Monday, April 07, 2008
Olympic torch extinguished during Paris leg - CNN.com
It is somewhat politically correct these days to argue that politics and sports should not mix, thus one should not demonstrate against or boycott the Olympics. On the other hand, if one goes to the root of this argument, it would mean that it was wrong to boycott Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
Basically, the argument about not mixing sports and politics does not hold water, particularly when China is turning the event into a self-glorifying Han Chinese event. The reason why every single country on the planet refuses to boycott the Olympics is that China is a tremendously important trading partner, and no one really cares too much about a Han Chinese dictatorship brutally suppressing a mainly Han Chinese population or China's role in Darfur, though we care a little bit about Tibet. If politicians could simply be honest and explain that a boycott of China potentially could have disastrous economic consequences, perhaps people would be less upset. Then again, if everyone tells the same lie at the same time, many people will eventually manage to fool themselves into believing their own folly.
On a related note, congrats to the French public for extinguishing the flame. I can't wait to see what will be the fall out of this event.
It is somewhat politically correct these days to argue that politics and sports should not mix, thus one should not demonstrate against or boycott the Olympics. On the other hand, if one goes to the root of this argument, it would mean that it was wrong to boycott Hitler's 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
Basically, the argument about not mixing sports and politics does not hold water, particularly when China is turning the event into a self-glorifying Han Chinese event. The reason why every single country on the planet refuses to boycott the Olympics is that China is a tremendously important trading partner, and no one really cares too much about a Han Chinese dictatorship brutally suppressing a mainly Han Chinese population or China's role in Darfur, though we care a little bit about Tibet. If politicians could simply be honest and explain that a boycott of China potentially could have disastrous economic consequences, perhaps people would be less upset. Then again, if everyone tells the same lie at the same time, many people will eventually manage to fool themselves into believing their own folly.
On a related note, congrats to the French public for extinguishing the flame. I can't wait to see what will be the fall out of this event.
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