So far, the Olympics have been an open invitation to China-bash, a bottomless excuse for Western journalists to go after the Commies on everything from internet censorship to Darfur. Through all the nasty news stories, however, the Chinese government has seemed amazingly unperturbed. That’s because it is betting on this: when the opening ceremonies begin friday, you will instantly forget all that unpleasantness as your brain is zapped by the cultural/athletic/political extravaganza that is the Beijing Olympics.
Like it or not, you are about to be awed by China’s sheer awesomeness
Peacenik is a little disillusioned with the whole Olympic movement. This story by Naomi Klein paints a picture of a possible future for all of us. So while you're drinking your drinks, and eating your snacks, and marvelling at the grandiose opening of the games.....have a thought about 300,000 surveillance cameras, a police state, widespread arrests, and how all of this...the games and the police state are being brought to you courtesy of a partnership between the Chinese government and public U.S. corporations. But even Peacenik will be sucked into cheering for Canadians once the competition begins. Even Peacenik is a hypocrite.
