1.30.2006

To Google or not

There is lots of talk of people boycotting google due to its agreement to block access to sites on the internet the chinese government wants stopped. I may be missing something here but doesn't every company operating inside China comply strictly with Chinese law.

Think about the reason to boycott google. Wouldn't that also mean boycotting Wal-mart the biggest retail financial contributor to the government of China. We might also look closer to home. BC Hydro is very active in exploiting China and being well paid by the Chinese government to do it. Canada is seeing lots of Chinese interest in our coal and the tar sands. Perhaps Alberta Premier Ralph Klein should tell China to butt out until you clean up your human rights.

Anytime you buy something made in China (try to avoid it, I bet you can't unless you are well off) you support the Chinese government and its poor human rights and censorship agenda. Google is no worse than the thousands of American and Canadian companies that have worked out deals with China to outsource work from here. At least the google stuff won't mean job losses in North America while we pay the Chinese government for the priviledge.

I suspect there are a few more reasons to boycott google, doing business with China should not be one of them, unless of course you want to address the others that do it as well.

China, Google, ,

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now that was funny!

HDcanuck said...

I for one will not be boycotting China as it moves, invevitably, toward a free market economy. That said, I have never shopped at Wal-Mart and never will, but it has nothing to do with China. Boycotting Google will prove nothing.

Anonymous said...

Green Queen, That really was funny.

As much as I’ve never set foot in a Wal-Mart store and don’t have any plans to, I don’t think what Google is doing is anywhere near as bad as the desecration of the retail industry that Wal-Mart has pulled off on our own shores.

They literally changed the rules in retailing and sold the North American market to China in return for our jobs. Then they claim to provide so much employment in the communities they desecrate. Great, if your life’s ambition is to be a store clerk or condescendent store manager.

China’s power in the world is inevitable, people have known that for a long time and I don’t have a problem with it.

What I do have a problem with is companies like Wal-Mart who sell out every last man, woman & child in their own nation on the claim that they can offer low prices. Sure, it’s great to have stores that offer low prices to people with little money, but when you create a situation where people can only afford to shop your stores you have cheapened your community. It’s the serpent that eats it’s own tail.

HDcanuck said...

Green Queen...

Google is a corporation like any other, only a lot bigger than most. For example, Google just got the contract to put in public access wireless internet to cover the whole city of San Fransisco. This is a mega company, not that there's anything wrong with that.

Ryann said...

google is brilliant, and I like it.