The Olympics: Uniting the World Through Child Labor

The International Olympic Committee may have just discovered a great new tag line for the Olympic games in 2008. Uniting the World Through Child Labor. Has a nice ring to it, wouldn’t you say? Beijing, China, which is slated to hold the games next year, has come under fire by the global trade union and labor group PlayFair 2008. According to PlayFair, factory employees who are producing the official Olympic merchandise for the 2008 games in China are worked over 12 hour shifts and are paid for less than the minimum wage. To make matters worse the
reportgoes on to say children as young as twelve-years-old are also working in these sweat shops. The hypocrisy speaks for itself. But of course this isn’t a total surprise either. How many treasured aspects of society have been created by sweatshop labor? Shirts, coats, pants, hats -- you name it. The list is probably as long as the wing of a 747. As sad as it sounds, the one thing that can unite the world is some big over hyped extravaganza, that is internally making money off the brow of people who really have no choice but to work in these conditions to survive. The Olympics is founded on the idea:

...to contribute to the building of a peaceful and better world by educating youth through sport practiced without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which requires mutual understanding with the spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play.

Sounds convincing enough. But that’s the risk in giving different countries the privilege to host these international games. Whether or not they adhere to those same building blocks or if they play by their own rule book. Either way the image of the infamous Olympic logo of the 5 rings may not longer show the ideals of a united world, but the sewing work of a twelve-year- old stitching the rings together at 2 a.m. in the morning. Editor's Note: Here's an update on the developing story.