2008 Woodie Awards
Unrest over Olympics misplaced
Jake Parent
Issue date: 4/21/08 Section: Opinion
Over the past decade, thousands of laborers have poured their blood and sweat into transforming Beijing into a symbol of tenacious progress and steady will that they are now ready to present to the world. The leading officials in this once harsh capital of China are obsessed with protecting this image at all costs - whether financial or human.
In determining to define the games by such doctrines, they have also chosen the path of hypocrisy, evidenced by their opposition towards the rights of those who would stand against them in protest.
Nations have often used the Olympic stage to make their political agendas heard. The United States abstained from participating in the games when they were held in Moscow in 1980. Four years later, when Los Angeles was chosen as the new site for the games, the Soviets returned the favor.
Before even that, using the Olympics as a way of creating the appearance of unity and righteousness was hardly a new concept. The first modern torch relay was a carefully orchestrated event for the 1936 Berlin games. Created by Carl Diem, who would later become one of Adolf Hitler's most trusted commanders, it was envisioned to act as a symbolic link between Nazi Germany and those believed to be the forbearers of the Aryan race. Hitler, speaking just before the torch was lit, said, "Sporting chivalrous contest helps knit the bonds of peace between nations."
For the Chinese to have spent billions of dollars to spruce up the image of their homeland to visiting foreigners is simply their following the norm of what the games have largely been used for in the past. China knows this is their big chance to impress the world, future investors and consumers as well.
Sadly though, debate surrounding the 2008 games has not centered on the Chinese government's attempting to justify its spending such luxurious amounts of money on a PR campaign, especially when the average income of its citizens is around $315 a year.
The argument seems to be about the protesters and those left behind in the wake of the destructive machine called Chinese progress. The decades long cries of the Tibetan people and other disenfranchised minority groups in China are finally falling on ears which, while they hear them now, have been deaf for far too long.
For years these oppressed citizens have been denied access to a means of expressing their plight. To see these people fight and sometimes die for the freedoms we hold to be fundamental principles of our own existence should serve as a rallying point for all of civilized society.
Distancing ourselves from the realities of the world has never resulted in progress. It only empowers those who wish to perpetrate evils on a society. Because of this truth, it is the duty of anyone who holds the principles of liberty in great value to join in solidarity with our fellow human beings, who even now are screaming for their freedom.
In determining to define the games by such doctrines, they have also chosen the path of hypocrisy, evidenced by their opposition towards the rights of those who would stand against them in protest.
Nations have often used the Olympic stage to make their political agendas heard. The United States abstained from participating in the games when they were held in Moscow in 1980. Four years later, when Los Angeles was chosen as the new site for the games, the Soviets returned the favor.
Before even that, using the Olympics as a way of creating the appearance of unity and righteousness was hardly a new concept. The first modern torch relay was a carefully orchestrated event for the 1936 Berlin games. Created by Carl Diem, who would later become one of Adolf Hitler's most trusted commanders, it was envisioned to act as a symbolic link between Nazi Germany and those believed to be the forbearers of the Aryan race. Hitler, speaking just before the torch was lit, said, "Sporting chivalrous contest helps knit the bonds of peace between nations."
For the Chinese to have spent billions of dollars to spruce up the image of their homeland to visiting foreigners is simply their following the norm of what the games have largely been used for in the past. China knows this is their big chance to impress the world, future investors and consumers as well.
Sadly though, debate surrounding the 2008 games has not centered on the Chinese government's attempting to justify its spending such luxurious amounts of money on a PR campaign, especially when the average income of its citizens is around $315 a year.
The argument seems to be about the protesters and those left behind in the wake of the destructive machine called Chinese progress. The decades long cries of the Tibetan people and other disenfranchised minority groups in China are finally falling on ears which, while they hear them now, have been deaf for far too long.
For years these oppressed citizens have been denied access to a means of expressing their plight. To see these people fight and sometimes die for the freedoms we hold to be fundamental principles of our own existence should serve as a rallying point for all of civilized society.
Distancing ourselves from the realities of the world has never resulted in progress. It only empowers those who wish to perpetrate evils on a society. Because of this truth, it is the duty of anyone who holds the principles of liberty in great value to join in solidarity with our fellow human beings, who even now are screaming for their freedom.
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