Is A Boycott The Answer?

Look, it's not that I don't sympathize with the cause and the people who suffer through it and do not mean any offense to this, but I don't think Boycotts solve anything, it just hurts the companies and makes them lose money; which is a problem, especially in this economy. (most of those pictured are American companies so I go by American finances mostly)

Boycotting the companies just seems the wrong way to go, protests and strikes; MAYBE! But full on boycotts just seem a little too extreme for mostly American companies who actually are struggling, we live in a world where the fall of one company can change the world as we know it. Do they abuse their powers sometimes; yes, no doubt, but they also help build the economy and create more jobs than anything, a strike seems more logical and within balance.

 

A boycott won't solve anything, it didn't stop the Olympics in Moscow 1980 when the USA boycotted, it won't stop Sochii.

The Olympic Games are a sporting event, not a political event and the Olympic Commitee do not get involved in the politics of the host nation, so it is what it is.

The spot light for 2 weeks is going to be on sports in Sochii, the eyes of the world will be focused on Russia...billions of eyes and ears...do the math...less eyes watching =?????

 

Yes I agree that that sort of boycott is nice on paper but tried and tested and people just don't care. We need to start boycotting Russian produce - when the tough times hit their economy they'll be more likely to sit up and listen - and the Olympic committee need to get the games moved somewhere else already!

 

It won't have the desired effect, as has been stated.

Just by doing a quick Google search it becomes apparent that Russia's primary exports are fossil fuels, timber, and minerals. Boycotting of produce (or this vodka boycott nonsense ).will not have a huge impact.

 

Yes, I'd support such a thing. (coke, I'll miss you so). The thing is, it is political, because giving russia the olympics is legitimising their politics, which are best described as evil. We don't have political power over them, so we exercise the only power we have. Furthermore, the message of boycotting the sponsors is much more powerful than the actual effect of not buying their products.

I don't support the vodka boycott, though, since they support our rights.

I'm not entirely sure of how to boycott visa, though. How am I supposed to buy anything?

 

'It has always been my dream to travel to Russia and soak up their culture' - said no one ever

 

In 2011, international tourism accounted for 2.9% of GDP.

Here's where I got the tourism stat from: Russia - International tourism

 

Boycotts won't work for Russia. They don't like the West - they would twist a boycott from the West into a positive feature of their regime, which is exemplified in not incoporating Western ideals.

Boycotts won't do anything for the victims in Russia. Removing the massive international presence of the Olympics seems like a perfect opportunity for things to get worse over there. I can't help but think that the idea of a boycott comes from a selfish standpoint of trying to make yourself look better, because it is obvious it won't help the victims at all.

Having the Olympics remain in Sochi and then using them as a platform for protest is a far better idea than just sticking our fingers in our ears by using boycotts and changing venue.

 

I've seen quite a few petitions calling for a boycott (which I haven't signed) but none to the olympic committee asking them to move the games. Has anyone seen a legitimate one flying around which I (and hopefully other people here) could sign?

 

Make them sign laws for at least the Olympics so some homos can compete and be fuxing brilliant!
Something has to be done because it is unfair on athletes who are queer and want to compete!

 

What? No; this is the Olympics; not the world-wide high school political debate; the Olympic committee does not care or have any comments on the governments political ideals, just the support for them joining in the Olympics. So in reality; The Olympic Committee does not care.

 

Actually I changed my mind... I'm for the boycott

If they cannot be a civil nation and play fair (at least for the Olympic ffs!)
Putin can go to hell.

---------- Post added 9th Aug 2013 at 10:22 PM ----------

Put pressure on their funding of the Olympics. Makes sense to me. Then they can go get fucked u.u

The end~

 

Just because they don't care doesn't mean that they shouldn't care. They have a real opportunity to make a political statement and change for the better here. They have more influence than they realistically deserve, and if they're not prepared to use it to help make the world a better place then they're a bunch of egotistical, sycophantic, avaricious morons who would give me even more of a reason to hate the Olympics.

 

In the constitution of the IOC, it states that it will uphold the values of equality and fair play, neither of which Russia is upholding right now. However, I agree that a boycott isn't right. There needs to be a massive discussion at the Olympics over this, and turning up en masse for gay rights is what's called for to show that such a stupid law won't stop anyone from competing and supporting. However, I do recognise that Russia is quite good at squashing protests quite efficiently...they have had a lot of practice... :/ it's tough. I live in Britain, where, despite the lunacy of the government half the time, it's still a somewhat sane country....I couldn't imagine being gay or bi or transgender or a lesbian in Russia right now, I really couldn't.

 

“Let us realize that in fact, sport is cultural. It does not exist in a bubble outside society or politics. The idea that sport and politics don’t connect is worse than disingenuous, worse than stupid. It is wickedly, willfully wrong. Everyone knows politics interconnects with everything for “politics” is simply the Greek for ‘to do with the people’.
An absolute ban on the Russian Winter Olympics of 2014 on Sochi is simply essential. Stage them elsewhere in Utah, Lillyhammer, anywhere you like. At all costs Putin cannot be seen to have the approval of the civilised world.

He is making scapegoats of gay people, just as Hitler did Jews. He cannot be allowed to get away with it.” - Stephen Fry

LGBTQ* athletes are literally putting their lives at risk if they choose to attend. This is unacceptable. This IS a political issue, and a very important one. The world can NOT show support for this behaviour in ANY WAY.



~~~~~I stole this from my friend on facebook u.u

 

As usual, everything that Stephen Fry says is correct. But that is not the same thing as a boycott. A boycott would achieve nothing and would amount to nothing more than cutting off our nose to spite our face.

 

this is bullshit. non of these companies would be hit very hard by a boycott. & the economy is already fcked, it can go ahead and collapse for all I care, I will not miss it.

 

I read something earlier that had a good idea which wasn't boycotting the olympics, which I agree would achieve nothing and from Putin's point of view would make other nations seem weaker. Instead let Russia host the Olympics, but simply ban them from it this to me is the perfect situation, it shows that no countries are backing down but sends a message to Putin and the Russia that no one respects them for these absurd laws. Apparently this has been done before (when South Africa did not include white people in their team) and the IOC are well within their rights to ban Russia from the Olympics. Also the ICO will be electing a new president on September 10th and depending on the outcome we may well see some action taken against Russia. I haven't done too much research into the validity of the information in the article so I'm not sure how plausible it would be to do this, but who knows could be one possibility!

Don't Boycott: Ban Russia From Their Own Winter Olympics | Cyd Zeigler

There's the article for anyone interested.