Olympics

dresden8

So

In light of the protests in London, where do Irish *******ns stand on the atrocites committed by the Chinese government on the tibetans and against their own people.

Is there a political dimension to "I'm just a shooter" I'm apolitical, where's me sponsorship.

Or is there a sense of "em, this is not quite right."

Just wondering.

rrpc

dresden8 wrote: »

So

In light of the protests in London, where do Irish *******ns stand on the atrocites committed by the Chinese government on the tibetans and against their own people.

Is there a political dimension to "I'm just a shooter" I'm apolitical, where's me sponsorship.

Or is there a sense of "em, this is not quite right."

Just wondering.

This is kind of slightly off topic, but in the interests of open debate the first question is what's the difference (political awareness speaking) between an Irish *******n and an Irish person?

If you asked any sportsperson who had qualified for 2008, would they boycott the games to make a political point?, I'd say they'd have a difficult time with the question. There have been many such 'gestures' made in the past; Moscow Olympics being one of them, and I'm not sure if they hurt anyone outside the sportspeople that are denied the opportunity to compete.

Amnesty International have a few videos depicting sportspeople to make a political point about Chinese human rights issues. One of them shows an Olympic pistol shooter about to execute a prisoner. I can't find that video anymore, it seems to have disappeared. There is a poster version of it here.

OK, found it here on YouTube.

Sandy22

So

In light of the protests in London, where do Irish consumers generally stand on the atrocites committed by the Chinese government on the tibetans and against their own people.

Is there a political dimension to "I've no idea where it's made" I'm apolitical, but it's better value than ever.

Or is there a sense of "em, this is not quite right."

Just wondering.



John 8:7

bunny shooter

dresden8 wrote: »

So

In light of the protests in London, where do Irish *******ns stand on the atrocites committed by the Chinese government on the tibetans and against their own people.

Is there a political dimension to "I'm just a shooter" I'm apolitical, where's me sponsorship.

Or is there a sense of "em, this is not quite right."

Just wondering.

Atrocities, as does charity begins at home

Dr_Teeth

It's a individual moral question imo.

Shooter A might say "We shouldn't turn our back on the Chinese, only by engaging with them, trading with them and leading by example can we hope to improve things. Sanctions and boycotts haven't helped with Iran or North Korea or Cuba and they won't help here"

Shooter B might say "The Chinese should be sent a clear message that their actions are unacceptable, they can't be allowed to use the Olympics as a propaganda coup"

Neither view is wrong, and neither is right.. there's most likely no perfect response to the situation. Shooter A should be able to go and compete if he wants to. Shooter B should stay at home if he wants to.

Neither the government nor the Olympic Committee here in Ireland should be trying to legislate morality by boycotting the games en mass.

As for the rest of us, we're free to ignore the games on TV, and refuse to buy Chinese goods or anything with Olympic branding this year if we feel strongly enough about it.

Sparks

Decisions like whether or not to boycott the Games are rarely taken by individual athletes. Perhaps that's not how it should be done. Perhaps the athletes themselves should be the people who decide whether or not they should sacrifice decades of training and hardship to make a political point by not attending, or should make a political point by getting half-way round the track during the opening ceremonies before unfurling a Tibetan flag alongside the Irish one, or carrying Amnesty posters or whatever. I don't know. What I do know is this:
1) Only two shooters in this country, maybe three, have any realistic hope of getting a medal in Bejing. They don't post here.
2) The very idea that the rest of us should tell them they should boycott the games because of our morals is in itself immoral and unethical.
3) It's not certain whether you can make more of an impact with a protest by going or not going - but history remembers Jesse Owens a hell of a lot more than Steve Prefontaine (and Prefontaine didn't even get to choose not to go to Moscow). And also don't forget that the first Irish flag flown for an olympic victory was flown as a protest by Irish athletes in 1896 - had they not gone to Athens, the protest couldn't have been made.

rrpc

Sparks wrote: »

3) It's not certain whether you can make more of an impact with a protest by going or not going - but history remembers Jesse Owens a hell of a lot more than Steve Prefontaine (and Prefontaine didn't even get to choose not to go to Moscow). And also don't forget that the first Irish flag flown for an olympic victory was flown as a protest by Irish athletes in 1896 - had they not gone to Athens, the protest couldn't have been made.

You could add Malcolm Cooper to that list as well since this is a shooting forum. Cooper was tipped to get a medal in the Moscow Olympics, but of course didn't because of the boycott.

He went on to win the next two Olympics in three positional shooting, so the pundits may well have been right.

Sparks

To give this some topical flavour, it's hard to know if the Irish target shooting contingent not going would be a more effective protest than the French police having to extinguish the Olympic torch four times on it's way through Paris today due to protestors.

freddieot

Would it not be better if the media organisations, many of them currently hinting and\or bitching that sportsmen should not attend, decided through their associations to boycott the coverage of the games ! China would be hit bad by some sort of media boycott. The games are about ceremony, showcase and prestige in the face of the whole world. They would be hard hit if from a certain date there was no mention in the newspapers or the TV media.

Oh sorry - far too much money and profit involved there ...Can't have the media moguls loses out on a few extra billion here and there in advertising. Better that a guy that trains for years misses his perhaps one chance for an olympic performance but at least that will make interesting headlines as well.

Kryten

The best way to hurt China is economic sanctions, ban on trade, just like South Africa during the Apartheid days.

If the Western governments wont do the above, obviously for financial reasons, then dont use a sporting tournament for political protests. This boycott of the Olympics will only serve hurt the competitors.

jwshooter

Kryten wrote: »

The best way to hurt China is economic sanctions, ban on trade, just like South Africa during the Apartheid days.

If the Western governments wont do the above, obviously for financial reasons, then dont use a sporting tournament for political protests. This boycott of the Olympics will only serve hurt the competitors.

i have shot for my country many times .and when i put on my green vest i become part of a team .not a political one ,a irish one shooting for my sport my team mates and country. it must be a unreal feeling taking that breath just before you fire your first shot at the games .