Will You Watch the Olympics?

As the 2008 Olympics in Beijing grow closer, global protests continue to swell. Decrying China's policies on Darfur and Tibet, as well as its notorious oppression of human rights, activists worldwide are keeping up the pressure on the Games' sponsors, most recently holding rallies outside of the corporate headquarters for Coca-Cola, Swatch, Volkswagen and General Electric.

But one New York activist reminds us that, when it comes to forcing the hand of governments and comglomerates, we sometimes have more power than we realize.

Click here to see his heartfelt appeal.

Comments

[sculptor]

No, I say watch! But do it like this: Keep your note-pad handy and jot down the name of every advertiser on NBC during the games. Then, after the games are over, write each and every one of them a nasty note saying you'll never buy anything from them again unless they place a one page advertisement in the New York Times apologizing for advertising during the Olympics and accusing the Chinese Government of genocide and massive human rights violations.

[bennofs]

Not until the Olympics are run in the original, traditional, naked - as in nude - way; will I give it any attention at all. It's just one long, long tv commercial. There are more important things.

[RobinSeattle]

No way am I watching. I will continue my usual diet of the History Channel, baseball and Keith Olbermann. Unless, of course, Keith is pre-empted for the Beijing games.

[kimbatch]

I will be watching the Games, I love the Olympics, and I want them to be a success.

But the Games are also a chance, while the world is watching, to press China for change.

Without change China will carry on executing more of its citizens than any other country in the world, it will continue censoring the media and the Internet and it will continue locking up and torturing those who try to stand up for their rights and the rights of others.

It isn’t political. To stand up for human rights is to stand up for the values enshrined in the Olympic Charter.

http://www.uncensor.com.au

[manoffaith]

Question: what do the networks sell?
Answer: your eyes
Without your eyes they have no product.

Of course this kind of protest will make no impact if 10,000 people say they won't watch.
It will make no difference if 100,000 say it.
But if this took hold and millions said they would not watch, it might.

I get why it seems like a joke to some. There are so many things we have to worry about and deal with and how much do we really care about what China is doing to our environment, to the people of Tibet, in Africa or to their own people? (I don’t’ mean that cynically. It’s just reality)

I might not be able to change what China inc. does but I don’t have to celebrate their reprehensible policies.

[rubyjewel]

No. Watching the Olympics is more boring than watching paint dry. The choice not to watch (in my case) is self serving. A better form of protest would be boycotting sponsors.

[elayneriggs]

You're joking, right? How in heck is any non-Nielsen individual not watching the Olympics going to make the least bit of difference to GE, NBC, China, etc.? The in-person protests have been heartening, particularly during the torch relay, but refusing to be a couch (or computer desk) potato? Who's going to know or care?

[brainuser]

Will I watch? Hell no.