The Olympics and the Uyghurs: Who sacrificed the most?

[Harpy Eagle]

Actually, I don't have a choice where my tech is made.

and the athletes have no choice where the Olympics are held. Yet you think you are some how better than them.

Once again, the athletes have a choice on whether to compete within the borders of a genocidal regime or not.

And you have a choice whether to buy tech gear or not.

 

[TemplarKormac]

and the athletes have no choice where the Olympics are held. Yet you think you are some how better than them.

You're talking past me, which means you have no more arguments to make. They have a choice on where and when to compete. Nobody forced them to get on the planes to Beijing. They chose to. The American government didn't force them to go to China, they chose to of their own volition.

I don't think I am better than anyone, except for those who make conscious decisions to compete in countries that do unspeakable things to their people for the simple sake of achieving my ambitions.

And you have a choice whether to buy tech gear or not.

The monitor I'm using is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact my computer would be useless without a display.

The cellphone I have is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact that it is very useful in dire situations like electrical outages or medical emergencies.

The PC I have, which I built, is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact that I can conduct most of my household affairs from it, provided I have an internet connection. The fact that it can run AAA games on it is simply a pleasant side effect.

The headphone/mic that I have is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact that humans are naturally social, and I am not immune, no matter how anti-social I am. I can conduct phone calls from my PC with them. I like talking to people ... sometimes.

But I cannot help where these things are manufactured. I know the companies that do make them are not Chinese in origin, and the only thing that matters is that they are essential.

We could go on, but you have no more points to make, and I have 2 hours of a morning to make the most use out of. Good day.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

You're talking past me, which means you have no more arguments to make. They have a choice on where and when to compete. Nobody forced them to get on the planes to Beijing. They chose to. The American government didn't force them to go to China, they chose to of their own volition.

Just like you have the choices to buy Tech gear or not.

The monitor I'm using is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact my computer would be useless without a display.

It is not a necessity, lots of people do not own monitors.

The cellphone I have is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact that it is very useful in dire situations like electrical outages or medical emergencies.

It is not a necessity, lots of people do not own cell phones. A land line will work just fine.

The PC I have, which I built, is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact that I can conduct most of my household affairs from it, provided I have an internet connection. The fact that it can run AAA games on it is simply a pleasant side effect.

The headphone/mic that I have is a necessity, not "gear." That choice is dictated to me by the fact that humans are naturally social, and I am not immune, no matter how anti-social I am. I can conduct phone calls from my PC with them. I like talking to people ... sometimes.

none of these things are necessities. My mother for instance does not own a single one of these things. And she is some how still alive.

Perhaps you should look up the word necessity, you do not really seem to know what it means.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Just like you have the choices to buy Tech gear or not.



It is not a necessity, lots of people do not own monitors.



It is not a necessity, lots of people do not own cell phones. A land line will work just fine.



none of these things are necessities. My mother for instance does not own a single one of these things. And she is some how still alive.

Perhaps you should look up the word necessity, you do not really seem to know what it means.

Necessities are unique to different lifestyles. Your mother apparently does not require those things. I do. Necessities.

However, it isn't necessary for athletes to compromise their morals to compete in a country whose government perpetrates atrocities against their own citizens. Competing in the sport they love might be necessary to them, perhaps, but that can easily be done without having to compromise their morality.

But we're done.

You enjoy the rest of your day, okay? I clearly will be.

 

[TemplarKormac]

It is not a necessity, lots of people do not own cell phones. A land line will work just fine.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Necessities are unique to different lifestyles. Your mother apparently does not require those things. I do. Necessities.

Necessities are thing you cannot live without. You can live without a cellphone or CPU. Those are wants, not needs.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

View attachment 598360

Which means almost 10 million people in the country live without one.

 

[TemplarKormac]

Necessities are thing you cannot live without. You can live without a cellphone or CPU. Those are wants, not needs.

You are dictating my necessities based off of yours. Try again.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

You are dictating my necessities based off of yours. Try again.

No, I just happen to know what the word means. You do not

 

[TemplarKormac]

Which means almost 10 million people in the country live without one.

Which means 320 million do. Some based off wants, others on necessity. Not for you to dictate.

Aaand we're completely off topic now.

Moving on.

 

[TemplarKormac]

No, I just happen to know what the word means. You do not

I happen to know that word is more nuanced. Necessities to one person may not be to another.

Your static thinking is your undoing.

Goodbye!

 

[Harpy Eagle]

I happen to know that word is more nuanced. Necessities to one person may not be to another.

Your static thinking is your undoing.

Goodbye!

I thought you were leaving 10 post ago

 

[zaangalewa]

Tell God to get off his self righteous ass and help them out.

It's your job to help them (if they really need help, what I don't know). It's for sure not the job of god to do so, lazybone.

 

[zaangalewa]

Sounds like projection. ...

Explain to me please what you think what "projection" is - and what I did do concrete what lets you think this.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Just watched the Mix Ski Jump event. Slovenia just destroyed the rest of the world. Way to go little countries! Was awesome to watch.

 

[FA_Q2]

Do tell, by what definition of me watching the Olympics am I endorsing anything?

Here is the definition of "endorse". Lay out for me how me watching Ski Jumping says that I support or approve of the Chinese government.

View attachment 598288

Because you are funding it.

It fits #2 to a tee. You do understand how television makes it's money, right? Your eyeballs are a commodity, a commodity that you are giving the Olympics which is selling it to advertisers (with a few more steps in that chain).

 

[zaangalewa]

Olympia has to do something what is not sports - sportsmen have to do somehting what is not sports. God has to limit the freedom to do bad things. But the people who demand this have to do nothing - not even to try to communicate with people (best with Uyghurs on their own) who really know what's going on there.

 

[Harpy Eagle]

Because you are funding it.

It fits #2 to a tee. You do understand how television makes it's money, right? Your eyeballs are a commodity, a commodity that you are giving the Olympics which is selling it to advertisers (with a few more steps in that chain).

I am getting no money for watching, thus #2 does not fit me.

 

[FA_Q2]

How can I not when our government and almost every major US corporation have continually outsourced the manufacture of these products to China? The athletes have a choice in when or if and largely where they compete (at least here in the US and other democracies). Let me state that plainly. I don't necessarily have a choice in where the things I buy are made. Some foods and clothing perhaps, but most of the tech I have in my home have parts sourced from places like Taiwan, China or Malaysia, but are assembled here state-side.

But that isn't truly "made in America" anymore, is it? Only when you source the materials, manufacture the parts, and employ the labor directly from the US, can such a claim can be made, no?

Pretty much.

But there are alternatives and the real question here is how much time and effort have you gone through in order to lessen your financial support of China. You would be surprised how much of an impact you can make IF you went through the absolute ass pain it is to try and source your financial support.

I will admit that is a far more difficult thing to do rather than simply not watching the Olympics BUT your financial support pf China is also FAR more impactful to the population in question.

Indeed, it is that financial support that China gains almost all of its influence through.

Whoo boy. That's quite an assumption you make of me.

I don't. Pure and simple. The Olympics consist of athletes I hardly ever hear of outside of the American sports world. And if I do, they are athletes from sports I don't care for. Like skiing or skateboarding. The athletes I do support rarely if ever, compete in the Olympics, People like football and baseball players, mainly.

Didn't understand the second half of your question, though.

A correct assumption from the rest of the thread it seems but I think I did not articulate the point well as it seems you missed what I was getting at.

Your contention, if I read the thread correctly, is that we should not be supporting China though the Olympics and that includes the Athletes themselves. I am pointing out that you do not have the moral high ground, the ability to call out the athletes and those watching the Olympics, on this if you are also sending your money to China through other avenues that are not the Olympics.

Other avenues such as purchasing products from China.

And I also contend, as it is an underlying inherent assumption of the position I am taking, that mitigating that support is quite possible. I am not saying it must be eliminated entirely but most people support China in a SIGNIFIGANT monetary manner and could mitigate the VAST majority of that support. Sure, you may still have to get a care that has a Chineese computer chip in it, but China is also selling you dishes, cloths, silverware, pots, furniture, lightbulbs, shoes and a host of other crap.

Do you know where your lightbulbs were produced? Have you ever checked? Did you look at the manufacturer of the last plate or fork you bought?

Or did you simply pick those items up without checking like the vast majority of Americans? You can talk about your cell phone or your monitor all day but do you really think you can maintain the high ground if you are not sourcing all of these various products?

See the first response.

But then again, the comparison is flawed. Deeply. The reason? Choice. Our athletes can make one. Due to the economic lapses of my government, there is a 50/50 chance I will buy a product made in China or elsewhere abroad. American companies are American in name only now, outsorcing the manufacture of their products to other countries.

Ill give you that it is difficult to properly source your products. It, however, is far from impossible and even if there are things that are almost exclusive coming from China, how much effort have you put into minimizing that impact?

The comparison is not flawed, it is exactly the same thing. You are asking that we not support the Olympics and, by proxy, China because of transgressions they have made and I am, correctly IMHO, pointing out that the real support is not coming from the fleeting Olympic event but from active commerce with China supported by people just like us that want cheap shit.

That support is far more difficult to mitigate but it is equally far more impactful. That makes it valid.


And, I will restate as I am not trying to label you or attack you in any way, I am ASSUMING that you do not check these things because that is a safe assumption, almost no one does. IF that is not you then hey, you are one of the VERY few people that may actually have the high ground here. I think it is safe to say that is not the case though.

 

[FA_Q2]

I am getting no money for watching, thus #2 does not fit me.

Wrong gator. That is a naïve way of viewing commerce in general. You have a commodity, your time. You are selling that time for entertainment. The person you are selling that time to then sells it to an advertiser who sells that time to a company.

Money is a representation of value. Nothing more and nothing less. Your time IS money in another form in this instance. So is the entertainment.

So you do, indeed, fit number 2 definitionally weather you like it or not.