newhaven seagull 85
SELDOM IN NEWHAVEN
- Dec 3, 2006
- 963
no we should not boycott the olympics we should boycott chinese goods that would be more effective!
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Beijing Olympics 2008
- Thread starter SeagullEd
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #22
1) That is pretty much impossible I believe. China make SO much, there are probably alternatives, but it would cost our people and economy and others people and economy too much.
2) What about Apartheid. We tried similar tactics and it doesn't really work. It just makes the average joe suffer.
Lord Bracknell
On fire
The value of any boycott has to be measured against the impact it has on PEOPLE, not GOVERNMENTS.
An Olympic boycott would be aimed at the government of China. There are other (and better) ways of standing up to the Chinese government.
The boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era was wholly justified, because it was what the ANC wanted. It was action IN SUPPORT of the South African people.
An Olympic boycott would be aimed at the government of China. There are other (and better) ways of standing up to the Chinese government.
The boycott of South Africa during the apartheid era was wholly justified, because it was what the ANC wanted. It was action IN SUPPORT of the South African people.
- Thread starter
- #24
No, Thanks to Mcclown there is no football to lookward to - Dont take the Olympics away as well!
Lord Bracknell
On fire
In a word, diplomacy.
Any boycott of the Beijing Olympics would be presented to the Chinese people as a hostile act of aggression by foreign governments. They would use this as a catalyst for drumming up a sense of "national unity" in China and then turn this against their foreign "enemies".
It's how totalitarian governments do things. A boycott would do nothing to help the people of Darfur.
steward 433
Back and better
If a lot of countries pull out and we don't then our athletes have a lot more of a chance to win a medal! Seriously if you were an athlete who had trained for years wouldn't you want the chance of a medal at the greatest competition ever?
Agree should not be held there but don't penalise our athletes by pulling them out too!
Agree should not be held there but don't penalise our athletes by pulling them out too!
- Thread starter
- #28
That's a good point but you say use diplomacy, do you honestly think that'll work. The Chinese will just say 'yeah yeah' and not do anything. There is no alternative. At least this way we can damage their reputation.
federicoed-up
New member
- Feb 7, 2008
- 142
Whether or not we enter I shall be watching as much as possible of it.. then ALL of Euro 2008!!!
Lord Bracknell
On fire
I don't agree. If the EU said "Do the right thing in Darfur or we'll impose high duties on the import of Chinese manufactured goods into Europe", this would have an effect.
The Americans regularly use this tactic - and it's much more effective than boycotting the Moscow Olympics ever was. All we got from that was the arming of the the Taliban.
- Thread starter
- #31
But the Eu won't do that simply because they can't afford to!!! USA and Gb hardly have the most stable economies at the moment as it is. We are in no position.
I think people should go and kick up a fuss, demonstrate and stuff. That will have a greater impact. The black power boys in 68 got their message across in a simple but highly visual manner.
Totaly wrong to boycott.Athletes work hard for years for maybe 1 chance of a medal, and politics shouldnt come into their dream. If you want to blame,start at the top and the IOC should never of granted them the games to start with,its not like a developed country where most would and could benefit from the games infrastructure, most of their inhabitants will never see the games on a tv let alone benefit from it.