Masquerouge
Deity
Wow was that Stephane Diagana in the first picture?
Paris : Olympic torch extinguished by Human Rights activists, events are cancelled
- Thread starter Marla_Singer
- Start date
Marla_Singer
United in diversity
No it's a Tibetan activist. Stéphane Diagana is on the second picture.
Ecofarm
Deity
If you can spend the majority of your early life training, you are plenty well off. Especially compared to the people of Tibet.
No sympathy here.
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If I was an athlete in Paris, I'd be like "Hey, how come you cops get body armor and all I get is this crappy t-shirt?"
No sympathy here.
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If I was an athlete in Paris, I'd be like "Hey, how come you cops get body armor and all I get is this crappy t-shirt?"
Ecofarm
Deity
No, I'm not.
You have a warped perception of what is "well-off" in this world. Anyone who can spend the majority of their early life in the gym/training is a freaking millionare compared to the average citizen of the world. Compared to the average citizen of Tibet, they are freaking billionares. You lack perspective if you think ANYONE competing in the olympics is anything less than privleged. And I couldn't give a crap if some bougie doesn't get their shiny bead.
As far as "who's talking about sympathy", try this on for size:
You know, not everything is about you. You might want to read what some other people wrote before deciding what I'm referring to.
Marla_Singer
United in diversity
These protests are not against the athletes. they don't ask for the boycott of the sporting event. Not even the Dalai-Lama asks for such a boycott !
However, I would personally appreciate indeed if athletes would boycott the Opening ceremony.
However, I would personally appreciate indeed if athletes would boycott the Opening ceremony.
Ecofarm
Deity
I say we go the whole 10 yards, and scrap the Olympics if China does not free Tibet.
Why stop at the opening ceremony? Let's make a real statement in support of democracy. That's more important than the olympics.
After the opening ceremony, you're just going to forget about Tibet and enjoy the games as usual? I can't.
Why stop at the opening ceremony? Let's make a real statement in support of democracy. That's more important than the olympics.
After the opening ceremony, you're just going to forget about Tibet and enjoy the games as usual? I can't.
skadistic
Caomhanach
Haha China is having its olympics ruined!
I want one of those black olympic ring handcuff flags.
I want one of those black olympic ring handcuff flags.
Alpine Trooper
AllCiv
Afterall, is sending buses into cities to lethally inject criminals really that much to complain about? I think we have to think about the athletes here, right skadistic?
skadistic
Caomhanach
Why are they injecting the athletes?
That still only applies to a minority of the athletes. Despite the ongoing commercialisation of the Olympics and calls to make entry more exclusive and restrictive, for the moment most athletes from most countries are still amateurs, fairly normal people with freakish abilities, training on their own timeand not really making money out of it.
It really doesn't take much privilege to go running every day, or practise gymnastics for a couple of hours a day, if you're appropriately motivated and skilled. Even if you're poor. This is especially since a lot of them can only really travel and compete because sporting bodies in most countries can at least pay for airfares for those who qualify. "Mindless show ponies" my arse.
What the hell does some runner from Kenya or high-jumper from Belorussia care about Tibet, why should their personal choices be subordinated to international politics? Why weren't there calls for boycotts of the World Junior Athletics Championships in China in 2006 if it's so abominable to compete in a regular sporting event being held in the wrong country?
It strikes me that it's easy to turn your complaint around and say any athlete who is arrogant enough to think a personal boycott of the Olympics means squat is more of a "show pony" than someone who just goes and does what they do because it's what they do. Unless they're gonna boycott the lesser publicised events as well, they're just doing it for attention rather than conviction.
I'll grant you that these more amateurish guys and girls don't win, but that's only because state sponsorship in the developed world gives athletes from those countries - amateurs or no - such an advantage.
The Olympics is political, this myth of the "apolitical sporting event" is nothing but a marketing strategy by the Olypic Committee, but blathering on what athletes should and shouldn't do to "maintain their dignity" is completely and utterly missing the point. Just let 'em decide for themselves if they wanna go on a state-sponsored trip to China and throw a javelin or jump over things, and direct the criticism where it's supposed to go - the organising committee and the Chinese government.
Alpine Trooper
AllCiv
Athletes inject themselves, we all know that.
skadistic
Caomhanach
Athletes give them selves lethal injections? So why are there so many?
Ecofarm
Deity
Right on. Let's stick it to China good. Why stop at opening ceremonies??
Who knows, with a legitimate threat of cancelling the olympics, China might actually free Tibet. They would garner untold benefits from such a move, and save their olympics in the most dramatic turn of events since Arafat murdered a plane full of Israeli athletes.
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@Arwon: This idea that you must do everything all the time to be legit is naive. One must choose their battles carefully. While the Junior Olympics is an insufficient battlefield for change, I think the actual olympics is a good battlefield. We could be able to force China to free Tibet over it. They have alot invested monetarily and politically; if we really put their backs up against the wall, they just might.
I think everyone should subvert their own luxuries and personal choices (as if these could somehow not be political) for international politics, not just athletes. World citizen... all that good stuff.
This is the first time since the 18th century that I can say: Go France!
There have been boycotts of the games before...they didn't work.
Hell, we even showed up to play in Nazi Germany. Jesse Owens (a product of THE Ohio State University) got to make Hiter look like an idiot. It was way better that we showed up.
Go play in the games.
Hell, we even showed up to play in Nazi Germany. Jesse Owens (a product of THE Ohio State University) got to make Hiter look like an idiot. It was way better that we showed up.
Go play in the games.
GoodEnoughForMe
n.m.s.s.
Paris wins the coolest city of the week award. It's great to see activism here. If nothing else, it will bring more international scrutiny. The games will go on, but China will have a lot more press then they otheriwse would.
Ecofarm
Deity
I think this situation is unique. In this New World of Globalization (and with the organizational and informational power of the internet), we could force China's hand.
We should at least try. Globally, we've never had the ability to mobilize like this.
When Burma rose up, we stood by and did nothing. We can't repeat that with Tibet when we have The Olympics as leverage - can we?
Leonel
Breakfast Connoisseur
Funny how people weren't bawing over China when they were hard line communists when they first invaded Tibet and let "10,000 flowers bloom" instead of now that they have capitalist influences.
