China’s recent efforts in Tibet to thwart the nefarious plot set in motion by that most infamous of evil-doers (Peace Nobel Prize recipient 14th Dalai Lama, in case you hadn’t seen through this two-faced monster for who he was) apparently seemed to have awaken some conveniently fast-asleep Human Rights concerns among nations taking part in the Olympic Games this Summer. News in France and elsewhere in Europe abound with competitors in rather forgettable disciplines (pole vault anybody?) voicing their concerns about the ethics of the whole thing…
Frankly, I find it all rather funny (or at least: would find it funny, if we weren’t talking about a massive PR operation unequivocally benefitting a dictatorial government).
If you still have some delusion about the International Olympics Committee upholding some sort of code of ethics or caring for democratic values and such, you have clearly been sleeping through the past hundred years.
Forget the widespread corruption, the notorious bribing, the less than inspiring list of IOC members (a good half of which sits atop one minor autocratic regime or other) etc. etc. For fuck sake, do you know who was the head of the IOC for more than 20 years until 7 years ago (still Honorary President for Life)?
Ask your Spanish friends what they think of Mr. Juan Antonio Samaranch. Ask them, for instance, how they feel about Juan’s former boss and good pal: el Caudillo de la Última Cruzada y de la Hispanidad, also known as the guy who butchered thousands and kept Spain in an iron fascistic rule for 40 years. Before his gig at the IOC, Juan Antonio was a prominent political figure in Dictator Franco’s regime (and stayed involved, long after joining the IOC full-time). Best to say that, despite an innate dislike for those dirty heathen Commies, there were certain Human Rights abuses he very much could live with.
The IOC is not a humanitarian organization, they are a for-profit corporation, and a very conservative-right one at that.
So, shout all you want about the World’s powers leaving their principled Human Rights concerns at the door in the name of Olympic Brotherhood and Coca Cola partnerships, but please spare me the part about how you’d expected better from the IOC. Chances are, the last time the IOC expressed an ounce of concern for the ethics of the Games, you weren’t even a glimmer in your dad’s left testicle…
“The IOC is not a humanitarian organization, they are a for-profit corporation, and a very conservative-right one at that.”
Huh??? “Fascism” and “conservative right” are far from synonyms. Or am I misunderstanding you?
“Fascism is an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole. Fascists seek to forge a type of national unity, usually based on (but not limited to) ethnic, cultural, racial, and/or religious attributes. Various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: patriotism, nationalism, statism, militarism, totalitarianism, anti-communism, corporatism, populism, collectivism, autocracy and opposition to political and economic liberalism.” – Wikipedia
Um. I wouldn’t say that fascism and the conservative right are “FAR” from synonymous. Not if you’re talking about the United States. Perhaps the British or Canadian version of conservative right is different. But if you’re talking about the good ol’ US of A, it’s pretty darn close if not dead on. And I’m talking about the reality of the movement not it’s talking points.
“an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers the individual subordinate to the interests of the state, party or society as a whole.”
Which party is it that is continuously confiscating money from individuals and redistributing it for the good of “the people”? Which is the party that tries to deny rights to individuals (e.g. gun rights) for the good of “the people”?
“Fascists seek to forge a type of national unity, usually based on (but not limited to) ethnic, cultural, racial, and/or religious attributes.”
Which party endlessly lumps people into groups (or “communities” — the black “community”, the gay “community”, etc. etc.) rather than looking at individuals as individuals? No matter who you are, your most important attribute is what group they can lump you into politically, “usually based on (but not limited to) ethnic, cultural, racial, and/or religious attributes.”
“the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: patriotism, ”
That first one is meaningless, for surely they’re not claiming that patriotism is fascism! If dissent is patriotic, is dissent fascist?
“nationalism, statism,… totalitarianism,… populism, collectivism, autocracy”
All hallmarks of the American political left. “Totalitarianism” means government control. The conservative ideology generally calls for _less_ government, not more. (NOTE: GWB is a Republican, but he is NOT conservative!) Meanwhile, Hillary Clinton keeps calling for the State (i.e. the Feds) the fix everything. The President, she recently said, should be the “Commander in Chief of the Economy”. She thinks the government should have monopoly control over the health care industry — for the good of “the people”. That is statism. That is collectivism.
The words I …ed over:
“militarism” — Well… okay, got me there. Righties do tend to favor strong military, whereas lefties sometimes seem to think we can do without entirely.
“anti-communism” — Yeah, but I disagree with that as a hallmark of fascism. Communism is just the further extension of “nationalism, statism,… populism, [and] collectivism” You can’t ultimately be PRO those things and ANTI communist. They’re kissing cousins.
“corporatism” — Had to look that one up. American Heritage Dictionary defines that as “control of a state or organization by large interest groups” Smells strongly of both political parties to me, but more the left (unions et al) than the right.
Finishing up… “…and opposition to political and economic liberalism.”
That’s Classical “Liberalism”, not the modern misuse as a synonym for “leftism”. Classical Liberalism is pretty much what today we call “libertarianism” — a strong belief in strong individual rights and relatively weak government.
I’m basically a libertarian myself, and associate MUCH more strongly with the precepts of modern conservatives than that of modern leftists (with a few specific exceptions).
Heh. Don’t think I’ve ever fisked a comment before! 🙂
Stephen: I take your “huh?” and I raise it a “HUH??”… *where* in the world did you read the word “fascist” in my original entry. I’ll help you with that one: nowhere. Because I didn’t write it. Neither did I even imply it, as should be pretty obvious by the choice of words: “conservative-right” as you tautologically point out, is not the same as fascism, even when one could debate ideology proximity in that area. I pointed some very blatant and factual associations between far-right government officials and the IOC as quick rebuke to the notion that the IOC might actually care about spreading peace and democracy across the world (whether it was even its point to begin with, can probably be discussed). Note that I didn’t even mention the Berlin olympics, lest my entry automatically end itself in a Godwin point, but I could have.
As for the rest… I honestly don’t think I would really care to get into that vastly off-topic debate about governments, liberty etc. etc. (but please don’t mind me guys and feel free to go at it… my comment area for this entry is all yours).
One day, when I will have lots of time (to write the entry and deal with the endless debate sure to follow), I will try and post my personal thoughts on the whole matter of libertarianism and people that call themselves of it, particularly in the US. For the time being, I think I could sum it up (very poorly) by mentioning how much they make me think of spoiled and selfish little kids (which ironically, most of them happen to be former of). I would take any die-hard libertarian (read: the ones that equate government-sponsored taxation of their income to barbaric slavery imposed on the meek and humble) more seriously if they’d move to Somalia and tried to make a living in such fully-deregulated paradise country for a while (bonus point if they did so, *without* keeping their cushy upper-middle-class white-collar job)…
You may now resume trolling each other…
You paint the IOC with it’s association with a man “who butchered thousands and kept Spain in an iron fascistic rule for 40 years”. You then turned around and called it “conservative right”. The juxtaposition gives a very strong implication that the two are the same, or similar.
So, technically you didn’t say “fascist”, you said “fascistic”, which is simply the adjective form of the same word.
Oh and in your new comment you describe that statement in your post as “point[ing to] some very blatant and factual associations between far-right government officials and the IOC”. In the post you use the rterm “fascistic” and in your comment you describe _that_ statement as describing “far right… officials”. You’ve actually turned an implication into a flat statement, in the process of claiming that you made no such statement in the first place. (What’s bigger than “HUH??”? Perhaps “HHUUHH???”? :p )
Peace.
As a “true Olympian” born in the state of Ilias, Greece I applaud your website. We all must speak up for the corruption that is rampant within the IOC. The incompetency of the IOC to spread the ideals of the Olympics, the words of the Greek people and Baron de Coubertain.
I am personally ashamed that my country did not speak up of the Olympics been held in China. Than again the IOC instead of having its headquarters in Pyrgos, Ilias or Olympia, Ilias has its headquarters in Lausaune, Switzerland to thus hide the money and the corruction that this organization is famous for.
The holding of the Olympics in China are a complete joke. This is a ruthless country that does not believe in the principals that the Olympics stand for. It will be worse than the Olympics of 1936 and Hitler. They have already started wrong. For starters, it is not only the killings in Tibet that the world must know about, but the thousands of Chinese who were pushed, shoved and threatened to move from their homes to the countryside from Beijing in less than fair market prices, and today, “an outspoken Chinese civil rights activist was sentenced Thursday to 3 1/2 years in prison on subversion charges, a ruling that drew international criticism ahead of the Beijing Olympics.”
I have no doubt that these will be the worst Olympics. Beijing is famous for its pollution. The smog is terrible and the rivers are choked with dangerous chemicals. All said, it is unhealthy to the athletes to compete. Thus, I envision few World and Olympic records to be set. As a matter of fact many nations are going to Japan to train for the run up to the Olympics.
Additionally, Beijing is going to be a police state during the Olympic Games. The Chinese government without a doubt will remove or imprison “undesirable” to the games. Tourists to the Olympics will be escorted and spied on by the Chinese police. Thus limiting their movements and interaction with “real Chinese.”
In conclusion, I am ashamed that the Olympics been held in China. They say that no politics be interwined with sports. That is what Jacques Rogge want us to believe. However, the facts are the Chinese are making the Olympics a showcase of their brutal regime that they are. Its a sad state of affairs.
Jacques Rogge is a modern day Avery Brundage. Instead of speaking up, he keeps a low profile, takes the money and runs. He does not speak up for the athletes, the ideal of the Olympics