Olympic-size crapstorm
Apr. 8th, 2008 11:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
penfield"People are okay in ones and twos, after that they tend to form into groups and wear arm bands."
- George Carlin (American Comedian, polemicist, schadenfreudian)
It has never been my style to protest, boycott or petition. While my job commonly requires me to procedurally engage the media or the government for a redress of grievances, on a personal level I seldom lodge any kind of formal complaint with anyone. I don't even like sending food back in a restaurant.
There are a whole host of reasons why I am reluctant to stick my neck out in this way, not the least of which is a certain laziness. But I have also found that organized protest is (a) rarely well-organized and (b) more often self-aggrandizing than genuinely constructive. I am not persuaded by the immutable cliches of revolt: I don't hate "The Man," I have little interest in "fighting the power," and if someone were to rhetorically ask "what do we want?" my most likely answer would be "a pizza."
But I am not heartless. I am mindful of suffering, moved by charity and abraded by injustice. I will make the occasional statement with my words and my vote and donate my time and my money. And every once in a while a cause comes around that strikes a powefully resonant chord within me.
Just such a cause is, quite literally, coming around. We must snuff out or stop the Olympic torch. Not only must we boycott the opening ceremonies, we should sit out the entire games.
I don't understand how China was awarded the Olympics in the first place. This is a country with an appalling human rights record, abysmal labor conditions, atrocious environmental standards and an asphyxiated political environment.
I am a proponent of free trade with China, not just because I think it is important to our own economy but because I believe that the proliferation of free markets will ultimately foment social and political progress. That does not mean, however, that we should feel obligated to participate in what will essentially be a three-week promotional video for China's tourism bureau. Already the Chinese government has made overtures of controlling of all foreign media; the all-smiles image campaign will make Match.com look like a paragon of truth-in-advertising.
Yes, a total boycott could backfire and heighten diplomatic tension with a nuclear power that is uniquely situated between Pakistan/Afghanistan and North Korea and a sovereign wealth fund controlling more than $200 billion in U.S. assets. It's true, American corporate sponsors would scream bloody murder about the reduced value of their investment without American athletes and the audiences they attract. Okay, some of those athletes have been working hard for four years, dreaming of olympic medals, and it would be a shame to pull the podium out from under them.
Sorry, but tough sh!t. China has just as much reason as the U.S. to worry about neighboring rogue states or entities as we do, and ought to be just as petrified about a collapsing American economy as we are. The corporate investors knew what they were doing when they bought into this freak show, and it sure didn't have anything to do with patriotism. I can sympathize with the athletes, because I know how it feels to have a softball game rained out and never rescheduled. But you know, the Olympics aren't the only show on Earth anymore. There's the Goodwill Games, the Pan-Am Games, the World Championships, etc., all of which seem to be on network television every weekend. It wouldn't kill them to sit this one out for a greater purpose. (And, if what I'm reading about the Beijing air quality is true, it might actually kill them if they show up.)
The humiliation of China might serve as a productive kick in the host nation's collective pants, and it certainly would be viscerally satisfying. But it's not the important thing here. The important thing is to make a statement, a stand for American ideals. And if the world thinks we're just being moralistic and self-righteous, well, they think that anyway. We might as well be self-righteous in the cause of righteousness.
You might think that I'm saying this just because I hate the Olympics -- have always hated the Olympics and will always hate the Olympics. Well, that's true. I have no use for the games themselves or the intense nationalistic pageantry. So I'll be boycotting, no matter what. And if the torch comes through here, I'll do my best to blow it out. (If "here" means nearby my office or apartment, and assuming I don't have to take any vacation time.)
- George Carlin (American Comedian, polemicist, schadenfreudian)
It has never been my style to protest, boycott or petition. While my job commonly requires me to procedurally engage the media or the government for a redress of grievances, on a personal level I seldom lodge any kind of formal complaint with anyone. I don't even like sending food back in a restaurant.
There are a whole host of reasons why I am reluctant to stick my neck out in this way, not the least of which is a certain laziness. But I have also found that organized protest is (a) rarely well-organized and (b) more often self-aggrandizing than genuinely constructive. I am not persuaded by the immutable cliches of revolt: I don't hate "The Man," I have little interest in "fighting the power," and if someone were to rhetorically ask "what do we want?" my most likely answer would be "a pizza."
But I am not heartless. I am mindful of suffering, moved by charity and abraded by injustice. I will make the occasional statement with my words and my vote and donate my time and my money. And every once in a while a cause comes around that strikes a powefully resonant chord within me.
Just such a cause is, quite literally, coming around. We must snuff out or stop the Olympic torch. Not only must we boycott the opening ceremonies, we should sit out the entire games.
I don't understand how China was awarded the Olympics in the first place. This is a country with an appalling human rights record, abysmal labor conditions, atrocious environmental standards and an asphyxiated political environment.
I am a proponent of free trade with China, not just because I think it is important to our own economy but because I believe that the proliferation of free markets will ultimately foment social and political progress. That does not mean, however, that we should feel obligated to participate in what will essentially be a three-week promotional video for China's tourism bureau. Already the Chinese government has made overtures of controlling of all foreign media; the all-smiles image campaign will make Match.com look like a paragon of truth-in-advertising.
Yes, a total boycott could backfire and heighten diplomatic tension with a nuclear power that is uniquely situated between Pakistan/Afghanistan and North Korea and a sovereign wealth fund controlling more than $200 billion in U.S. assets. It's true, American corporate sponsors would scream bloody murder about the reduced value of their investment without American athletes and the audiences they attract. Okay, some of those athletes have been working hard for four years, dreaming of olympic medals, and it would be a shame to pull the podium out from under them.
Sorry, but tough sh!t. China has just as much reason as the U.S. to worry about neighboring rogue states or entities as we do, and ought to be just as petrified about a collapsing American economy as we are. The corporate investors knew what they were doing when they bought into this freak show, and it sure didn't have anything to do with patriotism. I can sympathize with the athletes, because I know how it feels to have a softball game rained out and never rescheduled. But you know, the Olympics aren't the only show on Earth anymore. There's the Goodwill Games, the Pan-Am Games, the World Championships, etc., all of which seem to be on network television every weekend. It wouldn't kill them to sit this one out for a greater purpose. (And, if what I'm reading about the Beijing air quality is true, it might actually kill them if they show up.)
The humiliation of China might serve as a productive kick in the host nation's collective pants, and it certainly would be viscerally satisfying. But it's not the important thing here. The important thing is to make a statement, a stand for American ideals. And if the world thinks we're just being moralistic and self-righteous, well, they think that anyway. We might as well be self-righteous in the cause of righteousness.
You might think that I'm saying this just because I hate the Olympics -- have always hated the Olympics and will always hate the Olympics. Well, that's true. I have no use for the games themselves or the intense nationalistic pageantry. So I'll be boycotting, no matter what. And if the torch comes through here, I'll do my best to blow it out. (If "here" means nearby my office or apartment, and assuming I don't have to take any vacation time.)
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According to the map in today's Washington Post...
Date: 2008-04-09 12:18 am (UTC)But if it did, I'd be right there with you in the boycott. I like the battles you've been picking lately. You don't speak out much, but when you do... I listen.
As Dan Rydell once told Casey McCall: "I don't loot store fronts or anything, but once in a while, when I consider the effort it takes to diligently adhere to a moral compass I take myself out of the lineup and I rest for the next game."
Re: According to the map in today's Washington Post...
Date: 2008-04-09 03:38 pm (UTC)I didn't see the map with the Post story so I didn't realize that San Francisco was the only U.S. stop. So I'll just have to hope that our global brethren find some way to harass, halt or extinguish it.
Incidentally, do you think it is being transported by private jet, or commercially? Is it checked like luggage? Or do they ship it to the next location?
Re: According to the map in today's Washington Post...
Date: 2008-04-09 04:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-04-09 01:18 am (UTC)I also think that there *is* such a thing as *healthy* competition that can inspire and motivate everyone involved, and that the Olympics are surely a better example of that than ... oh, I don't know, the NBA... despite the "nationalistic pageantry." It's probably only the U.S. that can be accused of that, anyway. Most other countries in the world have an honest right to cherish where they come from.
no subject
Date: 2008-04-09 03:57 pm (UTC)As an admitted free-trade advocate and fantasy baseball nut, I must also admit that competition can be healthy. But I don't know what makes the Olympics any better than the NBA (especially since Olympic basketball keeps importing NBA players). The inspiration is borne of the athletes themselves, not the venue.
I think that Americans have an honest right to cherish where they come from, too. (As long as they are not Black, Latino, muslim, gay or Dane Cook.) I think it's cool to represent one's own country, and cool to root for one's own country.
Nationalistic pageantry has its place. Celebrating cultural differences can be a very nice thing, when it's not corrupted by commercial interests, political posturing or competitive animosity.
Insofar as the Olympic games are thus tainted, I find them hypocritical, garish and tiresome.