Broadcastthis's Weblog

As you know, I’m all about the disclaimers…

*Disclaimer* – I’m not for human rights abuses, I’m against the television doing the thinking for us…

I’ve been having a real hard time with the coverage on the Beijing Olympics lately. I realize that it’s a “hot topic” and everyone is entitled to the view that CNN has given them, but I can’t take it anymore…

Of course, we all know that the coverage of China’s human rights abuses are in heavy rotation, and it’s probably not much of a stretch to suggest that it may be timed to coincide with the upcoming Olympic games in Beijing.

My question is: why are we supposed to care so much right now? The Olympics really aren’t a great vehicle for registering your discontent with a nation’s policies…I mean…how committed to the Tibetans plight will the at-home-viewing-public be after Spielberg unleashes the opening ceremony?

Forgive me, I’m sure there are a ton of reasons to care, but perhaps I should ask: why do we care specifically about how China conducts its business? I’ve been getting e-mail forwards and petitions for months now and I’m wondering, why China? Why now? Haven’t we figured out yet that our economy absolutely requires the Chinese government to conduct business exactly the way it has been?

You can’t produce cheaper-than-dirt-consumer-products without abusing someone’s rights…

Plus…(and this, to me, is the 800-pound gorilla sitting in the corner)…are we really sure that we want to stand up to a super-power like China (that has the death penalty and uses collagen from the dead in cosmetics!!), when we can’t even stand-up to our own governments and get *them* to enact policies that *actually* reflect our needs and wishes??

Why is Elvis Stojko leading a protest againt “the regime” in China? He says that “something needs to change”, but falls short of saying what that could/should be. (It should be noted that Elvis didn’t have any difficulty supporting the games in Salt Lake City after the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan…I guess in fairness, we hadn’t heard about western soldiers or private military contractors torturing and killing innocent civilians yet).

Pacified, yes…peaceful???….I’m not so sure about that…

I suppose the idea that I have the hardest time wrapping my head around is this idea of Canada as a peace-loving nation. We always refer to ourselves as peaceful. Yet we’re a nation at war.

What is it about China at this time in history that makes people want to wear the same t-shirt at the same time?

Let’s put the “Big” in Bigoted!!

I can’t help but think that the anti-China campaign smacks of good ol’ racism. Yeah, I said it…racism.

Yes, they live differently than us. Yes, they look different than us. They eat different food and they speak different languages. But why the f*** are we marching in the streets, giving loads of press to the torch relay and talking about boycotting the Olympics based on Human Rights? What has changed in the last year? What is it precisely that the Chinese can do that will help us live our lives better over here (yoo hoo!! Over heeeeeere!!)…in Canada (the northern most part of the North American Union).

Even if you personally feel some Tibetan pain and want to send a message to the Chinese government….what would you do? What can you really do? (best of luck with your shopping…)

I sure as hell don’t know…I’m not even sure that boycotting Chinese goods makes any decent economic sense…

Oh….right…they’re the unofficial new economic super power that needs to be reckoned with. That’s why the media taps have been opened wide with stories about lead in the toys and human rights abuses against a group of people you don’t know anything about (Falun Gong…I’m heading right over to Wikipedia once I’ve finished posting…that’ll give me a reliable sense of what’s really happening…) and they’re all getting cars and wanting to get their hands on our oil. Chinese fuckers…..(sorry….I got whipped up in the anti-Chinese sentiment…)

“Hi, I’m the pot…you must be the kettle…”

It’s a wee bit of a double-standard, wouldn’t you agree?

The Dalai Lama himself has said that he supports the games. Of course, he doesn’t support the suppression of his people, but he’s not calling for a boycott of the games. He’s been dealing with this issue for his entire life. He’s doing well on the public relations front. I don’t personally know anyone who could describe the actual function of the Dalai Lama to me, (wikipedia….once I hit “post”, I’m telling you…), but he’s probably closer to Buddha than any of us, and that’s a good thing….(I’m assuming…)…

The Dalai Lama, by the way, was mentored by a former Nazi. This isn’t some kind of litigious statement, it’s a fact. I’m not saying that the Dalai Lama himself is a Nazi (he’s not, he’s Buddhist…which is the polar opposite of what Nazism is….at least the way I understand it…), but doesn’t it make you wonder why this fact doesn’t get any airplay, yet we’re paranoid about kids putting a Chinese-made toy in their mouth? (BTW, don’t buy anything anywhere if you’re afraid of Chinese-made goods).

I’m really not suggesting anything (don’t shoot the messenger if you hadn’t heard about the Dalai Lama’s mentor…played by Brad Pitt in the movie no less), but….I dunno….the Dalai Lama gets tutored by a former (we presume “former”, yes?….at least “former” by the time he was tutoring Tenzin Gyatso), a former sergeant in the SS. He was photographed with Hitler and everything. He’s says he was only there to teach skiing. It’s a difficult fact to come to terms with. The two just seem so….ideologically opposed to one another….you’d think that they’d never come in contact with each other. Ever. (weird shit happens I guess).

How do we know what we know?

The leaders of our countries won’t use the word “boycott”, because they understand that boycotting is an incredibly strong statement that draws a line in the sand. Usually, it’s a line between enemies. Elvis Stojko may say that he’s supporting the people of China, but I wonder….

I wonder….

Would the self-same people who are hoping against hope for nations around the world to boycott China, also support a boycott of the 2012 games in Vancouver?

Seriously, wouldn’t that be fair? We (Canada & the U.S.) boycotted the Moscow Olympics in 1980. Why? Because the Soviets had recently invaded Afghanistan and that’s a totally justifiable reason to boyco….wait a second…

We’re right, they’re wrong

…not only did the U.S. boycott those games in 1980, they were still counting Osama Bin Laden as an “ally”. Sure, the Soviets won all the gold medals that year, but we won Afghanistan from them.

A silver lining to every cloud, non?

If we’re going to get all hot under the collar about countries that violate human rights, employ the death penalty, suppress dissent and produce goods that aren’t fit for human consumption….do we really have to look on the other side of the planet to “deal with it”?

Really…if we want to “change something” about the way producers of cheap goods abuse the basic human rights of their labourers, or should we want to “send a message” to the governments that aid and abet (read: subsidize and protect) the businesses….if we really wanted to put an end to the persecution of the poor and disenfranchised, or the targeting those who have spiritual beliefs that differ from the power elite… couldn’t we look at the blood on our own hands in say…

Haiti?

I wonder if Elvis wears Gildan Activewear?

It’s not fair to expect that Elvis (or any of us for that fact), should know anything about the plight of Haitians (the poorest nation in the Western hemisphere), because it just doesn’t fit with the “optics” that those who control the press are looking for.

Ask a Canadian about their “responsibility to protect” Haiti, and you’ll probably get a confused stare.

Next time you’re standing in line at Wal-Mart, waiting for the 78-year old greeter to run a price check for the 18-year old clerk, ask yourself why you’re staging your own “mini boycott” of the Beijing Games and why exactly you’re going to start boycotting their products.

Unless of course the new issue of “In Touch” is in your aisle….in that case….just fuck it….read until that old bugger hobbles back with the *correct* price.