We should boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics
I’ve been laughing it up in recent days over news reports that the Olympic torch relays are being disrupted in city after city in protest against China’s poor human rights record, and in particular, their recent crackdown in Tibet. That last bit even inspired climbers to put up gigantic banners on the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco — a city the torch relay hasn’t even been to yet.
Of course, I’ve been enjoying all of this because China really does have a horrible history of human rights abuses, and getting egg all over their face by disrupting their attempted public relations coup really is effective. Human rights are more important than some silly sporting event, and if the latter can serve as a vehicle for drawing attention to the former, I’m all for it.
And now calls are rising for a boycott of the opening ceremonies at the Olympics (that article is a tad old, but calls for a boycott have only grown stronger in the interim). I think it’s a good idea. China needs the Olympics a lot more than the rest of the world does. The Olympics are a critical public relations ploy by Communist China, serving to promote them as having joined the rest of the civilized world (which they haven’t). Its greatest propaganda value would be with its own citizens. By denying the abusive government of China the honor of an unstained Olympics, we can hopefully effect real change in China.
Of course, boycotting just the opening ceremonies doesn’t go far enough. I’d like to see full boycotts of the entire Olympics. That’s unlikely to happen, but imagine how embarrassed China would be if it did.
April 8th, 2008 at 10:54
I think it would be a shame to boycott the entire Olympics because I don’t know how that would directly affect China’s Human Rights policy. I think we should let the athletes play and protest harder. If anything seeing protestors as a backdrop to the games would be more memorable than avoiding the games altogether. I believe it would actually increase the coverage of dissent.
P.S. I hope this doesn’t become a thread-jacking but can someone give me a primer on Tibet (or maybe a few good links)? I know the basics but I feel like it is something I could be more well versed in.
April 8th, 2008 at 17:48
The thing is, the athletes cannot protest. The Olympics are entirely apolitical. Not only are they completely excluded from the games if they so much as think of protesting (and of course medals are stripped if they protest after they win an event), keep in mind which country it is. China doesn’t exactly put up with protesters (remember Tiananmen Square?). The Chinese government is really pissed off by the protests along the Olympic torch route right now that they cannot control. They wouldn’t allow anything like it in China. So boycotting the games are really the only way of protesting it. You can’t go and take part while simultaneously protesting.
For more background on Tibet, well, Wikipedia is always knowledgeable. See these articles for starters: Tibet, Human rights in China, Central Tibetan Administration, International Tibet Independence Movement, and Nangpa La shootings.
April 13th, 2008 at 14:14
Does this thing allow img tags…?
April 13th, 2008 at 14:15
Apparently not. Links, perhaps.
Stupid boycott.
April 14th, 2008 at 20:26
It’s an incredibly rare blog that allows commenters to post images. The potential for abuse (of many different sorts) is simply way too high.
Plus, I wouldn’t want to be hotlinking off anyone’s site. At the minimum you’d have to upload the picture along with your comment.
April 14th, 2008 at 23:08
Yeah, well, the preview worked so I gave it a shot.
You’re supposed to comment on the image itself, though, not on any issues with posting it. It makes a very good point — if you’re going to boycott China, actually boycott them instead of just saying whatever because it’s cool to say it.
April 15th, 2008 at 00:11
There are many things one can do to fight a perceived injustice. Spreading awareness is one. Refusing to contribute financially is another. Ideally one should be doing both, but doing at least one versus none at all is beneficial. Accusing someone of saying things only “because it’s cool to say it” is harsh, especially when they are saying it because they truly believe it (unless you actually think I support China’s policies). I’m not exactly one to follow whichever way the wind blows.
To answer your question more directly, I do make efforts in my life to avoid buying Chinese goods. This has two main causes. One, my family has a strong history of unionism. My grandfather ran the largest automotive union in Michigan (by far the most important automotive producing state) for many years. So we really don’t appreciate countries that treat their workers poorly. And two, I prefer quality goods over cheaply produced crap that will wear out quickly. For instance, I buy all of my tools from American manufacturers, and so far they look like they’re going to last forever, saving money in the long run. By contrast, I’ve seen Chinese-made multitool screwdrivers that are so wobbly they don’t even work right when you first buy them, let alone in many decades. I’m not the most diehard Chinese boycotter in that I do not feel compelled to always do without a product when there are no non-Chinese-produced alternatives (like, say, a Guitar Hero peripheral), but I know that I do more than most.
April 15th, 2008 at 04:44
You make a good argument, as usual, but I didn’t mean YOU in particular, just the average person who doesn’t know anything about anything. That’s the problem with saying stuff in the second-person. :P
April 15th, 2008 at 20:06
Really, the moral of your example is more “buy quality” than “don’t buy Chinese.” Quality control is important, no matter what the source. Remember how American-built cars were piles of junk for a few decades before overseas companies brought their QC and design methods to American factories. The Chinese (although it’s more often the Taiwanese) do make some really good-quality stuff amongst all the junk. Buying for quality rather than price will certainly decrease the proportion of your money going to China, though.
I’ve found this to be especially true in clothing, and have picked up some English-made stuff that I’ve been really happy with lately.
April 17th, 2008 at 00:57
In response to drinian: I’ve found I get great quality stuff by buying clothing designed for the military. It’s cheap because of the volume it’s produced in, and all of it holds up great, in addition to moving nicely and having decent pockets. The newer ACU gear is a lot better than I thought it would be, given the quantity of Velcro involved. If you haven’t bought yourself at least an ACU top, I would highly recommend it. BDU.com has decent prices on such things, though USCavalry is always a good idea, too.