China and the Olympics - Re-thought

The issue of China hosting the Olympics collides with the issue of China annexing Tibet leading to ethical dilemmas which are not easily solved. Boycotting Chinese goods punishes people who have no freedom to elect their Government. However it does starve Govt. income which it recieves in the form of taxes. The issue of quality control with regard to consumer goods lies with the retailer in my opinion. So if Fisher and Price sells toys with too much Zinc then one should not buy Fixher and Price, irrespective of whether the goods are made in China or not. China did send a powerful message to adulteres by sentencing their drug chief to death. This really is proprganda more than anything else. It's also barbaric.

Can a citizen of free choice, reason ethically, why the Olympics should be boycotted ? I believe she can. The issue lies with the politisisation of sport. FIFA chief Sepp Blatter believes that they do. I was hesitant to to think so untill two incidences related to the Olympics have changed my mind. The opening ceremony was awash with cultural propoganda, the same culture and history that the communist supressed. The bullshit display of 'harmony', all the while China causes 'disharmony' to it's neighbours, provides arms for the genocide in darfur, not to mention the slow but steady 'wipe-out' of the tibetan culture and peoples all in the name of a cultural revoltuion. The controversy surrounding Sonia Gandhi's attendance, instead of India's PM or President, to the Olympic games. Though why she chose to go is a mystery to me, ( it may be the wake up call that Manmohan Singh requires to finally cut himself free, especially after the current crisis in parliament). Did Manmohan Singh snub the invitation, did India's reps choose Sonia Gandhi, and what is the meaning of this, if anything at all ? The way these things are viewed, in the light of Politics, the way the dialogue is structred; it is enevitable that sports and politics should collide. After all the ancient Olympics were all about settling national status without going to war.

However, boycotting the Olympics, refusing to consume products from sponsors of the olympics, sets a precedent of boycotting all those products that are associated with companies that encroach on civil liberties, everywhere. This is a slippery slope, where the lines are drawn arbitrarily depending upon one's source of information.

For the meantime, I have to see how to avoid the following companies...