2008 Olympics - NO!!!

a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.

and tell me if the government has all control then you have no rights correct?

 

I agree. And all free people have the right to boycott.

Wow, that just makes me all warm and fuzzy about China.

 

I agree too ^^^^

 

list of countries that we should boycott it to

USA
UK
Germany
Italy
Japan
Spain
Korea
Colombia...

basically more than half the globe....
so what stopped you from boycotting before?

 

Poland officially do boycott Olympics. Yes we should boycott many things. Our awareness is rising but there is still so much work do be done that we may not make it on time. You know what I mean.

 

I travelled in Tibet a few years ago on a government tour (the only way to get an Tibetan entry permit at the time.) When I left there and went further in "China proper" I was often asked by Chinese people where I had been in the past. When I mentioned that Id been to Tibet, I almost uniformly got the same response, which was: "Tibet is a beautiful place and the people are so nice, but the Tibetan people are lazy and ingrateful and wont show their thanks to the Chinese government for the help we have given them in developing their province."

Now, that's a pretty disgusting and misguided thing to say - although, ironically enough, it pretty much parrallels a lot of Australian's responses regarding our aboriginal people - but the thing is, it's a fairly widely held belief. Thanks to the Chinese education system and their propaganda on Tibet, the bulk of Han Chinese believe that the Chinese government is trying to help the Tibetan people AND they believe that the western world is: a.) Trying to de-stabilise China by interfering in an "internal issue" and b.) Is using Tibet as a bargaining chip to hold China's economic development back because they're scared of China's economy.

It's for these reasons that I dont support a boycott of the olympics. Everytime the west makes a big deal about Tibet (Ie Boycotts & Sanctions), it serves as another piece of propaganda that the Chinese authorities use to paint the western world as wanting to interfere in Chinese affairs. To me, it's classic wedge politics that the Chinese government are trying to use: They're trying to tell their people "You cant trust the west, and they dont like us, so you should stick with our government and not with them."

I see that as becoming counter productive to the goal of better conditions for the Tibetan people (I doubt Ill be alive when Tibet becomes a free country). Isolating the people of China simple makes them an easier target for the Chinese propaganda machine.

So, personally, I believe the olympics should continue, and the people who visit and compete should do so, with thoughts of Tibet in the back of their mind, and they should use their opportunities to talk to the people of China, and explain the Tibetan situation to them, face to face, friend to friend.

But, in the end, Im not going to sit here and try and convince anyone to NOT boycott the games. It seems we're all striving for pretty much the same thing, just going about it in different ways.

 

Boycotting the Olympics is yet another way for Westerners to feel good about themselves as morally superior while at the same time contributing nothing to anyone.
China has made huge improvements in its human rights in the past 20 years, if you stop watching fox news and spend some time in China you can experience it for yourself.
20 years ago Chinese people couldn't travel freely in their country , choose their occupation freely, choose their university major (if they even got to one), open a business or access World news. They had no access to technology and health services and didn't even know about pollution and the environment. 20 years ago there was absolutely no criticism of the government , while today many editorials in Chinese newspapers (espcially in the South) openly criticize the government. Chinese people can freely travel and many have access to very subversive information (remember they can go to Hong Kong whenever they want where they can get anti -Chinese propaganda in a language they understand, starting this year they can go to Taiwan as well.)
It took the West a long time to reach the current level of human rights and China shouldn't be expected to achieve the same thing in just 20 years (the clock started ticking in the 90 with Deng Xiaoping's open door policy)

"but I have the right to boycott" righteous Westerners claim, What will be the results of such boycott ? First China's economy will suffer ,many people will lose their jobs (and in China losing your job is a very serious matter, not like in the West when loosing your job means you can't go on consuming as many luxury items as before), society will be a mess, the West will (rightfully) be blamed, China will close up, less information and less communication , more nationalism and militarism , less human rights. Great . indeed a worthy cause. We really showed them didn't we . Nothing like the great Christian West to make the world a better place,

 

Communist ideology is the best way how to turn out happy slaves. Brain wash. Someone has to stop it !! Its CRIME.

 

"Useful idots"
-Lenin
"If our country would be a road i would be small happy car driving it"
-Typical communist brainwashed student

No offense to communists capitalists do it too

 

China is not a communist country

 

Yep,
Chin sure isn't communistic.
But who said i was talking about china?

 

Perhaps in theory it isn't communist, but in practice it's hard to call it anything else.

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/china/ccp.htm

 

It's not communist because they practice a free economy ,while in communism the government controls the economy.
There is not a single communist principal evident in Chinese society
They don't even get free health care in most places. I would say that Britain is more communist than China
The only reason they keep the name (though they refer to the country as socialist led by the communist party) is because of the Chinese concept of 'face' -that is they find it hard to admit their mistakes.
Don't forget that they are officially following the Deng Xiaoping philosophy part of which says 'getting rich is glorious' . Not very Marxist to say the least

 

Well you may not be a communist country in theory but your government is lead by the communist party in your country.

I for one have turned off the Today Show, which I used to be a viewer of for decades, but since they choose to broadcast from the Chinese Olympic Stadium, I'll find my news elsewhere. I don't think our cyclists should have to apologized for wearing masks. Having just gone through almost two months of smoke in California from fires that may have been caused by China playing with weather patterns, if I was an athlete with the air quality I see protrayed in Bejiing I'd wear a mask as well.

 

Well they are almost over and I don't feel I've missed out on anything. Tallying who won how many medals doesn't mean much to me.

 

I believe clever_username had been China indeed as a Chinese, because he tell out what is the Chinese ppl's thinking and the situation of China
you are a very good man, you want to free some ppl, to let ppl do what they really want, by the way, have you communicated with any Tibetan?
what are their opinion of their status or Chinese goverment

but on the other hand, I want to say not all the people or most ppl are not as kind, as pure as you r. some ppl just engaged in making profit for themself or their ppl but not liberating any ppl.
why we can always find the influence of America in many area of the world especially in Middle Eest?

imagine Tibet were independent and Dali lama became the leader
will America sell weapons to Tibetan? will a new American military base locat on Tibet just like others in Japan, Korea, Indonesia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Uzbekistan? who lose who gain, so clear, does American goverment really consider anything about non-Americans?

at end, does any offical agency or people or country doubt about the belonging of Tibet before 2008? all or almost has acknowledged Tibet is part of China just look up the maps shown on TV, as common Chinese ppl,
I just want to pretect of most important treasure of every human----land--our territory

 

no ,land is not important
life is important
have you ever read 论语?