Currently supporters of Tibetan autonomy or full independence seek to make use of the Beijing 2008 Olympics to attract attention to their cause and to press their case. Nor are they alone in doing so, just as various groups have done likewise in the past. We should expect this to continue as the Olympics are a global media phenomenon.
Even people who are sympathetic to some of these causes complain that these protests "politicize the Olympics."
But they miss the essential root of politicized Olympics. The Olympics are organized on the basis of nation-states rather than individuals freely associated together. Why should there be Russian, Chinese, USA or such teams?
Why not a Nokia team or a Google team like the Tour de France?
I was relieved that New York City lost the Olympics, knowing that massive amounts of taxpayer dollars would be stolen for its support.
Let’s separate sports and state. No government funds for sports anywhere. Reject sports welfare, corporate or otherwise. Getting states out of the Olympics would lessen the politics. Get rid of the national flags. The harmony of nations that is invoked by the "Olympic ideal" is incompatible with the statist organization of the Olympics. Let the competitors come together as free individuals.
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(About the author: Richard Cooper is the export/import manager for a Long Island manufacturing firm. He is a Life Member of the International Society for Individual Liberty www.isil.org and an active leader in the Libertarian Party in the United States www.lp.org and New York www.lp.org. He is active in opposition to the Atlantic Yards Brooklyn Nets Arena scheme which involves corporate sports welfare and eminent domain).