Maybe Sophie Richardson and her colleagues at Human Rights Watch should jump out of their Jacuzzis, travel to Beijing and practice what they preach at the gates of the Forbidden City. I am sure the Chinese would roll out the welcome mat. Until the environmental and social activists back up their words with meaningful actions, they should stop exploiting the Olympics and its sponsors for cheap political stunts.
Little wonder there are signs that business executives are tiring of the corporate socialism movement. On the same day that Human Rights Watch issued its whine-a-tribe about the Beijing sponsors, British athletes discovered that they face a £100m funding shortfall for the 2012 Games “after government attempts to appeal to employers’ sense of corporate social responsibility fell on deaf ears.”
I believe the government appeal did not fall on deaf ears. The message was loud and clear. “Mr. Corporate Manager, you are not only socially responsible for funding our Olympic athletes, you are also socially responsible for combating any political, economic, social or cultural ills that activists may discover in the host country.”
Perhaps the next time the British government approaches business people for Olympic cash, the message will be devoid of socialist clap-trap. A simple “our athletes need your help” will likely produce positive results. And, maybe the next time some American business executive contemplates getting in bed with the corporate socialism crowd, he or she will remember that old Asian proverb that goes something like this: “Never sleep with the pigs, you get dirty and the pigs enjoy it.”