Bejing Olympics-Communist or Imperialist?

[Bud Struggle]

Do the Chinese Olympics support Communism or Capitalist Imperialism?

Now, something to look at while you're thinking of an answer.

Laure Manaudou, France, Swimming
http://www.linternaute.com/actualite/dossier/06/enquete-personnalites-preferees/femmes/images/laure-manaudou.jpg


Francesca Piccinini, Italy, Volleyball
http://www.thethao.dantri.com.vn/Uploaded/letruong1/t42008/piccinini0805086-2.jpg

Stephanie Rice, Australia, Swimming
http://www.somebodythinkofthechildren.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/steph_rice_police_officer.jpg

Haley Cope, USA, Swimming
http://www.popcrunch.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/haleycope.jpg

Amanda Beard, USA, Swimming
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d31/groovey807/amandabeard2.jpg

Bia and Branca Feres, Brazil, Synchronized Swimming
http://machochip.com/Bia%20And%20Branca%20Feres%2011.png

[RedAnarchist]

I was watching the opening ceremony today and some dense old sportsperson from this country was going on about communism as if China was actually communist. She sounded like all her information about communism came from the right=-wing tabloids or something.

[Dr Mindbender]

I was watching the opening ceremony today and some dense old sportsperson from this country was going on about communism as if China was actually communist. She sounded like all her information about communism came from the right=-wing tabloids or something.

what do you mean 'sounded like'.

I'd say more along the lines of 'virtually certainly'.

[Bud Struggle]

The Olympics Are Political (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matt-browner-hamlin/the-olympics-are-politica_b_117650.html)


Posted August 8, 2008 | 05:50 AM (EST)

Today the 2008 Summer Olympics start in Beijing. The debate in the lead up to the Games has focused on whether or not this sporting event, representing the pinnacle of thousands of athletes' careers, is also a time to discuss politics. The host nation of China has the ignominious distinction of possessing one of the world's worst human rights records. From an illegal military occupation of Tibet, to repressive policies in Muslim East Turkestan, to stringent family planning that has included forced abortions, and the jailing of democracy and free speech activists, there is little to say positively about how China treats those who live inside their borders. Taking a look from Beijing towards the African continent and we see China's endless thirst for fossil fuels manifesting itself by propping up the Sudanese government and providing Khartoum with the money they need to perpetrate genocide in Darfur. These are not issues that the global community has taken lightly and it is because of their gravity that the political side of the 2008 Games will be a focal point over the next few weeks.

No one has ever cast doubt on the Chinese government's ability to put on a stunning show during the Olympics. Over $40 billion has been spent to make the Games more glamorous and high tech than ever before. Some of the architecture associated with the Games -- the brand new airport, the Water Cube that hosts swimming events, and the Bird's Nest Olympic stadium -- is on par with the most beautiful and interesting designs in the world. And when they can be seen amid Beijing's quantifiably unhealthy smog and haze, I am sure audiences worldwide will marvel at their grandeur.

I am a huge fan of the Olympic Games. I love the sport, learning about the life time of hard work athletes put into making themselves not just remarkable, but Olympian. I enjoy a bit of healthy nationalism, knowing that rooting for my American countrymen and women to defeat all others comes without a hint of worry that whatever patriotic country western songs (or pop anthems if you're in the UK) will be used to, say, build public sentiment to start a war of aggression. I even love watching analysts and pundits break down the details of a sport they probably haven't watched or commented on since the last Olympics four years prior.

But the enjoyment of sport is not diminished by the recognition that there are serious problems in China that demand global attention. China has invited the world in and we are coming, but let's not pretend we are making a compact when we turn on NBC or ESPN to not let our beliefs about human rights and freedom enter our mind.

I've been involved with efforts by Students for a Free Tibet related to the Olympics for over eight years. When focus shifted to the 2008 bid, we were there. And once the International Olympic Committee awarded China these Olympics, we shifted our efforts in recognition of the opportunity that would be afforded to Tibetans while the whole world was watching the Games.

You see, no occupied people have ever had their occupier given such a prime stage for global attention in modern history. While the Chinese government will seek to focus the world's attention on the bright lights, new stadiums, and rising Chinese medal count in Beijing, Tibetans and their supporters are working to shift that spotlight onto China's brutal occupation of Tibet.

Already this week activists from Students for a Free Tibet have taken a daring action that focused attention on Tibet. On Wednesday two Americans and two Britons unfurled giant banners (http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org/2008/08/06/birds-nest-banner-action/) from 120 foot high light poles outside of the Bird's Nest stadium, calling for Tibetan independence. Massive protests by Tibetans and their supporters in London, Toronto, New York, San Francisco, and Kathmandu (among many others) have garnered significant attention as well.

I don't know how coverage and global perceptions of these Olympics will change once the athletics start, but for now I believe the world has come to the conclusion that Tibet is an issue that must be at the forefront during the Games. Will further protests have an impact? With hundreds of millions of people watching the Games, I have no doubt that the continued public discussion about China's ongoing military occupation of Tibet can net results that help Tibetans move closer to independence.

As you watch the Olympics over the next few weeks, remember that the events on TV are not happening in a vacuum. And when images of protest and calls for Tibetan independence or religious freedom break into coverage of gymnastics or water polo, recognize that they are taking place because the world is just not ready to abandon morality and human dignity because there are Games on.

To stay up to date on the global action for Tibet during the Olympics, please visit freetibet2008.org (http://freetibet2008.org/) and Tibet Will Be Free (http://blog.studentsforafreetibet.org/), the official blog of Students for a Free Tibet.
Matt Browner-Hamlin is a Democratic internet strategist, writer, and consultant. He has worked with Students for a Free Tibet for over eight years, including two years as a full-time staff member. The views expressed are his alone and not the views of any of his clients.

[Dr Mindbender]

the olympics may be political, but it's nothing to do with promoting communism.

The leadership are only bothered about their own careers which is why they dont want to rock the 'status quo boat'.

[Bud Struggle]

http://www.news.com.au/common/imagedata/0,,5992594,00.jpg

Australia's basketball hopeful!

Personally, to hell with politics--I support the KIDS! :)

[Dr Mindbender]

just to satisfy my morbid curiosity are there any pin up girl pics from the more 'communistic' nations?

[Ismail]

China isn't socialist and has never been even though Mao got the closest. Considering that about 99% of RevLeft is going to agree with what I said, it's a waste of time to poke fun at Chinese 'socialism'. As Hoxha said on 'market socialism':

“ No country whatsoever, big or small, can build socialism by taking credits and aid from the bourgeoisie and the revisionists or by integrating its economy into the world system of capitalist economy. Any such linking of the economy of a socialist country with the economy of bourgeois or revisionist countries opens the doors to the actions of the economic laws of capitalism and the degeneration of the socialist order. This is the road of betrayal and the restoration of capitalism, which the revisionist cliques have pursued and are pursuing.”
- Enver Hoxha, Report on the Activity of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania (Tiranë: 8 Nëntori Publishing House, 1977), 8.

[spartan]

Well during the opening ceremony there was no images or mention of Chairman Mao or the revolution even though they were going through important periods of Chinese history!

I think this is China's way of saying "we are one of you now and are completely leaving behind our communist past" even though we have already known this for two decades now.

And thanks for the images of the athletes TomK:)

[Bud Struggle]

just to satisfy my morbid curiosity are there any pin up girl pics from the more 'communistic' nations?

They are NOT pin up girls, they are athletes of the highest calaber. It's about time we all take our minds out of the gutter and respect these people for being the best in the world at their sports. They represent the finest achievement of humanity--excellence without excuse or question.
:cursing:

[edit] I'll look around to see if the Commies grew any "hot" ones.

[Dr Mindbender]

They are NOT pin up girls, they are athletes of the highest calaber. It's about time we all take our minds out of the gutter and respect these people for being the best in the world at their sports. They represent the finest achievement of humanity--excellence without excuse or question.
:cursing:
hmm, really, so why did one of them reduce themselves to posing for that chauvinist rag FHM?


I'll look around to see if the Commies grew any "hot" ones.

lol! hypocrite! :D

[RedAnarchist]

[edit] I'll look around to see if the Commies grew any "hot" ones.

Didn't Poland use to be Communist?;)

[Schrödinger's Cat]

The tattoo on the Italian woman is more unattractive than Beijing smog.

[Lost In Translation]

Ah, screw this. It's not like anything China can do will convince the West that they've moved on. The West is constantly holding on to China's human rights record as justification for their show of dissent towards China. IMO, that really is a pretty bad excuse. The Opening Ceremonies have done more to make the West jealous than amazed.

[RHIZOMES]

Capitalist imperialist/revisionist. It's part of the trend of how every socialist state that has hosted the Olympics hosted it after their fall into revisionism (Moscow 1980, Sarajevo 1984)

[Bud Struggle]

Didn't Poland use to be Communist?;)

Poland's Olympic vollyball team!

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07Kfarx0552GV/610x.jpg

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8094/tokyo20084lp9.jpg

I support them for the great competitors that they are!

[Jazzratt]

Capitalist imperialist/revisionist. It's part of the trend of how every socialist state that has hosted the Olympics hosted it after their fall into revisionism (Moscow 1980, Sarajevo 1984)

Oh come on, if China ever was socialist it's fall into capitalism/"revisionism" certainly occurred long before the country hosting the 2008 olympics was selected.

[Bud Struggle]

Oh come on, if China ever was socialist it's fall into capitalism/"revisionism" certainly occurred long before the country hosting the 2008 olympics was selected.
I agree. But host cities are chosen almost 20 yeats in advance.

The Italian Sychronized Swimming team:
http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/00lgdHhg2S76o/610x.jpg

More great Olympians:

http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/9239/synchronizedswimmingfj2.jpg

http://blogs.columbiatribune.com/photo/wire_072607.jpg

How can you not love the Olympics??????

[Hiero]

Taking a look from Beijing towards the African continent and we see China's endless thirst for fossil fuels manifesting itself by propping up the Sudanese government and providing Khartoum with the money they need to perpetrate genocide in Darfur.

Why is China the only country expected to defy the nature of the world market for the sake of human rights?

For starters there is no genocide in Darfur, there is a civil war that is ethnic and regionaly based. Seconly China is just doing buisness, it does not care about the government in Sudan. Just like the United Snakes, it just does buisness, but infact it is the US that often goes beyond just buisness and activily will intervene or purposely prop up a dictator for the sake of buisness.

The idea that if China becomes more "democratic" it will not engage in buisness with other regimes engaged in civil wars is ridicilious. The USA is considered a muliti party/two party system, yet this never stoped their interactions and active support for less then humane governments.

This also shows the simplicity of Western criticism. It also shows their callousness and even psychotic nature in the belief that if a government shows some form of democracy it equals free and progressive. In Iraq we are meant to think there is progress because people can vote and in the mean time forgot the daily atrocities that occur, that during peace under Saddam would never have occured to that extent.

I just get the feeling when people criticise China they are trying really hard to deny the atrocities and daily suffering that happens in the world, or secondly that they are just pyschotic and can't empathise with these sufferings.

[Schrödinger's Cat]

Poland's Olympic vollyball team!

http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/07Kfarx0552GV/610x.jpg

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/8094/tokyo20084lp9.jpg

I support them for the great competitors that they are!

The one in the middle with short, brown hair is beautiful. The other ones don't match my taste. ;)

[RHIZOMES]

Oh come on, if China ever was socialist it's fall into capitalism/"revisionism" certainly occurred long before the country hosting the 2008 olympics was selected.

I worded it badly. :p

My point is most nations wouldn't even vote to let the Olympics occur in a real socialist state.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

China isn't socialist and has never been even though Mao got the closest. Considering that about 99% of RevLeft is going to agree with what I said, it's a waste of time to poke fun at Chinese 'socialism'. As Hoxha said on 'market socialism':
“ No country whatsoever, big or small, can build socialism by taking credits and aid from the bourgeoisie and the revisionists or by integrating its economy into the world system of capitalist economy. Any such linking of the economy of a socialist country with the economy of bourgeois or revisionist countries opens the doors to the actions of the economic laws of capitalism and the degeneration of the socialist order. This is the road of betrayal and the restoration of capitalism, which the revisionist cliques have pursued and are pursuing.”
- Enver Hoxha, Report on the Activity of the Central Committee of the Party of Labour of Albania (Tiranë: 8 Nëntori Publishing House, 1977), 8.



So you then have no problem with the US refusing to trade with Cuba?

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

Why is China the only country expected to defy the nature of the world market for the sake of human rights?

For starters there is no genocide in Darfur, there is a civil war that is ethnic and regionaly based.

In which civilians of the losing side are butchered with machethes.


This also shows the simplicity of Western criticism. It also shows their callousness and even psychotic nature in the belief that if a government shows some form of democracy it equals free and progressive. In Iraq we are meant to think there is progress because people can vote and in the mean time forgot the daily atrocities that occur, that during peace under Saddam would never have occured to that extent.

Because anyone who attempted to speak their opinion would be turned into asphalt.

Secondly, the government of Iraq has shown a willingness to combat the militias and terrorist groups which have been plaguing the country.

I dont know about you, but if a series of terror attacks were to occur in my country, I would rather take the risk of dying and be free than surrender my liberties to a totalitarian thug. Im not a pussy.

But thats just me.


I just get the feeling when people criticise China they are trying really hard to deny the atrocities and daily suffering that happens in the world, or secondly that they are just pyschotic and can't empathise with these sufferings.

Or that they are pointing out atrocities which are perpetuated by the Chinese government because they care about the people being persecuted.

But I agree, there is a definite double standard.

[Ismail]

So you then have no problem with the US refusing to trade with Cuba?I don't particularly care. Cuba isn't socialist, and the embargo is left over from the days of the Cold War when Cuba acted as a Soviet puppet. The only reason its still in place is because Cuba isn't an ally and the émigrés in Miami would get pissed. Cuba is integrated with the world economy, as evidenced by its trade with Canada among other states. Nevermind the tourism industry and how it handles sugar.

Now for some glorious quotes by Fidél:

"Capitalism sacrifices man, the Communist state sacrifices man.. Our revolution is not red, but olive-green, the colour of the rebel army". ('Guia del Pensiamento politicoeconomico de Fidel' (Guide to the Politico-economic Thought of Fidel); Havana; 1959; p. 48).

"Communism is the dictatorship of a single class and I... have fought all my life against dictatorship". (Hugh Thomas: 'The Cuban Revolution'; London; 1986; p. 432).

[Hiero]

In which civilians of the losing side are butchered with machethes.

That is irrelevent to the definition of genocide.

I don't think machetes are being used in the conflict, I thought both sides were armed with modern rifles.


Because anyone who attempted to speak their opinion would be turned into asphalt.

Secondly, the government of Iraq has shown a willingness to combat the militias and terrorist groups which have been plaguing the country.

I dont know about you, but if a series of terror attacks were to occur in my country, I would rather take the risk of dying and be free than surrender my liberties to a totalitarian thug. Im not a pussy

And here is proof. Where the dissator that is Iraq can be called progress.


Or that they are pointing out atrocities which are perpetuated by the Chinese government because they care about the people being persecuted.

Why the Chinese specifically though?


But I agree, there is a definite double standard.

..Has this been a waste of time?

[RGacky3]

Tom K, none of those chicks are hot in the least, I'm disapointed in you. ... Well maybe the Brazilians.


This also shows the simplicity of Western criticism. It also shows their callousness and even psychotic nature in the belief that if a government shows some form of democracy it equals free and progressive. In Iraq we are meant to think there is progress because people can vote and in the mean time forgot the daily atrocities that occur, that during peace under Saddam would never have occured to that extent.

Its possible to critisize the Chinnese government along with the other imperialistic nations in the world, critisizing the Chinese government does'nt not equate to supporting the western governments.


I think this is China's way of saying "we are one of you now and are completely leaving behind our communist past" even though we have already known this for two decades now.

I think your completely right, China's been simply playing along with the geo-political game for some time now.

[Bud Struggle]

Tom K, none of those chicks are hot in the least, I'm disapointed in you. ... Well maybe the Brazilians.

Well, we don't ALL live in LA where wannbe starlets are parading donwn the streets by the millions.:tongue_smilie::lol:

Also, I think the point is definitely clear--China is a Capitalist dictatorship with the trappings of Communism.

Does anyone think China ever was Communist--maybe under Chairman Mao?

[spartan]

Does anyone think China ever was Communist--maybe under Chairman Mao?
This should answer your question:
http://img.timeinc.net/time/asia/magazine/2006/1211/nixon_mao.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/c/cb/20050616114538!Nixon_Mao_1972-02-29.png

http://www.pjvoice.com/v26/photos/nixon.jpg

[Bud Struggle]

Ah, yes. Thought I must admit I wouldn't have shaken either of those guy's hands.

[Jazzratt]

This should answer your question:

Don't be stupid. While I think Chinese "socialism" was/is a complete farce a picture of two world leaders doing as they are diplomatically required to do isn't exactly the smoking gun.

[Dystisis]

To be honest I am a bit glad the Olympics is (are?) in China, if only because it teaches us (stupid Euro-centric people) more about the nation and it's billion citizens. In many ways I feel we in the West just don't hear enough from about 2/3rds of the world.

I don't really care about the sport though. But culturally and educationally, I think it is good it is in China. Now if only the media could stop obsessing with what is bad with the country, I'd like to hear from it's citizens.

[spartan]

I don't really care about the sport though. But culturally and educationally, I think it is good it is in China. Now if only the media could stop obsessing with what is bad with the country, I'd like to hear from it's citizens.

You would be able to if the journalists interviewing them didn't have government minders with them all the time, threatening anyone who is too critical of the government when speaking to the journalist.

[Hiero]

This should answer your question:
http://img.timeinc.net/time/asia/magazine/2006/1211/nixon_mao.jpg

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/archive/c/cb/20050616114538!Nixon_Mao_1972-02-29.png

http://www.pjvoice.com/v26/photos/nixon.jpg

Maybe that proves that Nixon was a Communist.

[Bud Struggle]

Maybe that proves that Nixon was a Communist.

It proves that slimeballs hang out together.