I used to love the Olympics, almost unconditionally. I was not crushed by the Ben Johnson scandal, even though I was a young boy when a schoolyard playmate broke the news of his cheating to me. It was just one bad apple, I reasoned. Over the years it’s become increasingly apparent that there are a lot of bad apples involved in sports, and the Olympics are no exception.
Spielberg has put his foot down, and has withdrawn from the Beijing Olympics this Summer, citing the Darfur genocide (of which China is complicit) as the reason. Of all countries in the world, China has the best ability to punish the killers (on both sides) of the Darfur conflict. They can levy financial punishments, and stop the arms trade to the troubled African region.
Particularly baffling/amusing is one online Chinese comment about Spielberg having never spoken up about the troubles of the world before. I’m guessing that person has never heard of this black and white movie about a genocide just a generation ago. Those Chinese censors, did they allow Schindler’s List to be shown? I’d doubt it, but don’t know where to check.
I see sport as having the ability to bring different countries together in a peaceful competition where culture is shared. It can do a lot of good. The unfortunate thing is that the people in charge of the Olympics don’t see sport in that way, and see it as a business instead. It’s blatantly apparent when looking at the official website, or listening to members of the IOC speak.
It’s troubling that something that I enjoyed so much as a youth, is now tainted so badly in my mind. Yet that’s to be expected when one grows up. The innocent eyes of kids don’t easily see the corruption of adults.
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Zhu | 01-Mar-08 at 10:57 am | Permalink
It annoys me that people blame China for not respecting human rights etc. Sure, China has its own issues and is not a model. Yet, who sold opium to Chinese a century ago (answer: the English). Who invaded China? (answer: Japan, France, England, Germany, Russia…). Who is currently at war with half of the world? (USA, anyone?)
So… The Olympics are in Beijing, Take it or leave it. And please, shut up about your “don’t slaughter dogs” campaign. Seriously.
Nothing against you, just random rant ;-)
Saskboy | 02-Mar-08 at 12:33 am | Permalink
Why does it annoy you though? It may be a touch hypocritical, yet China undeniably has a poor record on human rights, and is actively supporting genocide in Darfur as I write this. Our hypocrisy doesn’t excuse them.
I’ve never heard about an anti dog-slaughter campaign, it is something of PETA’s? They can go suck an egg, frankly.
Mé | 02-Mar-08 at 5:50 am | Permalink
I’m not keen on the Olympics anymore. It’s not about the celebration of the athlete. but the celebration of the sponsors. I still believe that the Olympics are being held in Beijing because China is a growing market for consumerism. Had the 2008 Olympics been held in Toronto, the sponsors would not be able to peddle their wares on North Americans who already have the latest consumer gadgets. Even when I look at the Vancouver 2010 mascots, they look like Japanese mangie mangas seeking to convert the East Asians to the religion of consumerism.
Since it is kind of difficult to boycott China, I plan to boycott the sponsors of the Beijing Olympics during the month of August. It’s hard to say if it will be a 100% boycott. I’ll try for a 90% boycott. If possible, I won’t do business with McDonald’s, Staples, Coca-Cola, Snickers, Adidas, and Johnson & Johnson to name a few businesses or products. There are others.
Link to list of Beijing Olympic sponsors:
http://en.beijing2008.cn/bocog/sponsors/sponsors/
pale | 02-Mar-08 at 10:22 am | Permalink
Hate to burst that bubble even further.
The Olympics are a regularily scheduled human rights disaster. China isn’t remotely the first.
http://www.acreativerevolution.ca/node/509
Pssssssssst. Vancouver is hosting 2010 and the evictions and fabrication of laws against the resulting homeless are already right on target. They are looking to create more, as a matter of fact.
http://www.acreativerevolution.ca/node/733
A Vancouver Activist blog:
http://davideby.blogspot.com/
Then add the environmental damage……
Zhu | 02-Mar-08 at 12:50 pm | Permalink
I guess it annoys me because I selfishly think I know China better than most Westerner ;-)
Alright. I studied Chinese for about 13 years (half of that full time at uni.), lived there, studied there, worked there. And although I don’t approve of some Chinese politics, I think we can’t judge the country from a West point of view.
The only child policy for example. Lots of Western women find it extremely oppressive. I agree to a certain extend. China wasn’t able to deal with the huge demographic increase at one point, so a decision had to be make. That’s it. Is it the best? Probably not. But there weren’t any other way to deal with the demography.
I of course believe in human rights. That said, tan Californian people who have their little “free Tibet” sticker and go demonstration in NY bug me. What do they know about Tibet? The Chinese government did some bad stuffs over there but the story is much more complicated than that.
Basically, I think it’s a way to rule the world. We set the standard and other countries have to follow them.
Not sure if I express myself well (most of my friend say I’ve been brainwash by the Chinese :lol:) but I don’t think we should lecture other countries on what they are supposed to do/ not to do. I don’t support the war in Irak — yet, I’m still okay with the US…
Saskboy | 02-Mar-08 at 2:36 pm | Permalink
Thanks for the links ‘Me’ and Pale.
Zhu, “brainwashed” probably isn’t the right term, but overly sympathetic to a culture of genocide, may be. We unfortunately have a culture like that in parts of Canada and our law, left over from the 19th Century and beyond. Pale pointed out how we are looking to make new law to “sweep away” Canadians who don’t have homes. In the context of Canadian (and western) human rights, Chinese culture is an abomination to human dignity and life.
Sure, it’s another way to live. We don’t have a lot of moral ground to stand on while pointing fingers at them. Yet the Olympics were supposed to be about celebrating the birth of democracy in Greece, and that message just can’t be carried very well under the weight of evictions and incarcerations of the poor.
Bloggers should write about the problems of the Olympics as much as possible. And when the games come, we should write about the athletes and not their sponsors. And when VANOC and the other Olympic committees send us threatening letters, we should remove our work, replace it with the letters we got and tell people that we were censored by the __ Olympic committee and their sponsors.
Zhu | 02-Mar-08 at 6:40 pm | Permalink
Once again, not arguing, just discussing ;-)
I’m totally open to criticism (of my ideas and of China!). Yet I think Western medias tend to be very biased. We all are. I’m prob. biased in a way. Yet I wish people would see the other side of the story.
Chinese culture an abomination to human dignity and life? Er… hello? Been to China? The country has its issues and I’m sure there are a lot of unhappy people around (please don’t get me started on Falungong) but the last dynasty (basically feudalism) was abolished in 1911. How about giving some time? Haven’t we made mistake as well? The country has always been an easy target… Culture of genocide? It’s an extremely strong accusation.
We had our industrial revolution and damaged the environment. No one was here to tell us what to do. Now China is having its own industrial revolution and here we are bitching about the environment. Not saying it’s good. But who are we to judge??
Yes China is a potential market. Trust me, I’m not a huge believer of Capitalism but I’d rather see people educated and starting their own business than slaving for other countries… what China has been doing for years.
Boycotting the Olympics? What good is that gonna do? How long have American boycotting Cuba for? Still doing it, I know.
What would you like China to be? Us, but better? I wish too. But unfortunately, Chinese are only humans.
Once again, nothing personal, just my opinion ;-)
If you’re interested in Chinese history, have a look at a post I wrote a while ago:
http://correresmidestino.com/see-china-right-in-front-of-you/
Saskboy | 06-Mar-08 at 9:09 am | Permalink
There’s a point not too far off where North America will have to rebuild its manufacturing capabilities.
I’ve not been to China, but I don’t have to be to know that their support of the government in Sudan is going to kill millions of people.
Abandoned Stuff by Saskboy » Blog Archive » Olympic Sized Boycott | 18-Mar-08 at 12:40 pm | Permalink
[...] put life before games. It’s our fault that athletes have put their lives into games that we did not keep pure. But the Olympics are now more about sponsorship and “partners” than they are about the [...]