Gulf Coast Bands Music Forum - View Single Post - Should the U.S. Boycott the Beijing Olympic Games?

wilthrill · 05-05-2008, 08:42 AM

Well first of all, if we ORGANIZED a boycott and the Europussies actually borrowed a backbone from somewhere and joined in THAT is NOT starting a war. If China in response to the boycott took military action (against Taiwan or anywhere outside of mainland China) THEY would be seen as the aggressors. I know this to be a pipe dream because as I keep saying the Europussies won't go for it.

But if we raised hell in the world press the same thing would apply. Responding to bad press with military action would be seen as the act of an aggressor.

For the sake of brevity let's take the example I gave of Cuba. If I'm not mistaken our embargo of Cuba began right after Castro seized power and dashed any hopes of a democracy in Cuba. This was BEFORE the cuban missile crisis but even if you ignore that, we've had the embargo for FIFTY YEARS now and for the VAST MAJORITY of that time NUKES had NOTHING to do with it. Hell, Cuba is still in the 1950's technologically speaking , the Soviets pulled the missiles in the early 1960"s and the Soviet state collapsed in the 80"s!!!! And yet at NO TIME have we been concerned with "offending" the Cubans.

The chinese people are a proud people what with 5000 years or so of history etc. And if couched as defending their homeland I'm sure they would fight (they are chinese not french). However the chinese people are NOT the problem. The problem is the chinese LEADERSHIP. If China were a republic, I doubt seriously that they would be treating Olympic athletes this way.

It should be our goal to ISOLATE the leadership and ENCOURAGE a change in LEADERSHIP/Gov't in China.

We've been pursuing that goal by making China wealthy thinking that once the people got a taste of freedom THEY'D take matters into their own hands. The only problem is the LEADERSHIP has used that wealth to TIGHTEN their hold on power.

Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We've been doing the same thing over and over since Nixon opened up China in the 1970's. And so has the chinese leadership. Only THEY don't expect a different result. We do so it is time to try something DIFFERENT! Ass licking isn't getting the job done and we've been trying that route for almost 40 years now.

HOSTING the Olympics comes with strings attached. We don't let ANYONE who wants to HOST the OLYMPICS do so in ANY FASHION they choose. Requiring the Chinese to show the same level of respect for the athletes as EVEN the Nazis and Soviets did is not "sticking our hands into their internal affairs". THEY knew the score when THEY agreed to host the games.

I agree with you last statement that no one cares. Which is sad because I guess they've just capitulated. Twenty years from now they or their kids will regret it.

I've also immensely enjoyed this debate. We disagree, but you've presented well thought-out points and actually made me reconsider things.

05-05-2008, 08:42 AM	#28 (permalink)
wilthrill Band Whore Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 825 Rep Power: 46	Well first of all, if we ORGANIZED a boycott and the Europussies actually borrowed a backbone from somewhere and joined in THAT is NOT starting a war. If China in response to the boycott took military action (against Taiwan or anywhere outside of mainland China) THEY would be seen as the aggressors. I know this to be a pipe dream because as I keep saying the Europussies won't go for it. But if we raised hell in the world press the same thing would apply. Responding to bad press with military action would be seen as the act of an aggressor. For the sake of brevity let's take the example I gave of Cuba. If I'm not mistaken our embargo of Cuba began right after Castro seized power and dashed any hopes of a democracy in Cuba. This was BEFORE the cuban missile crisis but even if you ignore that, we've had the embargo for FIFTY YEARS now and for the VAST MAJORITY of that time NUKES had NOTHING to do with it. Hell, Cuba is still in the 1950's technologically speaking , the Soviets pulled the missiles in the early 1960"s and the Soviet state collapsed in the 80"s!!!! And yet at NO TIME have we been concerned with "offending" the Cubans. The chinese people are a proud people what with 5000 years or so of history etc. And if couched as defending their homeland I'm sure they would fight (they are chinese not french). However the chinese people are NOT the problem. The problem is the chinese LEADERSHIP. If China were a republic, I doubt seriously that they would be treating Olympic athletes this way. It should be our goal to ISOLATE the leadership and ENCOURAGE a change in LEADERSHIP/Gov't in China. We've been pursuing that goal by making China wealthy thinking that once the people got a taste of freedom THEY'D take matters into their own hands. The only problem is the LEADERSHIP has used that wealth to TIGHTEN their hold on power. Insanity has been defined as doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. We've been doing the same thing over and over since Nixon opened up China in the 1970's. And so has the chinese leadership. Only THEY don't expect a different result. We do so it is time to try something DIFFERENT! Ass licking isn't getting the job done and we've been trying that route for almost 40 years now. HOSTING the Olympics comes with strings attached. We don't let ANYONE who wants to HOST the OLYMPICS do so in ANY FASHION they choose. Requiring the Chinese to show the same level of respect for the athletes as EVEN the Nazis and Soviets did is not "sticking our hands into their internal affairs". THEY knew the score when THEY agreed to host the games. I agree with you last statement that no one cares. Which is sad because I guess they've just capitulated. Twenty years from now they or their kids will regret it. I've also immensely enjoyed this debate. We disagree, but you've presented well thought-out points and actually made me reconsider things.