Several years ago, China invaded and annexed the tiny mountain country of Tibet. Since then, China has tried to make Tibet into just another region of China. But while Tibet was not militarily strong, they have a vast spiritual strength, and they have resisted the loss of their national identity.But about a week ago, peaceful protests by Tibetans became violent riots in the country when China tried to crack down on them. In an effort to re-establish control, the Chinese have now issued "shoot-to-kill" orders to their troops.
The situation in Tibet is not good. Now some are even saying the United States should boycott the summer Olympics, which are to be held in China this year. The boycott would be to protest the Chinese actions in Tibet.
I think this would be a mistake. The United States tried this kind of protest before. We boycotted the 1980 Olympics held in Moscow. The only thing that boycott accomplished was to deny our athletes an opportunity they had been working toward for four years.
We should not repeat this mistake. An Olympics only comes around once every four years, and we should not punish our athletes in a futile political gesture. It will be the only time many of them get to compete in such an important venue.
I also think it goes against what the Olympic ideal is supposed to be. It is not supposed to be where nations fight over political differences, but where they come together peacefully to cooperate and compete regardless of the political differences. A boycott would be a violation of that lofty ideal.
I'm also not sure if any other country would follow our lead this time. After eavesdropping on our own citizens, jailing 10% of our male black population and one percent of our total population, continuing our use of capital punishment, torturing of prisoners of war, and starting an unnecessary war and bloody occupation of a country that was no threat to us, I'm not at all sure we have sufficient moral stature to lead such an effort.
I doubt if Bush will take any kind of action. After all, Tibet has no oil. But whatever happens, an Olympic boycott would be a mistake and should not be done under any circumstances.
I'm not saying I necessarily disagree with you, but I wonder if you've considered the example of the 1936 Olympics.
ReplyDeleteDidn't Jesse Owens and the American team score a victory for freedom? Wasn't Hitler's "master race" nonsense exposed as the ridiculous sham that it was?
ReplyDeleteAll of that's true, but didn't Hitler also start World War II just three years later?
ReplyDeleteWe'll never know if a boycott of the '36 Olympics would have been enough of an embarrassment to Hitler to forestall Nazi expansionism, just as we'll never know if the Soviet Union would have continued beyond Afghanistan if we hadn't boycotted the '80 Olympics.
I'm no great fan of boycotts: It's doubtful whether the boycott of South Africa hastened the dismantling of apartheid. We've boycotted Cuba for nearly half a century, but Castro only stepped down because he was too sick to continue. Even the National Organization of Women's boycott of Florida orange juice in protest of Rush Limbaugh doing an advertisement for it was an abysmal failure.
Occasionally, boycotts do work. Case in point is the Birmingham bus boycott in the mid-50's, which brought about integration of the city buses.
But sometimes, despite their ineffectiveness, boycotts are a way of putting the world on notice that we're not just goin' along to get along. Whether this is an appropriate time for such a statement is debatable.
Hitler would have started that war whether we went to the Olympics or not.
ReplyDeleteThe Soviet Union left Afghanistan for the same reason we left Vietnam - they could not win it. The only thing the 1980 boycott did was punish our own athletes.
Let's not repeat old mistakes.
Hmm. now this is interesting.
ReplyDeleteBut, we can't boycott China, for two main reasons. 1. They are the only reason our dollar isnt completely worthless yet. We really shouldn't piss off our biggest loan bank. 2. America has no moral ground whatsoever to be boycotting anyone with the actions of our govt-
China should be boycotted. And, America too, by countries that don't use torture, start wars,etc. Until the global repercussions of murderous actions outweigh the immoral actions of both our governments. I'm not too worried about losing the wee benefits of the commercial exercise that is the Olympics.
And Curious Texan- Boycotting Cuba, although it didn't rid us of Fidel, destroyed their economy irreparably. Several European nations are now working towards boycotts and sanctions against Israel, since the U.S. blocks any United Nations acts. I firmly believe that such a boycott would bring the Israeli warhawks to peace faster than anything else. Hit them in the pocketbook and with global ridicule. Just think how much damage Bush is doing to America as a result of America surpassing the Soviets as the World's biggest bad guy. It isn't helping our economy, thats for sure.
ReplyDeleteI recently blogged on this myself and I hope something can be done to bring change... Too many people / nations are interested in profit over people.
ReplyDeleteBut to mention only Bush, shows a greater interest in your political agenda than the people being tortured. To use this to score political points is sad indeed.