PHOTO: Arne Dedert/EPA
The Olympic Games have always had some sort of controversy bubbling around them. In 2000, protests about the mistreatment of aborigines broke out during the Summer Games in Australia. The China Games in 2008 received a lot of flack for the oppression in Tibet.
This year, the Winter Games in Vancouver are about to be the source of one of the largest demonstrations of Olympic opposition in history. And this time, it isn’t a human rights issue: It’s about corporate culture.
It’s no secret that the Olympic Games are often sponsored by some pretty major corporations (you can’t even go to a movie these days without getting the Coca-Cola snowball fight advertisement). According to the Los Angeles Times, this doesn’t sit right with quite a few people.
Building on years of disgruntlement over the increasingly corporate nature of the Games — and widespread alarm over a projected $5.6-billion price tag — a resistance network has vowed to post thousands of protesters outside venues, some of whom aim to disrupt the events.
Canadian officials have expressed that they plan to give the Olympic Resistance Network plenty of leeway, what with British Columbia’s respect for free speech. They realize that a lot of Vancouver natives are concerned about hosting the Games, considering the infrastructure will take years to pay off.
The protests — run mostly by “ma-and-pa people” — are going to include nonviolent rallies, lots of leaflets and street marches.
[Via: LA Times]
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“The protests — run mostly by “ma-and-pa people” ”
So are the protest being run by small business fighting against large corporations?
If so then good, maybe the Olympic games should work closer with local vendors.