liquid manure.
Apparently the US has been officially at war with Iraq since some “Liberation of Iraq” bill passed by Clinton during the Lewinsky scandal. Hence the constant air strikes in the “no fly zone” and such we’d constantly hear about in World News.
Because those are American sports played between American teams in America. Most people outside the USA don’t watch them anyway, so boycott? Why?
The Olympics are watched by the entire world and have international political significance. When the Olympics are in your country, “the world is watching”.
The Super Bowl offers what internationally? Entertaining half-time commercials. Half the viewership WITHIN America only tune in for the half-time show, so a boycott of the Super Bowl or World Series would be bad strategy.
Again, hardly comparable.
I’m still shocked and disgusted that people are crying “think of the athletes” when an entire nation of people are being systematically ethnically diluted for integration into the world’s last remaining Communist superpower.
I was just saying that people should still think about the politics involved, but stopping the olympics is pointless anyways. That won’t do anything, and China knows that, the USA knows that, and the rest of the world knows that. So why protest against the Olympics and boycott them?
Because it’s an opportunity to point the spotlight of the world’s attention on the China/Tibet situation and firmly implant it in everyone’s heads that – oh by the way, this is still happening.
It’s a PR/awareness move for the Free Tibet movement. It’s a good fight, so I’ll be helping 'em fight it.
[quote]ukrainian wrote:
I was just saying that people should still think about the politics involved, but stopping the olympics is pointless anyways. That won’t do anything, and China knows that, the USA knows that, and the rest of the world knows that. So why protest against the Olympics and boycott them?[/quote]
I see the Chinese PR machine hasn’t totally failed.
[quote]ElbowStrike wrote:
But yet, they still want to destroy the dreams of the athletes attending.
Ahh, yes. Because the Olympic Dreams of free people are more important than the life and liberty of the oppressed.
So sorry for “ruining” some athlete’s dreams by not watching them on TV.[/quote]
but those athletes trained sooooo hard.
besides, china’s human rights record isn’t THAT bad, right? i mean, its not like china news is censored from even reporting that there are protests going on right now.
[quote]ukrainian wrote:
The abuse received by Tibet dealt by China has happened to other countrys, but where were those protests? Just because something high profile comes along, the people automatically believe in their own cause. If it weren’t for the Olympics, 80% of the population wouldn’t care or know about Tibets fight with China. But yet, they still want to destroy the dreams of the athletes attending.[/quote]
those other countries weren’t handed the honor of hosting an Olympic games. that is the point… sure, other countries have worse records then china, and sure, there arn’t any mass protests against them at the moment… but, those countries haven’t been given the honor of hosting the Olympic games. people are not just using the Olympics as a chance to bitch and whine about china, they are also bitching and whining that china GOT the games at all.
Past records or present actions, what’s more important?
I’ll say being the last “communist superpoweer” is more of a problem, and yes this is a good time for the world to get clue about the few danger China WILL pose to the world. When it feels its ready.
Most of what I read is organizations pressuring government leaders to not boycott the games, not actually pressuring entire COUNTRIES to boycott the games
Although I’m sure there are a few exceptions.
I think it’s good that there are protests. I think people need to be vocal about China’s poor human rights records. I think China needs to hear that people across the world think they’re a shitty country.
And I’m pretty sure that every country that can attend, will, and that’ll be good too. The appropriate censure of china should come from the NGO’s.
If the IOC actually developed some moral fibre and testicular fortitude,they would not have given the games to a city within a country that is a bit of a human rights wasteland.
But of course they are a bunch of money grabbing whores,who in reality couldn’t give a shit about any Olympic ideals or the improvement of the lot of one fith of the world’s population.
Actually,comparing them to whores is an insult to the world’s oldest profession,my apologies to them.
The IOC are lower than shark shit in the ocean.