More Poor Leadership: a “Diplomatic Boycott”

By | November 19, 2021

[November 19, 2021]  The 2022 Winter Olympics are scheduled to begin February 4, 2022, in Beijing, China and the neighboring Hebel province. Communist China is a repressive, totalitarian state that uses slave labor, genocide and aggressively destroys the economy of various nations, to name a few.  The U.S., in the Biden Administration, has chosen to exercise poor leadership in opposing China.

In 1980, to show the world that the U.S. would stand up to Russia, we boycotted the Summer Olympics scheduled in the Soviet Union.  Nothing like that will occur today with China on our economic and social doorstep.  Participation by the U.S. implies that the Chinese regime deserves the honor of hosting the Olympic Games, which it certainly does not.

A government-instituted boycott by our athletes would punish them for China’s sins, and it would provide a huge insult to China.  However, such action would not change China’s oppressive policies, but it would highlight them for the rest of the world and show strong leadership in America.

Such an insult is deserved.  But, we are economically tied to China, and our relationship is “complicated.” The Biden Administration reportedly will adopt a “diplomatic boycott.” Our athletes would participate, but as a protest against China’s human rights violations, neither Joe Biden nor any U.S. government official will attend the Games.  There is little risk to this approach, and it harms no one.  But it is symbolic and essentially meaningless.

Why does the symbology of a “diplomatic boycott” shows weakness.  Doing just a little bit and not going far shows that our options are few and our values don’t matter.  We show the world that we are a paper tiger with little influence or power.  If I were to choose, I’d go for a total boycott.

Nancy Pelosi and Mitt Romney recommend the diplomatic boycott.  That alone tells me that their option will fail to do anything at all.  They recommend that we condemn China’s human rights abuses (a bit vague) but not the origin of the COVID-19 pandemic (preferably).  But most telling is that the International Olympic Committee has already banned all overseas spectators due to COVID.

How weak do we look with the half measure of a diplomatic boycott?  Just another example of poor leadership.

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Author: Douglas R. Satterfield

Hello. I provide one article every day. My writings are influenced by great thinkers such as Friedrich Nietzsche, Karl Jung, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Jean Piaget, Erich Neumann, and Jordan Peterson, whose insight and brilliance have gotten millions worldwide to think about improving ourselves. Thank you for reading my blog.

27 thoughts on “More Poor Leadership: a “Diplomatic Boycott”

  1. Douglas R. Satterfield Post author

    There is another viable alternative to a full boycott of these games. The reasons that China should not host international games is obvious to any observer paying attention. I believe the alternative to Biden’s “diplomatic boycott” (which is mostly meaningless) is to MOVE the games to another location. It’s not too late for the international community to stand up to slavery, genocide, and the world domination of China’s Communist Party.

    Reply
      1. Doug Smith

        See below, Army Vet’s posting of a great NY Post article. Why don’t we see more arguments in favor of this sort of action?

        Reply
    1. Melissa Jackson

      If you can’t figure out that China’s Communist Party is EVIL, then you need to read more and get out of your basement. Here in this Post article you can “see” a bit better why we should boycott the Olympic games in China. Boycott Boycott Boycott … get it!!!!!
      Oh, Army Vet, I’m also a big fan of you and please publish more articles.

      Reply
  2. Army Captain

    If this was the only failure of leadership from the Biden Administration, most people would ignore it. But when screw ups continue to pile up, there can no other alternative explanation than we are seeing incompetence in action and the failures from it are highly destructive. Military personnel have already died as a result. More will follow. When you show weakness, others will take advantage.

    Reply
    1. Mr. T.J. Asper

      So true, Army Captain. And to know that there will be at least three more years of this debacle is alarming. Our enemies are happy happy happy. Jimmy Carter the Second. And, the Keystone Kops are now in charge.

      Reply
  3. Erleldech

    Good article and good reading for this Friday morning. As the weather cools, I’ll have more time for reading and this website by Gen. Satterfield is my go-to place to get a snippet of leadership learning. For those who are new to the website, I recommend the Daily Favorites as a daily addition to the main articles. Thanks Gen. Satterfield for your continued support of those willing to learn.

    Reply
  4. Otto Z. Zuckermann

    Like Qassim below noted, if you have real moral principles/values, there are no half-measures. You either go full out or you support throwing your principles/values in the trashcan. It’s like rejecting slavery. Either you are fully against it or fully for it. No half measures any more.

    Reply
    1. Purse 5

      … but some folks are just too stupid to see that there is always a better way to get things done. They love getting gov’ment handouts and that’s all they will vote for.

      Reply
    2. Colleen Ramirez

      Sadly, Otto, most people have no clue, whatsoever, of what you speak.

      Reply
  5. Greg Heyman

    Wow, another fantastic article. I had to re-read it several times to get the full gist of what you are saying but I see now that by providing an example (another one two days ago) we can better ourselves.

    Reply
    1. DocJeff

      Best way to learn is by observing others. You can make mistakes, just try to not make them a fatal mistake.

      Reply
      1. Gunho Joe

        Commonsensical but the fools can’t handle it. Go America. Not Biden’s home. He is for China. Yep, China Joe is against America.

        Reply
  6. Qassim

    A “diplomatic boycott….” How really stupid. If you have moral principles, there are no half-measures.

    Reply
  7. Max Foster

    Another spot-on article from the halls of great leadership. One important way of learning how ‘not’ to be a poor leader is learning from others. Gen. Satterfield provides that opportunity by citing examples but sometimes by doing a deep dive into the elements of leadership and who makes the grade and who fails. Take a look at the article when he compares Trump and Biden. Now, most of us would see the poor leadership of Biden (unless we are ideologically disposed to ignore reality or are just stupid). Look at the disaster that Gen. Satterfield predicted.
    https://www.theleadermaker.com/leadership-comparison-biden-vs-trump/

    Reply
    1. Cat A Miss

      Max, you are absolutely right. I went back to that article and, wow, did Gen. S. nail it. I’m no Trump fan but he is a million times better than Biden or Harris. Those two losers are creating the conditions for America to be on the wrong track.

      Reply
    2. Audrey

      Good comment Max and thanks for directing us to one of Gen. Satterfield’s better articles.

      Reply
      1. Dead Pool Guy

        You mean more informative. Yes, I agree. Take a look at the characteristics he points out and apply that to any leader anywhere anytime. It works. This is a great list. For those who want to learn more about leadership and how it can have a positive role, just read that article.

        Reply
    3. Eric Coda

      Max, well said. Learn not to be a poor leader. But there are those like Kamala Harris (our nation’s elected VP) who slept her way to the top. If you can’t believe it, just search the internet for info on it. Yes, crazy as it sounds, but she is also unfit for any serious leadership position. Just listen to her talk. Rumor on this site says that Gen. Satterfield will be writing an article on her soon. Why? He is on a trend to discuss ‘poor leadership.’

      Reply
      1. Harry Donner

        I look forward to the article. Any article on K. Harris …. an embarrassing messenger for the American peoples.

        Reply
  8. Rev. Michael Cain

    Gen. Satterfield does not mince words when he describes “poor leadership” in action at the highest levels of our government and I admire him for his tenacity and clarity.

    Reply

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