A friend of mine - a former Olympic hopeful - posted something on her private blog about this issue that intrigued me.
Sure, China sucks. China sucks for a lot of things. "That said, the Olympics are not about the host country. It is about the athletes," my friend said. "Many athletes train much of their lives for this event. In some sports this will be the ONLY CHANCE they get. 4 years later is just too long. If you're competing at 22, by 26 you're washed up."
I think that's a pretty good point.
I was pretty appalled at first that the games were being held in China this year too, but then again, what am I going to do? Half of the chintzy knick-knacks all over my house are from China. I just took a quick inventory of the things around me. I'm in my computer room, so most of the things in here were made in China. (Except for my mouse and keyboard, which were made in Malaysia, probably at the hands of a 5-year-old or an impoverished woefully underpaid woman.) My protests would be completely worthless, considering I'm one of the people funding the country, thus contributing to the numerous human rights violations of which China is undeniably guilty.
I did turn it around a bit for Christmas though. 99% of the presents I bought were made in America, and most of them were locally made. Now, I didn't do that with a protest in mind, I just wanted to support local businesses.
What do you think hurts China more? Taking away its funding, like I did a tiny bit over Christmas, or robbing a wheelchair-bound man of the immense honor of holding the Olympic torch during a leg of the relay in Paris?
Rethink protests, people. One last quote from my friend: "This appears to be a drama grab at the expense of those who are acting in the spirit of world wide unity, peace, hope and great dedication." Don't protest China by punishing the athletes. Protest China by not buying your kid a crappy toy made there.
My friend's post really made me rethink this issue. Not that I was doing much protesting to begin with, but I will feel slightly better about watching the games this summer.
10 comments:
Absolutely true!!!
Amen Sista! (About everything you said) We have been trying really hard to curb purchases from China this year--(after just about everything we owned last year was RECALLED!) (Talk about pissing me off--I was definitely in protest mode then, Honey, let me tell you!!)
You know, so many people choose forms of protest that are easy on them--without thinking through the ENTIRE issue. So often I find that if I look at an issue from every angle, I'm not sure what I think about it any more. Tough stuff.
I do sometimes suspect the Chinese are trying to kill us by putting lead in all our toys (kidding--mostly).
1. We didn't go to Moscow in 1980.
2. An athlete who spends his (or her) whole life training for one event in which he (or she) may or may not be able to compete has his (or her) priorities out of line.
3. Even if he's in a wheelchair, he's still French, and therefore deserves no honor.
Penn and Teller have a show on Showtime called BullSh*t. They did a whole episode on "Free Tibet" and about how most people don't really know how Tibet was before China started controlling it. Apparently, and I still need to do some research, Tibet wasn't all the great of a place for anyone other than monks. So China's control of it isn't that much different, it's just that the monks are no longer in power and are not happy about that.
I think the protesters out here in the Bay Area were a bit much, but it's the Bay Area, the protesters are ALWAYS a bit much. I felt really bad for families that wanted to take their kids to see the torch run by but couldn't because the course kept getting moved. I don't even want to think about how many tax dollars were spent on this whole situation.
And I think you are exactly correct about boycotting products made in China. Way more effective than boycotting the Olympics.
Problem with Made in the USA: that label can be applied to objects made in the Mariana Islands, where work conditions are far more deplorable than most imagine. We're talking people forced to live in unsanitary conditions in shacks behind barbed wire and work 12 or more hours a day, 7 days a week for about $2 or $3 per hour (if that). I wish I could buy Made in the USA and be certain it was made in Nebraska or Pennsylvania or something. Maybe "Made in Louisiana, Cher" labels?
As for the Olympics, I'm waffling. Part of me says boycott. Part of me says go and rub it in China's face like we did in Nazi Germany. Kick their asses on their own home turf.
As for Penn and Teller, they're "facts" are often complete Bullshit! and an insult to science. They've already had to publicly correct a couple of their pieces. I used to like them. Now, I wouldn't watch their crap if you tied me to a chair with my eyes forced open.
OOOh and Tibet. Did you know that China is so opposed to religious freedom for Tibet that they passed a law making it illegal to reincarnate without government permission? Trust me, as imperfect as Tibet was, China is FAR worse.
Melinda Barton said...
"OOOh and Tibet. Did you know that China is so opposed to religious freedom for Tibet that they passed a law making it illegal to reincarnate without government permission? Trust me, as imperfect as Tibet was, China is FAR worse."
I agree with Melinda. There's a big difference between....
Wait a minute. I agree with Melinda??? That's even weirder than me agreeing with Stacey. That can't be right.
(...)
(...)
(...)
No, it's right. I actually agree with her.
Stacey, write this down.
Jesusthroughmary: "I agree with Melinda. There's a big difference between....
Wait a minute. I agree with Melinda???"
Bwahahahahaha! My plan is working! First JTM, then the world!
You gotta love the fact that the protesters show they're against torturing innocent people by busting up in the torch run and beating up an innocent person.
Yeah, OK, I get it.
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