Don’t Boycott
This is ridiculous.
Someone over at Slate decided, in the midst of all the angst in Asia at the moment, that it would be a great idea to boycott the Olympic Games in Beijing. Several countries are even considering the idea.
Their reasoning is that because of the huge number of people it’ll affect, it’s perfectly fine to turn an international event of athletics and global camaraderie into nothing more than politics.
As if we didn’t have enough of that already.
Peaceful demonstrations at the Olympics have occurred in the past. And they’ve proven quite effective. But boycott? Boycott? After the Chinese have spent years preparing their capital city for this huge event, after the government has spent billions of dollars on what many have called Beijing’s debut to the national stage, after athletes have spent their entire lifetime training for possibly the defining moment of their careers – we’re going to stand there saying, “We don’t like what’s going on right now, so let’s not go to the Olympics. Maybe that will send the message loud and clear.”
Yeah, it’ll send the message loud and clear.
It’ll also put a lot of money – and not just Chinese money - to waste. It’ll also tell world-class athletes that their efforts won’t matter because of our viewpoints on an issue that doesn’t even have anything to do with their sport. And it’ll also hurt every major country on the face of the earth because guess what? China is touted as the next superpower on the planet. And throwing their hospitality in their face just when they’re offering it to everyone in the world is not. a good. idea. Does the U.S. think that, with our economy as prosperous as it is now (sarcasm, sarcasm), we can afford to take another hit? Do we really think cementing bad relations with China is going to grant us more leverage in trying to get them to free Tibet or acknowledge free speech?
And oh, the irony if we did in fact go through with this boycott. How exactly would we pull it off? Easy. By alerting the entire world using our “Made in China” keyboards, which are connected to our “Made in China” computers.
Fantastic.
Slate argues that the Olympics are the perfect place for demonstrations. I agree. Peaceful demonstrations would be great at the Olympics, when Beijing will be elevated to the world stage and everyone will be watching.
But not going to the Olympics is slightly different from protesting at the Olympics. A protest would effectively bring international media attention to a problem; a boycott would render the entire event pointless.
African-Americans boycotted buses during the civil rights movement – it was effective because it nearly forced the bus industry into bankruptcy. A boycott of the Olympics will do nothing except make a lot of people mad.
It should be noted that the reason a boycott is being called for is because of violations by the Chinese government. No one mentions that Chinese civilians, the vast majority of whom have not done anything wrong, are some of the most excited people in the world right now. They’re pumped for the Olympics. They’re looking forward to it, and they’re doing everything they can to make things perfect for the foreigners who’ll soon come pouring in.
That’s true hospitality and pride. These people love their country, but that doesn’t mean they love the massive communist regime that controls them. Slate and other people think a boycott will only punish the government, but who’s going to be hurt the most?
And really, does anyone truly believe that just when the Chinese government is opening up to the international community, blatantly insulting them will encourage them to change their ways?
No one can dispute that human rights are being violated. What we need to do is figure out a convincing way to pressure and persuade the government to answer for these violations and prevent them from being committed again… a way that does not involve complete humiliation of the Chinese people. A boycott takes us on the expressway to nowhere.
Another argument Slate uses is this: the government is trying to make this political, therefore the rest of the world should make it political too.
Ha. Hahaha. Very funny.
No. If the Chinese government is trying to make a political statement with the Olympic games, the best and most effective way to disarm their efforts would be to make it not about the politics.
Tell the world why it’s important to ignore the message China’s government is trying to send. Tell the world not to listen to the government’s claims that they’re doing nothing wrong. Tell everyone why this is significant. Tell them what they need to know.
Then encourage them to use their political means to stop the Chinese government. Sanctions? Ultimatums? Let them pick.
But don’t touch the Olympics, which were created to strengthen international ties. Make the Games about the games. Don’t give the Chinese government what they want. Show that we know what they’re doing in terms of human-rights violations, and protest. Impose sanctions. Do anything, without dragging this issue into the heart of the Olympics.
For everyone’s sake.
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