Olympic Boycotts
First of all, I,
personally have been boycotting the Olympics for years. I used to
enjoy them, but I ceased to be impressed with the great commercial
show long ago. What finally did it was the way, when the Olympics
were in the United States, that homeless people were rounded up and
thrown off the streets for the sake of “optics”.
On the coming Olympic
Games, Summer (Beijing this year) and Winter (Whistler, British
Columbia, Canada):
Much has been made of
the
Chinese repression in Tibet, and that this should be a reason to
boycott the Beijing Olympics. First of all, Tibet is illegally
occupied by China. There is no doubt about this outside of China,
and the repression is just that. But, before people in the West,
especially in the United States and some other Western countries let
their righteous indignation get the best of them, they should reflect
on some facts concerning two other illegal occupations...
The United States,
along
with other toady powers (notably the UK) are occupying Iraq, with
thousands of troops, mercenaries, and sundry occupational personnel,
causing, or having caused thousands upon thousands of deaths, and the
destruction of homes, businesses, public buildings, and a city or
two. As well, the United States, under the guise of its public
relations shield, NATO, is occupying Afghanistan with even more toady
powers. This should be of some interest to those
Beijing-boycott-happy Canadians, whose troops are (against the wishes
of most Canadians, to be sure) currently participating in the
occupation of Afghanistan. Those troops have also been implicated in
actions against innocent civilians. Maybe the Whistler Olympics
should be boycotted by right-thinking people, who find occupations so
offensive.
I think they should all be boycotted, for cultural and social reasons. The expense is great, the environmental damage is unjustifiable, and the vast amount of attention paid to these extravaganzas keeps us from doing something more valuable, like playing or singing music, or dancing, or playing ball with friends, or watching a local team play. Walking, riding a bicycle, exercising or meditating, paddling a canoe: all these would be more edifying and enjoyable. Forget about the athletes “working hard all their lives to get to the Olympics”. If they don’t do what they do for the joy of it, no matter who is or isn’t watching, then they are not truly olympian, anyway. Let them go to Beijing or Whistler, or anywhere. Enjoy the activities you love with the people you love, instead: your family, your friends, your neighbours.
* * *
Robins are once again to be heard from here. Just this
morning, I spotted the first three in our aspen tree.
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