Olympic Boycott?

[mickeyd]

What are your thoughts on the USA participating in an Olympic boycott this summer? USA boycotted the Moscow Olympics, but I am not sure if it had any long term positive affect on the situation (Ruskies invasion of Afghanistan).

I am not a big Olympic fan, though I am a big sports fan, as there is just too much nationalism and political intrigue involved. Also I believe that it a a huge waste of the resources and human capital. That said, I am unsure if I would vote one way or the other if I had a vote in the process.

International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge poured cold water Saturday on calls for a boycott of the Summer Games in Beijing over China's crackdown in Tibet, saying it would only penalize athletes.

My Way News - IOC: Don't Boycott Olympics Over Tibet

 

[ziggy29]

You're not hurting China as much as you're hurting the men and women who probably trained to become Olympians for half of their lives.

In ancient times, they stopped wars to play the games.

 

[Rustic23]

I met a woman that was an internationally ranked swimmer when the US boycotted the USSR games. The world could care less about that boycott but she lost her chance for a gold medal forever. I agree, it only hurts the athletes. China may smart for a while, but most of the athletes have only one chance.

 

[GoodSense]

But when will China ever take responsibility for its actions?

They were awarded the Olympic Games despite their dreadful human rights records, and the world is told that they "are working on it and things will be better in 2008."

Now they open fire and kill protesters, and instead of an outrage, the international community just tries to forget about it and fast-forward to the celebration in August, since "it's just a sporting event," and "it will hurt the athletes if we boycott."

After the Olympic Games, China will feel even more emboldened to suppress its human rights since the world has silently condoned its killings on the eve of the Games.

I think it was a mistake to have given the Games to China in the first place, without them demonstrating a significant improvement in human rights. It's the same as rewarding offenders of crime and hoping somehow the rewards will make them a new person.

 

[Niko]

Boycotts make sense when their is a rational relationship between the activity that is being boycotted and the behavior sought to be changed. I really don't see much of a connection between an international sporting event and the host country's human rights record. If we are serious about influencing China, we have other economic and diplomatic tools that would be more appropriate than punishing hundreds of hard working athletes.