Beijing Olympics, 2008

Human rights violations. China, home of the 2008 Olympics, is full of them.

I admit, not everything is or should be a human right. But freedom of worship should be. Occasional freedom of speech is also nice.

Now before you jump on me and assume that I just think the Olympics should come back to America or something equally stupid, allow me to explain. First off, I don't care where the Olympics go. This is the only case where I've ever really cared about the Olympics, and only because of China's human rights violations. Other than that, I don't care who gets to hold the Olympics. But I do believe beyond the hesitation of a doubt that China and other human rights violation countries don't deserve to host the Olympics.

I wouldn't donate a hill of beans to the 2008 Olympics, so it's rather impressive I actually donated one whole blog post entirely to the subject.

And now, because opinions are everywhere on blogs, I went out and did a blog search on this subject. One of the more interesting blogs I found was this one right here. You can learn alot from doing a simple blog search. Interesting excerpts from that blog include:

Why so much hate for an event that’s supposed to bring people together for two weeks? Well, for starters, the first juvenile reason is because Toronto should have won the bid seven years.

This is why I said you can learn interesting things. So Toronto wanted to hold the Olympics, eh? They should have. Here's another excerpt.

Beijing being awarded the games was such a sham right from the beginning. Everyone was fully aware of China’s human rights and environmental abuses, but Juan Antonio Samaranch, the head of the IOC at the time of the announcement, decided to turn a blind eye to all of it and still award them the game. This is the same China that has had a never-ending dispute with Taiwan, Tibet, and even still some issues with Hong Kong. No one wants to be associated with these Commies. When they made the announcement, my entire family collectively put on our tinfoil hats and said that this was how Samaranch wanted to be remembered - as bringing a new era to the world by bringing the Olympics to China - since he retired shortly after the announcement.

He retired. What an easy way out. But I wonder: why did he give it to China? Did they bribe him, or something?

Anyway, let's move on. I found some really good stuff out there. Here's what another blogger thinks:

The way I see it….The Human Rights issue in China has been going on for so long and the Tienanmen Square ‘massacre’ high-lighted that to us, ignoramus! However, what about America? Aren’t they also guilty of human rights abuses with Guantanamo Bay?

Ah, no. We are trying to protect our FREEDOM. Heaven forbid that we take drastic steps to preserve it. I'd apologise for the fact we offended you, but I won't because I couldn't care any less if I wanted to. China is currently the one with the pressure on because they are the ones hosting the Olympics.

Here's another quote, same blog:

Sadly, after all the negative publicity that China has received…its almost as if the Western world instead of wishing them success, IS dooming them to failure! This would then prove to the rest of the world….See I told you…the Asians are still too primitive to be hosting such a major event!

Uh, yeah, earth to blogger, this isn't about Asia. You can host the Olympics in Japan, and that would be fine with me. This is about China's human rights violations.

Another blog:

And now for a final blow! China wants to spy on all foreign Internet users mainly Americans during their trip to the Olympics. Spying and “freedom of speech” is China’s biggest abuse other than their Tibet and Falun Gong woes.

Now see, this is what I'm talking about. I wonder what those people are trying to hide. And also:

Sen. Sam Brownback, R-Kansas, released a translated document Wednesday from China's Public Security Bureau that he said orders hotels to use the monitoring programs. .....

.... The translated document offered by Brownback's staff states that "refusing the installment or stopping operation of the system after installment will be subject to punishment. ... In case of serious violation, access to the Internet will be suspended or the business license will be canceled."

Uh-huh. I find this rather interesting.

One last blog, before I move on.

For the people who love to use human rights as an example, accusing a country of violating human rights is a serious offence. It is more so when the countries that make the accusations have violated or still violate human rights. What right does the West including the United States have in accusing China of human rights violations when there are many human rights violations in the West? Italy was accused by the European Commission of Human Rightsof violating the rights of the Roma [Gypsy] Population. Many countries in Europe also violated the rights of the Roma [Gypsy] Population since the right of the Roma Population is to live as eternal migrants and Europe does not want to recognize these rights. In France, the 2002 Presidential Elections left Chirac in First Place with Le Pen in Second Place. While I do not agree with Le Pen, the fact that Chirac and the mainstream political parties in France sidelined Le Pen and his supporters so that Chirac could win the Presidency is hardly an example of democracy.

Alright. I agree with that ... sort of.

The United States of America and its Mainstream Media cannot accuse China of Human Rights Violations without taking into account that they are always a society spoiling for a fight.

Umm, excuse me? On what grounds do you claim that we are always spoiling for a fight?

At the same time, the Libertarians and Greens are excluded from the political process secondary to archaic election laws that favour the Republicans and Democrats.

What election laws? There's other parties out there besides those two. You just have to get support from the public.

What does the West want including the Mainstream Media? They want to impose their way of life on the rest of the world but when immigrants from Central Asia, Africa, and Latin America come to Europe and North America, there are the so called alarm bells of “being invaded”. The Human Rights as practiced in the West is one in which many forms of immorality are admitted while the innocent suffer from the abuse and injustices who preach human rights. The hypocrisy is so big that these people charge Sixty or Seventy Dollars for their so called workshops while people in America have to pay almost $5.00 a liter for their petrol or gasoline.

This confuses me. This blogger gave no evidence to back this up, and I have no idea what he's talking about. (sigh) Let's move on.



So what have we learned in all this? Let's look:

1. No country is perfect.

Sadly, it's a fact. No matter how rabidly I defend my country, there is just no place on this Earth that is perfect.

2. People see what they want to see.

This, too, is also a true fact. So what's the point of this?



The Point: Does China deserve to host the Olympics?

No. They do not. Perhaps they will sometime in the future, but as things stand, right now, they do not. Should we boycott the games? Well I definitely won't be going to China, if that's what you mean. Should the athletes stay away? No. They should go over there, and win the gold. Should President Bush stay away? No. He should go over there and make it a point to bring up the human rights violation.

I probably won't watch the Olympics. I really have no interest in them, no matter where they're held. Besides, by this time next week I'll be back to school, and won't have as much time to watch TV anyway. Whether or not other people watch them is total up to those people. This is simply my opinion.

Hopefully, the 2012 Olympics will be in Toronto. In the meantime, I hope America brings home the gold.