I had some thoughts concerning his first post. I am not here to dispute or agree with it - just offer another perspective, AND look for others to chime in.
Pilsner says "China has opened up the borders more now than ever before. They are cashing in on the greatest asset they have: LABOR. Billions of people just waiting to work at anything for about any wage. Mark my words, as that country develops fiscally it will become a power to be dealt with. It will not always be rooted in such basic financial principles."
What got me thinking was that China, or more specifically Beijing is getting ready to be inundated with thousands of foreigners for the summer Olympics in 2008. So, a traditionally communist country is going to have to open up to a lot of democratic thinkers that are going to be sharing their viewpoints and influencing all these billions of people with ideas that the Chinese govt never wanted them to hear. Little JingJing, the mascot shown here, might finally have a chance to understand the opportunities other mascots have (especially US mascots).
I have to hope that Jing Jing may start getting ideas about moving or revolting...plant the thoughts oh yee, Olympic tourists!I could go on, but thanks to our friends at Newsweek, they already put my thoughts into a well-written and concise article; published nonetheless. Below are some excerpts. I totally agree with all the commentary. The Olympics are scaring the crap out of the Communists - the exposure of their tactics and the country's current state will take an incredible amount of effort for them to monitor/control.
Excepts taken from "Games and Grievances" by Melinda Liu in Newsweek (5/9/2005, Vol. 145 Issue 19, p46-47, 2p, 1c)...
"The torch won't reach the city until Aug. 8, 2008, but pre-event jitters are rising already. Slobs in the stands are the least of Beijing's fears. What really unnerves China's leaders is the thought of mass unrest on live international TV. Chinese embassies around the world are already besieged by human-rights activists demanding big changes before the Games. Street demonstrations in China are practically everyday events lately, and activists are sure to get more feverish as 2008 approaches, bringing 30,000 international journalists to Beijing. "It's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to push for [their] interests," says Carnegie Endowment China watcher Minxin Pei. No one wants a replay of Mexico City in 1968, when security forces opened fire on student protesters, killing at least 30 on the eve of the Games. China's leaders wish even less for anything like the 1988 Seoul Olympics: mass protests leading up to those Games ultimately helped force South Korea's military rulers to give way to a freely elected civilian government."
Liu goes on...
"Prosperity and widening social freedoms have transformed China's attitudes. The frequency of collective acts of protest--though nothing like the 1989 Tiananmen unrest--has soared sixfold in the past decade. "It's kind of a push to democratize," says Jin Yuanpu of the Humanistic Olympic Research Center at People's University. People are less and less afraid to speak out against official corruption and bungling, and the run-up to 2008 has only encouraged such independent-mindedness. Liu says that when officials dreamed up catchphrases like "the green Olympics" and "the people's Olympics," no one guessed the public would take the words so deeply to heart. But many ordinary Chinese now believe they should have more say in how the place is run. "Their political sense is maturing," says Chen Gang, mayor of Beijing's Chaoyang district, where many of the 2008 events are to be held. "The Games are changing our society."
What it comes down to is that the Olympics are a great chance for communism to be finally exposed for what it really is. China never, USA forever.
China's mascots have nothing on the Gapper (Cincinnati red's mascot)
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