Boycott the Olympics !

They don't get a choice in where the games are held, obviously boycotting the Olympics which is supposed to be one time every 4 years where the world can stop hating each other just a little bit vs maybe doing something about the fact like 9/10 of our textile goods come from there, or we just took said country off the list of worst human rights abusers

 

Exactly, you have a voice in the what you spend your money on. And what I am promoting is not spending another cent on anything connected to the Olympics in Beijing.

I wouldn't invest in a company I didn't agree with just to possibly have some sort of voice, they aren't going to let you speak out their meetings. But if you stop buying their products, they lose those dollars.

 

Someone on the telly the other day came up with a great idea for this. At the opening ceremony the athletes, instead of carrying their own flags, should carry the flag of Tibet. There would be fuck all the Chinese government could do about it, and it would be a huge embarasment for them.

 

Mc loudfart have you looked into the face of a Tibetan? They ARE Chinese.

 

What are you talking about, they are Tibetan you belligerent oaf. And yes I have looked into the faces of many Tibetans, in McLeodGanj in India where I stayed for 6 weeks several years ago as it happens. Go there and say that to them, I bet they will laugh at you, and then probably try to find some kind of forgiveness for your ignorance.

I knew a half chinese half british man whilst I was there who lived there for 5 years and he became one of the Dalai Lamas students.

The political history of that region means diddly squat, what is important is the will of the people who live there. They donot want Chinese capitalism polluting and corrupting their spiritual land, and neither does the rest of the world.

 

You can bet all suitcases will be searched and anything Tibetan will be consificated. So how they could pull this off would be questiionable.

 

Don't the Tibetans take part in the olympics?

Actually that is probably a stupid question.

 

Not this time around.

http://www.phayul.com/news/article....lympics+to+Protest+Killings+in+Tibet&id=19791

 

We might as well not buy into our own then. We infringe on human rights.

It sucks that the people of Tibet have been given a raw deal.

I've seen some American indian tribes near where I live prosper. I've also personally witnessed the Havasu tribe in Arizona, who were forced to inhabit the burial grounds of their dead, when they once sustained themselves by habitating different parts of the canyon that were advantagious to their survival. Somehow we decided we owned it, so we took away their farm land, their way of life, their purpose. In the name of "progress." Now they look like dead people, broken spirited, hollow, with nothing to live for, we took it away. They were given a raw deal as well.

The Chinese have done the same to the people of Tibet, but, because the Dalai Lama is in exile, everyone is up in arms about it, yet there are so many other people in the world who are also oppressed that no one even thinks about. I'm sure this is an unhip stance to take on the subject, but I don't care, think about it.

The only answer is freedom for all, and we as Americans aren't necessarily the best roll models...

Peace,

 

For my part I say let's not mix sports with politics. So no, I don't support an olympic boycott.

We boycotted the olympics in Russia in 1980 because of the invasion of Afghanistan, and they in turn boycotted the L.A. olympics in 1984. Nothing substantial was accomplished from either.

An olympic boycott would be an empty gesture when we continue to import China's products en masse.

 

I say let's boycott all things made in China. Perhaps our pets wouldn't be poisoned, and our children provided lead laced toys then.

And I do think the boycotts made a difference. I am sure there was financial impact. Why should sports be held above the political fray, when everything else is on the table?

And let's not forget:

http://www.cbc.ca/sports/indepth/feature-boycotts-countries.html

What's good for the goose should be good for the gander!

 

Is it possible that our hostility toward China is merely a projection of our own problems?

 

Boycotting the Olympics is like pissing in the wind.
If you really want to do something try not shopping at Walmart and buying China made products at other retailers. Take a second to read a label before you buy...

 

It's more than a boycott, it is a plea for the people of Tibet to have their freedom back. Give them their country back and then I will support the olympics. OK I wont watch it, I find sports in particular athletics about as interesting as watching lager go flat, but I will stop telling China to fuck off.

 

Oh this is ridiculous... I completely understand the reasons behind the boycott, but not only is it going to be more or less ineffective, but it's stupid to take something that is supposed to bring international unity and mix it in with petty politics. The olympics are supposed to be about the sport and the atheletes...

 

It's about more than sports and atheletes, you just spelled it out. It's supposed to bring international unity. How can people that are for that stand back and condone the murder of smaller states by larger ones. Or for that matter ignore human rights abuses. But then we tend to ignore and excuse the doping of the athletes so why not.

 

Damnit... i had a whole big thing written and i clicked some button and now it's all gone. Basically in a nutshell... whatever way you look at it, your efforts are probably going to end up being in vain, because atheletes and other people have put years and years into this event; and even if you could stop or delay the olympics, is that fair to the people who worked so hard to put it on? It's a once in a lifetime chance to compete, and it's not like the atheletes are the people involved in the politics. I don't think that's fair.


In no way am I saying that what the Chinese Government is doing is excusable, or that it should be ignored; but there is always more than one way to get what you want, and boycotting the 2008 Olympics is both inneffective and absurd, and you'd be hurting other people in the process.

 

We are not trying to stop the Olympics, we are trying to stop China from oppressing the people of Tibet, AND the people of China.

 

Weren't the thousands of people that were displaced for this glorious event hurt? But their lives are less important that a group of advertisers and doping athletes? To stand by and not do anything, because it might effect a small interest group is not a good enough reason to support the Chinese government.