Aspies For Freedom

...and in the process gain some much needed publicity. Transparent? A little, but its the MORAL thing to do imo.

Listen, folks, I can FEEL it, the movement to boycott the 2008 Beijing Olympics is building and about to burst! If you don't know what is going on in Tibet- the repression, monks forced to marry, the near total stamping out of the Tibetan culture, the torture, deaths- and elsewhere in China, take a minute to educate yourselves.

An ad could be placed in a UK or Aussie paper of your choice.

Next we should start boycotting whatever products we can do without from China....

WE ARE ALL TIBETANS!!!!

I will not have my name put in with anything of this nature.

I can see some good in doing this as a group - just not right now. We're not big enough yet.

Lending our name to a cause is something to do when our name has meaning, and lends weight to an issue. Right now, all it would do is confuse people as to who we are, and what we do.

Zakkie's right. The majority of the world would say "Who"?

Leave the Olympic Games out of it. Even the Delai Llama has said that and IOC doesn't want any of it either because they want nothing to do with politics. Even if the cause is a good one.

Speaking for myself - the ban on Chinese products would be a good idea. Much better to hit them in the hip pocket - especially as they are a growing economy.

Ban on chinese products?

Pretty much everything.

Good luck with that.

Besides, there are what 8k members on this board, lets say 50 people stop using some chinese products.

Not really gonna dent them.

I was actually talking about general society banning them, Zyggy, not just us here on AFF. That'll dent them. And if you really look you'll find alternatives from other countries pretty easily. Korea and Japan spring to mind. We get a lot of stuff from Thailand here in Australia. Not sure where Taiwan would stand though.

Banning the China Olympics is like kicking in an open door. China is a violent regime that has taken capitalism to its heart while maintaining a superficial communism. Their leaders do what all leaders do; They Enrich Themselves. The New Modern China doesn't care for the poorest. In that regard they're very much like the USA. Workers Unions are persecuted in most countries, not just in Asia or the Americas. Dozens of unionists are murdered each year... Why? Simply because organized workers fight for safer working conditions, better pay...

I'm afraid I'll have to agree with Gareth here;

to throw our support behind any old cause, without a serious, concrete connection, would only serve to make us seem weaker in the long run.
better to concentrate on our current "mission".
at least, until we can find a direct connection, at which point, it becomes justifiable, no?

this I agree with.

however, we have enough problems reaching concensus on simple things on this site alone, can you imagine trying to co-ordinate AFF,WP, I2, the Epileptic forums, the...no, its not really that possible.

that..could..work, but..oh, I dunno.

its not likely though, because what would they stand to gain other than the spotlig...aah...

It's definitely not feasible - unless I2 (Intensity Squared) is left out of it. Then it's a chance, but even then it would be a bit hard.

I2 are way too extremist in their general attitude.

Unfortunately in the case of I2, Pika - we really have no choice. Have you ever seen that place?

More the Aspie version of the KKK I think - and add a language level that would make Jerry Springer run for cover.

This is not a Tibetan freedom forum, so boycotting the Olympics for something that has nothing to do with Autism would be more or less pointless.  Here's some other examples to show my point.  I smoke cigarettes, I understand the risks, yet I enjoy smoking cigarettes, so would it seem wise for me to come to this forum asking for support since my rights as a smoker are being torn away by the anti-tobacco lobbyists?  I don't believe in god, should this be the place I come to seek refuge from the churches and the religious organizations?  I smoke Cannabis, and it does help me live a more or less normal life by slowing my brain down enough that I can think clearly about important things, yet I've already been told by Gareth that this is impossible and that I am killing myself (although he has yet to back up his argument), so should I be asking for everybody else's support on here anyway?

This is an Asperger's group, there's plenty of other groups for other things, if you want to support Tibet, join a Tibet support group.

That's a good point.