oh please maximise profits minimise costs that's what it's all about, none of these comapnies give a sh!t.

Sponsors ARE involved with global politics, constantly pressuring governments to adjust policies in ways that would support their business interests.
Human rights should be more important than politics, and more important than atletic competitions. The right to life should trump the right to compete or to make tons of money.

"Are human rights more than politics, therefore giving everyone an obligation to pressure China, including corporations and consumers?"

No, no person or corporation is under obligation to do anything like that. But that doesn't mean it isn't sad that they don't.

steph if the world thought like that it would be a wonderul placce but a life is usually exependable.

i can't wait for the olympics to be over so we don't have to read about this stuff anymore.

yes, china violates human rights, but the olympic comittee decided to ignore that. if anyone should be pressured, its them. the athletes shouldn't be punished, they have nothing to do with it. as far as the companies go, there will be millions of people watching these events (i'm not one of them, but whatever) so i don't blame them for wanting to advertise esp. since its already received the go ahead. i don't think that makes them irresponsible.

But no one has to support people or corporations that look the other way or are actually complicit in cheapening life - the world is what we make of it.

Well, I think Superthin Bamboo Strips: "the bamboo strip that fits snuggly under the finger nails", has a lot to answer for, that's for sure!

I think a good point to remember is that these companies are in it to sponsor the Olympics, not China itself. They can't really help where the committee picked.

Steph that is true, we don't have to support them! But we shouldn't make the people who buy from them feel bad about their choices either...

I have to agree with Cabaker on this one. The Olympics have always been a time during which all participating nations put down their weapons and came together for a small period to participate in these games. I believe the Pro-Tibet groups have every right to protest, especially because it sheds light on the situation (and they know that and are taking advantage of this fact) but I guarantee once the games are over, we will forget about them. I don't think we should punish our athletes. They work incredibly hard to be where they are today and to take that away would be pointless. I most certainly agree we should be protesting the Olympic Committee's decision. In fact I was surprised when China was announced as host and there didn't seem to be too much backlash.

I kind of disagree Cabaker (that didn't need to be said, did it?)
I wouldn't advocate PETA style attacks on people, but I also don't believe in the 'everyone gets a trophy' feel good about yourself at all costs thing either. People should be aware that one of the most important ways they have to influence the world is how they spend their dollars. When people share concerns about companies and products and human rights, the companies tend to pay attention, if only a little. Coke was an important target of anti-apartheid boycotts that helped pressure the South African government.

boycotting the companies that are sponsoring the olympics is a waste of time. why not boycott all of the companies that make all of the crap we all buy and use everyday that are actually HEADQUARTERED in china and who are paying taxes to a government that violates human rights? this is a joke. we are so enmeshed with the chinese economy at this point, it's too late. we are literally like a baby suckling on china's massive teat. ever see that commercial for plastic? where everything just disappears around everyone because EVERYTHING is made from plastic? that's like our economy without china supporting it. poof!

Yesteryear, although your sentiment is based in altruism, it is naive to say the least and fearmongering protectionism to say the worst. When America started making products for the global market, I dare say we had such tight controls over our products. China is behind the US in many of the standards we take for granted, but to say we should boycott the world's largest economy is not only impractical, it shows an ignorance that is deafening.

I see what you're saying Steph, but I don't feel that we should make others feel badly if they choose to not boycott, as long as its a conscious choice.

I consciously boycott all sorts of things, but I don't think others are ignorant for not boycotting the same things I do.

raciccarone, i am afraid you missed my point. i am not suggesting we boycott china, rather i am pointing out that it is impossible for us to distance/detach ourselves from china, and therefore boycotting these 4 or 5 american companies simply for sponsoring this event is laughable in ITS naivety.

with regard to your generalization of the history of american manufacturing, you are correct that our regulations (both environmental and wage-related) are indeed more strict and have been for some time, however, that has been and will always be the work of our government. it is american retailers and distributors who have made the decision to procure manufactured goods, labor and other products from china. again. if anyone should be boycotted, it is them.

Yesteryear, what truly saddens me is the depth of your ignorance regarding international trade, China's production practices regarding regulation and the United States' policy pertaining to GATT. What you fail to realize is that since capital has become fluid, so too has manufacturing making boycotting anyone a pathetic stance. When you single out China as the sole prohibition of our conscience, perhaps you are making a more sinister accusation? I digress.

Fair enough - I wouldn't start walking up to people on the street to tell them the watch they bought helps oppress people in China, especially since I have only cut back on the amount of Coke I drink, but haven't cut it out completely.

raciccarone, sinister my accusation is not. on the contrary, though this does posit a complex moral situation, you are correct in suggesting a boycott would be fruitless.

the sad truth is that nary a millisecond passes in this great nation of ours that is not in some way, shape or form, supported on the broken down backs of chinese workers who live in filth, in shantytowns... without them we would still be eating grubs and writhing in the soils of our forefathers.

my call to action, to you raciccarone, whomever you are, and to everyone else here, is to boycott the chinese workers! come together with me. this can be done.

I can't shake the vision of a bag lady sitting on a bench rallying the racoon's support.

Yesteryear, I can not tell you how offensive that last statement was. My people, Russian Jews and Italian Catholics also built this country up from the depths of its rancid, putrid scummy bottom to the glittering heights you so enjoy today. I agree, the Chinese did do their part, but not the only part. There were the starving Irish peasants, the African-Americans (such as yourself), the angry and unclean French. We are all Americans and to boycott anyone is simply not our way. So my call to action to you, Yesteryear is to swallow your Coke and wear your foreign-made clothes with the pride of a people who long ago made America great.

"boycott the chinese workers!"

I would like to see a solution that wouldn't directly harm the livelihoods of billions of people just doing their jobs to survive. Sending a message to corporate leaders is fine, but not at the expense of the workers.

This country is supported on the backs of plenty of people all over the world, including in the United States itself, by the way.

raciccarone, boycotting may not be the american way, but it is my way. i am disheartened by your ability to take one statement of mine (i refer to my brazen and spirited call to arms against poor, disenfranchised chinese workers) and somehow connect it to your own rastafarian and icelandic ancestral line. you may want to live your life like a pony on a merry-go-round, but let me tell you, when lightening strikes you for your many logical indiscretions and stereotypes, it will burn a hole through your forehead so large i will be able to stick my foot through it. it is on that solemn and magical day that i will put down my blade in a peace offering to your people. no sooner.

Yesteryear, one statement is all I need to decode your ensyphilitic ramblings regarding China's trade practices, merry-go-rounds and Iceland. This is between you and me, leave those golden, fruitful people of the North out of this. They have done you now wrong! They subsist on halibut, sheep and their own Norse cunning. Take me! Take ME!

raciccarone, though i do appreciate your sincere offering of yourself in place of the kind and gentle ice kings of that northern land, i regret to inform you that you are not mine for the taking, nor are you yours for the offering. your kind and creed is of such a low and filthy station it would be beneath me to even empty my bowels on your finest china service. please refrain from any additional attacks against my personage, as i am off to deliver a message of hope and redemption to the people of East LA's Chinatown. tomorrow is a brighter day, raciccarone, and your misguided and malignant hatred will never serve to cast a shadow on the hope of a people.

Yesteryear, you have hoisted yourself on your own pitard. Good day, Madam. Good day!

are you guys the same person?

i feel like yesteryear is a product of racc's mind...

Or else there's one brain between them

Wouldn't that be sad? Commenting with yourself? No, I have free time, but not that much free time. I am afraid that yesteryear is another product of a broken educational system and probably abusive parents.

HOW DARE YOU

ok... now this just aint right!

you two must at least know each other!

maybe yesteryear is liberty or citizen's alter ego, so they can say salacious things anonymously!

Isn't the point of the boycott to make people that don't feel bad? I eat animals, and have also worn some, and I know that part of me feels bad. Not enough to change, but somewhat bad. If the point weren't to make others guilty, I would have walked through the picket line into the grocery store by my house in college, and my mom would have eaten grapes in the 60s. Without the guilt, without the outcry, the effect wouldn't be as great!

btw - short of them endorsing the new Hitler doll, I'm never giving up my Coke products... I'm an anti Pepsi addict.

Megm, I'm with you on the Coke and Pepsi thing, and I'm the kind of Coke drinker who gets a headache unless I have one.
I don't think you boycott to make people feel bad, the point is to inspire change in behavior. So, you cut back on Coke and you write to the company and say 'I'm cutting back because I don't like supporting (whatever thing is ticking you off). I like you and hope you change soon so I can drink more Coke.'
I think you don't cross picket lines to show your support for the people on strike - again, Dear Company, I'm not crossing your workers until...' The trouble is a lot of times we get so passionate about an issue we become scolds (myself included) and then it does end up becoming a who's a better person contest.

i was having fun with raciccarone becuase he/she seems like a smart person... but in all honesty my first remark was what i really think. i dont see the point in boycotting the olympics when its the corporations who are at fault. i'm a little ashamed of all the people on my side of the fence (liberal-ish) who were bashing the entire idea of the olympics - it's one of the oldest traditions we've got. it's changed over the years (i wonder who sponsored the first one? the bread bakers' union??), but it's an important part of global relations.

sorry if i freaked anyone out. and no, i do not know rac or any of the sugar folks personally. wish i did though! this site prevents me from hanging myself each day as i sit at work.

"this site prevents me from hanging myself each day as i sit at work"

Yeah, me too.

Stephly, oh, ultimately I agree. Bad syntax - the point IS to make change... by getting others to agree, and, if they do, using that agreement to guilt them into action to get a bigger voice and effect that change.

Ultimately, we're all accountable to ourselves, and I really hope everyone asks themselves if they can be a better person... and not judge others.

These companies probably all do significantly more than $80 million in business with China on a regular basis. Not sure why their sponsorship of the Olympics would make them responsible for human rights violations while their continued relationships with China don't.

One of the main reasons the Olympic games were revived and made into an International competition was to bring the world together in peace, acknowledging differences but setting aside disagreements. It doesn't sit well with me to use that platform for politics.

Oh, and for the record I generally agree with these same activitists. I do try to boycott China. I do support Tibetan independence efforts. I do think China's human rights record at home and abroad is abysmal. My only issue is interfering with what is supposed to be a peaceful, non-political International event.

LOL!!! I'm sorry I'm reading these comments and LMAO because I'm picturing this wrinkly faced old women with a cig. hanging out of her mouth argueing with a racoon. Sorry I was board.

It was the best part of the day.

I don't even know what to say after all that mess. For once I'm speechless. Quiet cabaker27.

I have to agree with NYFashinsta. The Olympics is a time to lay down arms and come together in at very a least a symbolic comradery. Look at the Olympics of 32 in Berlin.

yesteryear: As for our economic relationship with China you started off all right but then you derailed like the 4:00 into Calcutta.

That was quite possibly the most amusing exchange I've seen on this site. Excellent work.

I don't think that boycotting the sponsors is the answer to this. The mistake, if there was one, was made when the committee selected China to host the games. No going back now.