one order of olympics, hold the politics
by Steven Doss
Published: April 9, 2008
Ah, the Olympic Spirit is being felt throughout the World. Right now, people are gearing up to watch many an HGH induced athlete with a gigantic head do their chemically enhanced best to win a shiny piece of metal and the chance to be in a Home Depot commercial now and a dental adhesive commercial later. But what’s this? Some in the world are violating the principles that these games were based on and making them… POLITICAL!!!!
All kidding aside, why do we place the Olympics, a sporting event that was originally created to bring all countries together, in the middle of heated political debates? It started out quite nicely as a bunch of naked men running about in ancient Greece to a showcase of how their country kicks the rest of the world’s butt. Now it’s so much more. However, nine times out of ten, boycotts don’t work. For example, in the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, Hitler tried to use the games to showcase to the world the athletic prowess of pale German men. Then Jesse Owens showed up and dominated, leading Hitler towards a downward spiral that eventually led to invading Russia in the winter, thinking that flying to Britain was a good idea, and eventually killing himself and having his cryogenically frozen head sent to Rio (5 points to anyone who gets the reference).
In 1980, the United States boycotted the Olympics in Moscow, which led to a country other than the United States finally winning more medals. In 1984, Russia, being the kind people they were, returned the favor. The big reason I mention these two is that they were designed to bring about huge policy changes, but both countries ending up looking like to big babies not wanting to play with each other!
Now, we have the Olympics in China, and people are making a big to-do about the world’s policy towards China, and they believe that if they can disrupt the Olympics, the world will finally realize the horrible things China is doing to Tibet. Will that actually work?
Who knows… most times it doesn’t, but maybe this time will be different. Is it bad that Tibet is under the control of China? Of course. Will making the torch run a tad inconvenient cause global instability, thus making China collapse? Of course not! As for me, I’ll watch the Olympics. I’ll enjoy watching the flexible gymnasts a little too much, and I will hope that the people in office will actually try and change the human rights practices of all the nations of the world for the better. Because in the end, it is political leaders who change the world – not sprinters.
—
(email this article or post to social network)
—
April 10th, 2008 at 11:05 pm
If I were China I never would host the Olympics. The last thing a totalitarian government needs is for it’s citizens to interact with the free world. In 5 years I think we’ll be able to trace Communist China’s downfall to the 08 Summer Games.