What complicates things is that China is hosting the Olympics this summer. We don't want to visit a country that has invaded another and is tormenting its inhabitants (which means the UK will have to pull out of Afghanistan and Iraq inside of four years), and so people are urging our Canadian athletes to boycott the games.
Easy to say, if you haven't spent your life being the best fucking speedwalker in the Great White North. However, if you work full time (because we don't support our athletes) and train full time and forsake a real life with hobbies and friends and shit so you can get a medal in synchronized swimming (hopefully not solo, because in my opinion that sport's a bit odd), then it's tougher to say, "Ah, what the hell. It'll happen in four more years, and the Brits are our allies."
But what really chaps my ass is saying so smugly that the Chinese are assholes and we shouldn't go play with them because of their human rights record. Hang on a sec. Let's take a quick look at our own:
- Invaded continent and largely wiped out the people who already lived there, forced them to convert to Christianity, raped them to make half-breed babies, hanged their leaders when they objected to colonialism, put up religious schools that abused them sexually and physically, in addition to wiping out their culture;
- Promised to cut poverty and then made the rich richer while a fifth of Canadian children live in poverty;
- Invaded Afghanistan because some Saudi attacked the U.S.;
- Trade with China VERY liberally;
- Did NOT boycott South Africa;
- etc.
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