Essay:Boycott the Olympics

This essay is an original work by DanH. Please comment only on the talk page.

Calls to boycott this summer's Olympics in Beijing are often rebuffed by claims such as "the Olympics are not supposed to be political, it's about the games." Very well, but like it or not, this set of Olympics is political. They qualify as bread and circuses in the face of the recent events in Tibet, which amount to no less than a blatant attempt at cultural genocide. Participation in the Olympics merely bankrolls the government responsible for the perpetration of said events. While China may have invested large sums of money in preparation for the Games, as well as displacing large numbers of citizens, by this point, most of these are sunk costs. It's going to be time for them to start making some of their money back as the Olympics are about to start, and this money is being funneled to a government that has been accused of multiple genocides, that has displaced large sections of the population, is the worst environmental offender in the world, and sends mobile lethal injection vans around the country. Money spent on the Olympics is blood money.

Also, this Olympics is, in a way, China's "coming out party" to the world since its rapid globalization that has changed the face of the country dramatically in the last few years. This is the time for the world to see "the new China". The 1936 Summer Olympics were also a chance for the world to see "the new Germany", and the world was impressed. Let the world be impressed no longer - the United States and all other nations should boycott the 2008 Summer Olympics.