Comments on: Countdown to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics http://www.paulwoods.ca/2010/countdown-to-the-vancouver-2010-olympics Personal sandbox of Paul Woods, Developer Tue, 27 Apr 2010 21:33:13 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 By: Paul http://www.paulwoods.ca/2010/countdown-to-the-vancouver-2010-olympics/comment-page-1#comment-22 Paul Fri, 12 Feb 2010 07:00:00 +0000 http://www.paulwoods.ca/2010/countdown-to-the-vancouver-2010-olympics#comment-22 I don't entirely disagree with you. I also don't believe that the issues are as black and white as you suggest. The difference between the IOC and the protesters is that the IOC has control of the message. So... Why don't you take that control back with positive messaging rather than carpet bombing the media with the same old messages? What do I mean by that? Ok so the majority celebrate what the Olympics are supposed to be and by that I'll assume you mean celebrating the world joining together in sports and athletes. So my idea is that you find yourself some positive role model athletes willing to visit homeless and not just in a soup kitchen like the public thinks, but in the truth of day to day life. For example ask somebody to follow a pan handler for a day and endorse him to people passing by. Imagine a Olympic athlete saying to you on your way to work, "Can you spare Joe a dollar so he can buy shelter and food tonight?" That would get peoples attention. If not from the CTV then at least the some foreign press looking for something to offset the gloss over of IOC media machine. I just don't see how standing around being angry at the Olympics in front of a camera does any good. It makes me angry to see these issues marginalized this way. In my opinion there is a huge opportunity being wasted and that's part of why I'd hate to be a protester today. I don’t entirely disagree with you. I also don’t believe that the issues are as black and white as you suggest.

The difference between the IOC and the protesters is that the IOC has control of the message. So… Why don’t you take that control back with positive messaging rather than carpet bombing the media with the same old messages?

What do I mean by that? Ok so the majority celebrate what the Olympics are supposed to be and by that I’ll assume you mean celebrating the world joining together in sports and athletes. So my idea is that you find yourself some positive role model athletes willing to visit homeless and not just in a soup kitchen like the public thinks, but in the truth of day to day life. For example ask somebody to follow a pan handler for a day and endorse him to people passing by. Imagine a Olympic athlete saying to you on your way to work, “Can you spare Joe a dollar so he can buy shelter and food tonight?” That would get peoples attention. If not from the CTV then at least the some foreign press looking for something to offset the gloss over of IOC media machine.

I just don’t see how standing around being angry at the Olympics in front of a camera does any good. It makes me angry to see these issues marginalized this way. In my opinion there is a huge opportunity being wasted and that’s part of why I’d hate to be a protester today.

]]> By: a protester http://www.paulwoods.ca/2010/countdown-to-the-vancouver-2010-olympics/comment-page-1#comment-21 a protester Fri, 12 Feb 2010 06:15:14 +0000 http://www.paulwoods.ca/2010/countdown-to-the-vancouver-2010-olympics#comment-21 As a protester, I have to say that we're living in different realities here, or at least using words with different meanings. The things the people celebrate are not the things we protest, even if we all call them "Olympics". The majority celebrates what the Olympics are supposed to be. The minority protest (many aspects of) what they are in practice. Sports are great, a sense of being part of something large is great, welcoming people from all over the world is wonderful. I think we all agree here. Displacing natives, doubling homelessness, stopping critical reporters at the border is not so great. We probably also all agree here, right? I think we would find a lot of common ground if we realized that we're not talking about the same thing when we say "Olympics". As a protester, I have to say that we’re living in different realities here, or at least using words with different meanings.
The things the people celebrate are not the things we protest, even if we all call them “Olympics”. The majority celebrates what the Olympics are supposed to be. The minority protest (many aspects of) what they are in practice. Sports are great, a sense of being part of something large is great, welcoming people from all over the world is wonderful. I think we all agree here. Displacing natives, doubling homelessness, stopping critical reporters at the border is not so great. We probably also all agree here, right?

I think we would find a lot of common ground if we realized that we’re not talking about the same thing when we say “Olympics”.

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