Why America Won't Boycott the Olympics
Horrifically violent and totally chaotic, China has become impossible for the world to ignore. Of course, that won't stop American athletes and tourists from attending the Olympic games, nor American advertisers from leaching millions of dollars from the international gathering of irregularly muscular pole vaulters and aquatic overachievers.
Americans possess the appropriate amount of outrage for the China crisis, but hoping for immediate results, they turn to the wrong change agents: politicians.
Politicians won't stop the 2008 Olympics.
Barack Obama has only managed to skillfully avoid mentioning anything regarding the Chinese.
And though she surprisingly called for President Bush to boycott the Olympics, Hillary's other half privately urged Steven Spielberg not to resign as the "Overseas Artistic Director" only last year. I like to call this kind of "say-one-thing-do-the-opposite" activism the Murdoch Strategy, named after conservative blood-sucking tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and his daughter Elisabeth, who hosted a fundraiser for Barack Obama at her London home. It's an easy way to commit to no one, while committing to everyone, and successfully covering all of one's bases just in case there's an outbreak of genocide in China, or "that black fellow" becomes President of the United States.
In other politician news, donning a red (for outrage!) neck scarf, Ms. Pelosi encouraged San Francisco residents to protest the torch's journey through their city.
But the key to successfully boycotting the Olympics doesn't rest with our ruffled American politicians. The only way to clearly denounce the corrupt behavior of the Chinese government is to withdraw corporate sponsorship from the Olympics.
You see, though American citizens and politicians are dutifully outraged by the Chinese government's repression and abuse of its own people, corporations can't commit fast enough to spending millions for advertising in Beijing.
So if you're interested in really affecting the Olympics, first you have to stop the steady cash flow, and you can stop the cash by asking (pretty, pretty please) corporations to withdraw their ads from the Olympics.
Click here to see the full list of 2008 Beijing corporate sponsors, or simply scroll down:
The list includes: McDonalds, Coca-Cola, GE, Adidas, Samsung, VISA, UPS, Staples, Johnson & Johnson, Kodak, and Volkswagen.
If you feel morally outraged by the humanitarian crisis in China, contact these corporations and tell them they'll lose you as a customer if they don't definitively denounce (and reject) their support of China's repressive government.
CEOs understand the language of dollars very clearly, and if they begin to lose monetary support from their customers, they'll do anything to stop the bleeding, up to and including withdrawing their sponsorship of the games.
If you feel outraged enough to frown disapprovingly at politicians when they don't talk about Tibet enough, but you continue to buy Kodak film, or drink Coke anyway, then don't be surprised when the 2008 Beijing Olympics goes off without a hitch.
Follow Allison Kilkenny on Twitter: www.twitter.com/allisonkilkenny
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The Olympics is a major marketing cash cow for corporations. Professional sponsorships for athletes, etc have created a situation where the ideals of fair competition have been usurped. When the US boycotted the USSR Olympics it was a political action that hurt a lot of good athletes who had worked hard but those same athletes were competing against DDR and USSR athletes who had been using drugs and had benefits of state sponsorship that gave them an unfair advantage. I was a very high level swimmer at that time and was well aware of the East German programs as well as the Russian ones and it was disheartening to say the least. We still put out folks like John Nabor, though.
Anyway, I think that when the way to hurt an Olympic event is to attack corporate sponsorship the entire reason for the Olympics no longer exists anyway... it has been co-opted for corporate greed.
So I agree with boycotting the companies and products... its easy enough to stop drinking Coke... or it should be...
I firmly agree that money talks louder than politicians, but I wonder at the ultimate impact a boycott on the Olympics would have. Such an act would great publicity, and the American public cannot even attempt to address China's human rights violations unless they are made fully aware of what's going on.
However, those who champion the potential Olympic champions unable to compete would be disgusted by such protest. While surely they would condemn China's human rights abuses, they'd also likely be disillusioned by our reaction to it.
Furthermore, what consequence would China suffer from an Olympic boycott? They would lose some Olympic-grade prestige, and perhaps some money (with fewer athletes staying in their country), but such practical consequences would be short-lived. After the Olympics was over, they'd very well continue to manufacture billions of (likely lead-laden) imports.
What we really need is a concrete incentive for China to shape up it's act that does not disillusion those whose support we need to succeed. What we need is to write the U.S. manufacturers and retailers who buy imports from China and tell them to stop, or else we'll quit buying their products. THAT would send a crystal clear message to the financial power behind China. That would be true non-participation in oppression. Not to mention, it would hopefully bring focus back onto buying American-made goods, something that just might truly reinvigorate the flailing U.S. economy.
Money talks; let's be consumers with megaphones.
Creating political landscape within an athletic competiion is like spraying DDT on a rose.
See M.S. Bellows, Jr.'s Profile
Huh?
America, murderous international pariah, has no business claiming any moral high ground. Until we can find our own.
If you hate this country so much, get the hell out! I would be happy to pack your bags for you.
Right. We get it. America is bad.
Marignymitch -
Seems to me that a large portion of America is not at all happy with the direction that the Neocon and Compassionate Conservatives have taken it in. Those people who disagree with the amoral and unethical approach to governance and foreign policy have a right to protest against it where ever it rears its head.
I see no hypocrisy here. The GOP generated the Iraqi "terrorists" and those who voted to support that effort deserve the same rejection that we offer to China's heavy handed treatment of Tibet and its own people. For example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXC5RxhZUYw
I think that those of us who feel outrage at political crimes and killings should speak up whenever it is called for.
Further, Corporations like CISCO that help China control its people by limiting internet access, etc, should hear from us as well....
See M.S. Bellows, Jr.'s Profile
“Pinging” anyone who’d like a chance to take action to help Tibet:
I don’t trust China’s good faith enough to make “dialogue” the test for whether or not world leaders will boycott the opening ceremonies – but there’s a cleaner, more significant test. This morning, the Dalai Lama said he WANTS to attend the Opening Ceremonies himself. President Bush and every other world leader should seize the opportunity that presents by telling China that their attendance is contingent on China letting the Dalai Lama attend. If China allowed it, it would be a huge shift in policy (and a great PR coup for the Tibetan cause) – and the Dalai Lama probably could keep Tibetan protesters in check, and would go out of his way to make his hosts look good, all huge benefits for China. If they don’t allow him to attend, then they’ll have only themselves to blame for the P.R. debacle that would result from a massive boycott. It’s elegant, IMHO.
I know I’m blogw***ing, but I’d like to get this idea out into the mainstream. If anyone wants to help promote the idea (“we won’t go unless the Dalai Lama can go”), there’s contact info for the White House, the candidates, etc. on this Huffington Post blog:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/m.s.-bellows/activism-you-can-do-send_b_96043.html
Thanks (and thanks to you, Allison -- great and accurate post!).
How about no boycott of any kind.
WE should bomb them like we do everyone else
Who is everyone else?
Iraq
Korea
Vietnam
the list is probably longer than that.
The outrage against the Chinese is part hypocracy of the liberal elites. When the Western countries were going through developmental stages, the societal wrongs were countless - I would argue exponentially more than what is going on in China today (slavery, taking Texas and California from Mexico, exploitation in French and British colonies). Yet the liberal elites in the West, who are enjoying the fruit of the Western wrongdoings over centuries in their nice house, car, roads, infrastructure, clean water, jobs etc., are trying to blow the Chinese wrongdoings out of proportion.
I am not saying there should not be protests but let's not go to the extreme of boycotting Olympics!!! I see a grand conspiracy unfolding where the West is trying to tarnish the great accomplishment of a country that has risen not to mention the hard working athletes here who and their families have made tremendous sacrifces to be able to participate. These athletes should come before demagogues like writers, jounalists, latte-liberals and other assorted hypocrites. These people should stay out of sporting events for expressing their outrage from comfortable living rooms!!
Allison, I don't know if you are old enough to remember Jimmy Carter's boycott of the games hosted by the USSR. I was and I saw first hand what it did to some of our best athletes in the United States. In Texas, we had a world class shot putter and a sprinter who were slated for the team. They were high school athletes that were phenomenal in their day.
They got the rug pulled right out from under them. They were the ones that were hurt, not the Soviets. And I will still always remember that pathetic Jimmy Carter with that whining helpless voice telling us how we would show them and not participate. He sounded like some old tired grandmother telling us to take our medicine. The only thing that was missing was his apron and rolling pin.
Boycotts of Olymipic games don't work and only hurt the athletes who are to participate.
In addition to his move against US athletes, Carter also prohibited American farmers from selling wheat to Russia. That move bankrupted many good people.
Um...Hillary didn't call for anyone to boycott the Olympics. She merely echoed (or is it regurgitated) the call to boycott the OPENING CEREMONIES!!
And Obama said the same dam thing.
Biased much?
"Americans possess the appropriate amount of outrage for the China crisis," ...but an unfortunate amount of apathy about its own crisis. How can any American look past our own shortcomings to lambast another country? We might have gotten away with that ten years ago, but no one in the world believes in our sincere outrage. I will not defend China and its abuses, but please consider the following:
China is a military threat to the world that outspends the next 15 largest military budgets combined -- no wait -- that's US.
China locks up more of its citizens than any other country in the world -- no wait -- again that's US.
China claims to be a democracy, but it subverts other legitimate democracies for it's own gain. It is really an empire but it won't tell its people that -- wait that's US once more.
China has borrowed so much money from the wolrd that it threatens to bring down the entire world economy by not being able to pay
and finally
China has invaded a multitude of countries over the last fifty years. It now has bases in over a hundred countries ... you get the point.
pot, meet kettle.
You are right to add this perspective. I'd like to add, however, that actually, this should not be seen so much as one or another country's human rights violations. It's true that it would be nice if "the people" held their governments accountable; but the poster's point here is that the people need to hold themselves accountable by not footing the bill for such purveyance of crises, regardless of the proxies involved.
Back to your point: Short of tax evasion, all we the people have on our side is the ability to stop buying product from the death merchants. This requires an amount of discipline and life-changes that are quite foreign to the consumer. A good place to start would be to permanently boycott all of the sponsors mentioned, and several other purveyors of death and destruction.
Absolutely right. And what really sickens me is that the ghouls of the military-industrial complex must be laughing with glee as liberals help them further demonize China. Oh yes, that is all the ghouls need, to ramp up hatred and fear of China so that they can propose even more insane military budgets and can support the invasions and bombings of even more countries. I wish some of the protestors would reacquaint themselves with the old term "useful idiot."
And because we had lynchings and segregation in America in 1936, how dare we have complained about Uncle Adolph and his pals? Yeah, right. No right thinking person should do anything but abhore the use of the Olympics to white wash a totalitarian regime. It is time that the left lost its taste for foreign totalitarianism and stopped justifying foreign terror based on our own imperfections. But perhaps I ask too much of the left. After all, the left never acknowedged its role in causing tens of millions to be killed in World War two because of its support of the Stalin-Hitler pact that let Germany start the war. Some of you youngsters on the Internet should do a little reading about how much American lefties loved Uncle Adolph in the years 1939-41 because he was making nice with Uncle Joe. It may open your eyes to the fact that there is never a good enough excuse for supporting terrorist regimes. But of course, China would never send us tainted toothpaste, dangerous toys, phony drugs, etc. To some of you, our own mistakes make all of this irrelevant. Until we are perfect, you say, China can do no wrong. Ever wonder why the only free enterprise lefties support is the kind that is sending us deadly stuff from China?
The language of left and right is outdated, and most likely never realistically relevant, despite what version of international history one may peruse. More appropriate would be insiders and outsiders. The financial and political elite, whether identified as left or right, are the ones on the inside and everything that the outsiders consume is mere scenery, deadly as it may be.
Yes I agree with you Mr DanBest. This arbcle by Allison Killkenny contains a gratuitious attack on Hillary and the Clintons. Apparentlyth is is de rigeur for anyone hoping to get their piece published on this site which has mysteriously adopted such a vehement hate for Hillary and the Clintons. I suspect the controlling person whoever that may be (Huffington, et al) has a teenager - induced age angst that they are trying to resolve by supporting the "youth (40 year old) candidate" Obama & attacking HIllary Clinton who entered this thing with nothing but vast knowledge, ability and experience, a wonderful sainted husband, good intentions and a can do attitude toward implementing progressive government. Now, according to this Post, she has become the liar and she-cat from hell who bizarrely goes around telling egregious defamatory lies at every turn of the wheel, apparently with bad intentions to perpetuate an old person's agenda identical with the Bushist mentally retarded one. Well now, I realize that the "buzz" of the youth agenda has it this way, but I had hoped for more mature, more intellectually satisfying perspectives from this Post. I am desperately looking for a site that does not routinely support some bankrupt media created "new think" agenda.
I'll vote for Obama if he gets the nomination. I hope he doesn't though.
What's your point? That you hate your country?
"China locks up more of its citizens than any other country in the world -- no wait -- again that's US."
Better than how China deals with theirs.................they just kill criminals and sell their body parts.
Yeah we are MUCH worse!!!!
You're a hater, nothing more.
We are not the people who should be passing judgement on anyone. Isolation is not the way forward in relations, look at Syria and or Iran. Absolutism and intolerance breed the opposite of what we are hoping for in this world. This olympics is very very important to the Chinese people. This makes it much bigger than the fraternity of western imperialists. I hope you are not merely a spokesman for the imperialists. Kosovo anyone? Was the racist South part of America? (If I recall, even Karl Marx passed judgement in Das Kap or the Manifesto.... ho ho against people as chattles)
Let's see......the country who along with China has determined torture is legal because John Yoo says it is.....the "we" no longer have to abide by the Geneva Conventions, the country who holds people without charge in Guantanamo for years, the country who tortured prisoners in Abu Gharib, the country who illegally wiretaps its own citizens, the country who allows it's "leader" to ignore any law the he chooses......is going to do what again to the Chinese and what was the reason again....I forgot?
There is nothing in the Geneva Conventions protecting stateless, non-unirformed combatants. So, until Al Qeada or the insurgents get a state, a flag, and uniforms, we can treat them as we wish in terms of Geneva.
Communist China should be the number one enemy of the United States, instead due to Republican greed beginning with Nixon, they have become the mortgagee of our nation's future. Rather than wasting our time in specious wars for oil in central Asia, we should be investing in preventing economic domination of the 21st century by the totalitarian Chinese. They not only abuse human rights, but also are the worst offenders environmentally with their unchecked zeal for industrialization.
Globalization has had the effect of aiding the rise of the Chinese nation at our own detriment. Not only has it devastated the American manufacturing sector, but when the final showdown for resources arrives, it will be the Chinese who will be our nemesis. Boycotting the Olympics is only a minor step. The United States should be taking major steps to curtail the power and influence of China. It may already be too late.
Americans are still the per capita leader in environmental destruction. What you reference is future projection, albeit very near. Individuals need to start thinking about from whom they get what they consume and why. We are responsible. We Americans. We Chinese. We whatever. They only do what they can afford to do, with impunity. We do what we can afford to do, with ignorance.
"per capita"? That means per person. There's one hell of a lot more of them than us which translate into a broader impact environmentally.
Generals Douglas MacArthur and Claire Chennault were right. We should have been more aggressive during the Korean War and stopped Mao then. We should have backed Chiang Kai-shek and restored the Republic of China. Then we would have had an ally and a trading partner since the 1950s, the Chinese people would not have suffered the atrocities of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution and Tibet would still be a free state today.
The world should be protesting the participation of the USA in the Olympics, I cannot think of another country that has violated human rights and killed more innocent people than the good ole USA.
This self righteous indignation against China is a joke, we the American people under the leadership of our great psychopathic alcoholic commander in chief are the ones who should be condemned for crimes against humanity, the Chinese by comparison have only committed minor violations against humans when put into perspective and comparing the bombing of innocent civilians we have done.
Ha Sequoiabison good point, why didn't I think of that. Boycott the USA participation, ha ha. Would serve us right, show us where we ought to be with the crap our country pulled in Iraq courtesy of war criminal GWB.
The problem is not the Olympics. The problem is what is being done--or rather, not done--before and after. I won't say its never appropriate to boycott the Olympics, but I will say I cannot think of when that might be. Perhaps if a majority of nations were agreeing to a boycott. Because the very point of the nations is to bring people together who may not otherwise be together. The problem is that little is being done in other contexts to pressure China to make changes; and the reason for that is that the US is financially dependant on China. Big time. So, my protest will be checking lables and not buying Chinese products even if it means paying more or going without. Globalization is one thing; having your country's financial well-being dependant on China to the degree that it is is ridiculous.
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