Gotta Share THIS !!!

I got up this morning to an email from a friend commenting on yesteday's posting on the Olympic Flame Relay and the International Community's responses ...

He couldn't post it as a comment, but it deserves it's own posting ... Can't quibble with any of what he says - and I may even rethink my advocacy of a Boycott of the Olympics as a result of this response ... Although, after hearing Dick Pound of the IOC interviewed on CBC Winnipeg this morning I may NOT ... he spent way too much time insisting that China WILL change its ways because of the Olympics ... I was waiting for him to give credit for the fall of Communism to the Olympics ...

Anyway - words of praise and criticism, are ALWAYS welcome - and in this case I'm happy to share:

I find your postings, which I say without a trace of intended irony, that I follow religiously, always interesting, usually thought provoking, and at times intimidating. However, I am drawn to it like an addiction: I need to know what you're going to say next, or where your life seems to be headed. Your 1500th. posting in which you told people, essentially -- if you don't like what I have to say: stop reading -- made eminent sense, but perhaps easier said than done.

Anyway, that's not why I'm writing -- I want to respond to today's posting: "It's Time to Listen!!!!"

So....

1) I also was opposed to the Olympics going to Beijing;

2) The "gild of the Olympic Lily" was tarnished far sooner than "when they let professional athletes compete in basketball & hockey (sic)". Quasi-amateurs had been sanctioned in the Eastern bloc countries for years, so my view was that if we were not going to have truly amateur competitions in the original Olympic sprit (an impossibility in today's world), then this should simply be a competition among the world's best athletes. It may be a different style of competition than it was years ago, but it is probably fairer under today's conditions. At the same time, the Olympic phrasing about bringing together the youth of the world, etc. could use some revision.

3) Your "No"'s are easy to agree with, until I come to the "Boycott" word; and here I disagree entirely. The Moscow boycott did little except deny many young athletes a chance to participate, and create a similar useless payback scenario in Los Angeles. I believe that a boycott of the China games would hurt only athletes and have no impact on China's policies. If we want to influence China, we have a massive tool available: stop buying products made in China. If every North American stopped buying Chinese goods tomorrow, China would have an enormous economic problem; then we might be able to call some shots on human rights issues. Until our citizens are prepared to step up, then "boycott" is a political word. Why should the athletic competitors suffer all the pain if the rest of us aren't even willing to suffer a little by the loss of cheap, Chinese-produced, goods?

Fair Enough !!
And thanks.
Maybe we just need to BOYCOTT China once and for all !!!!
I wouldn't want to see the athlete suffer - BUT - compared to the suffering of TOO many in our world, from the poor chinese peasants, to the sweat-shop factory workers, to the people of Tibet ... we can do better than just pretending THEY are less valuable that our athletes ...

No easy answers ... but so far - no just solutions either ...

The debate continues ...