I will not under any circumstances watch the Olympics. I never really liked the Olympic games all that much so this isn't much of a sacrifice. But I figure this time I will not read anything about it or watch any news or stories about it. I won't allow the Chinese or the major corporations that support the Olympics to count me in as one of their suckers. I don't care how many medals the Chinese have and how many we have. I don't care which athletes emerge as America's heroes or America's sweethearts. I don't care about any rivalries or any records.
I have decided that it is more important to care about the Chinese and American people then about supporting the bottom line of the corporate greed machine and their partners the communist (or at least that is what they call themselves) Chinese.
You see I have this thing about justice, human rights, and humane treatment of people. I know most people don't care so they will not engage in my boycott. But I learned long ago that I can't control what selfish people do with their lives. Ever since the Chinese massacre at Tiananmen Square in 1989 I have had an extreme dislike for the Chinese government. Ever since NAFTA and globalization, I have had an extreme dislike for corporate governance.
You all might remember the lone Chinese man that put his life at risk and stood in front of the Chinese tanks before the massacre at Tiananmen square. He stood in front of numerous tanks and as they tried to pass him, he would move in front of them to block them from moving.
Instead, the Olympics will be celebrated as a grand spectacle of human courage and strength in the face of adversity. Politics and protesting shouldn't be allowed to tarnish the games, the corporate media machine will tell us. The Tibetans don't matter, the police state doesn't matter, the mistreatment of dissidents don't matter, the sweatshops don't matter, the pollution doesn't matter, and the corporate partnership with the American and Chinese governments to continue and grow human degradation around the world doesn't matter.
No it all doesn't matter. So I sit at my computer typing in the face of a mass of advertising, propaganda, and money. I sit declaring, like the guy facing the tanks, that one person doing what is right matters. It may not matter to anyone else but it matters to that one person.
So I am boycotting the games and I am glad to do it for humanity. It costs me nothing and it isn't much of a sacrifice. That Chinese guy that put his life on the line for freedom in front of those tanks may have paid the ultimate price later with his life. For me, it is easy writing this short article and not watching, listening, or reading about the games. But that is the funny thing about great courage in the face of massive evil, it inspires us to do the little we have the courage to do.
So I dedicate my boycott of the Olympic Games in honor of the spirit of that great soul that showed so much bravery for humanity in front of those communist tanks.
