Timely but not precisely on topic.
While you're busy watching, they're busy lying to you.
(About the little girl who could be seen but not heard and the one who could be heard but not seen.)
Keeping up appearances for the sake of the nation is pretty important. So is making sure they're the only ones on the news.
China Calls for cease-fire in South Ossetia, "in the spirit of the Olympics."
"A ceasefire can give people the chance to reflect on the massive carnage brought by war."
Carnage brought by war indeed.
In what spirit does China ban HIV positive tourists? In what spirit does China oppose the arrest and trial of a man at the head of a genocide or provide arms and training to his military in defiance of international agreements?
What is the Olympic spirit?
I've seen it described as the ability to put aside differences and come together to compete peacefully. It is the ideal of sportsmanship and the absence of politics combined into a few precious weeks of play. I use that word "play," not to diminish the training and effort of the athletes, but to emphasize the nature of leisure that is celebrated only because of the achievement of specialized labor and excess resources. These individuals can train so diligently for these mostly obsolete skills because their abilities entertain the rest of us and provide national pride sufficiently to warrant funding them for their performance alone. Athleticism once addressed and developed very vital daily skills, but there are few Olympic athletes who need to throw a spear or run 27 miles or deadlift 300lbs or flip their bodies around a large beam using only their hands in order to provide for their basic necessities. The Olympics exists to entertain the modern world, even if some of those skills may yet be an active part of the lives of the rest of the world.
So, we know that the Olympics are, truly, a fantasy of showing that we still have the capacity to live physical lives when few who are competing actually do (beyond their specific training). They are also a fantasy of the idea that everyone gets a turn at greatness. They don't even accomplish this very well. Wikipedia says there are 245 countries in the world. The UN has 192 member states. This site lists 231 participating Olympic nations (some of the names and attendance have, of course, changed). The same site shows that 123 have won at least one medal in the modern games. The simple arithmetic shows 108 nations have never won a medal of any kind. The night of the opening ceremonies, NBC was quoting that 87 had not won medals. There may be some overlap and repeats, so, I'd have to read them more carefully, but, either way, more than 1/3 of nations participating have never won. The 2006 Olympics gave medals to only 23 nations. The 2004 Olympics saw more at 71 recipients.
There's really oh so much to discuss on this topic. I could go on about how the Iranian swimmer was alleged to have been prevented from competing by his government, while Israeli newspapers proclaim their complete inability to understand the Olympic spirit and the IOC insists he withdrew due to illness and an Iranian coach shakes hands with the Israeli coach of the Russian basketball team. Or I could discuss how the Israeli team doesn't have a single Israeli-Arab member on its team of 43, despite their 20% of the population and the success of some Israeli-Arab athletes. Or I could talk about how small some nations' teams are or how the IOC continues to award the games to nations with dodgy human rights records. Or how Taiwan (competing as Chinese Taipei) is at the Olympics but not allowed to join the UN. Or the commercialism of the Olympics may be taking away from its glory at the same time as it ensures that other athletes can compete with those fully sponsored by their home nations. Or how the Myanmar hunta sent 6 athletes to the Olympics while China still refuses to address its support on the 20th anniversary of the 88 massacre. Or how, as the men's Cycling road race rounded Tienanmen Square, the NBC commentators called the 1989 massacre, which left between 200 and 3,000 dead or injured--depending on who you ask, an "incident" or some other such euphemized, castrated term.
It's a lovely sentiment, to put away one's differences with another and come together for a common purpose like the Olympics. But, despite the discussions of so many about how they're "not thinking about the issues" and are "trying to enjoy the sports," these are not differences we're talking about. We're talking about rights and we're talking about justice. Those are not "differences." Whether you support off-shore drilling is a "difference." Whether you like Coke or Pepsi is a "difference." Dead civilians are not "differences." Cencorship is not a "difference." Attacking, threatening, posturing, and more threatening are not "differences."
The sentiment is nice. But, it would be better if there were any integrity behind it.
(About the little girl who could be seen but not heard and the one who could be heard but not seen.)
Keeping up appearances for the sake of the nation is pretty important. So is making sure they're the only ones on the news.
China Calls for cease-fire in South Ossetia, "in the spirit of the Olympics."
"A ceasefire can give people the chance to reflect on the massive carnage brought by war."
Carnage brought by war indeed.
In what spirit does China ban HIV positive tourists? In what spirit does China oppose the arrest and trial of a man at the head of a genocide or provide arms and training to his military in defiance of international agreements?
What is the Olympic spirit?
I've seen it described as the ability to put aside differences and come together to compete peacefully. It is the ideal of sportsmanship and the absence of politics combined into a few precious weeks of play. I use that word "play," not to diminish the training and effort of the athletes, but to emphasize the nature of leisure that is celebrated only because of the achievement of specialized labor and excess resources. These individuals can train so diligently for these mostly obsolete skills because their abilities entertain the rest of us and provide national pride sufficiently to warrant funding them for their performance alone. Athleticism once addressed and developed very vital daily skills, but there are few Olympic athletes who need to throw a spear or run 27 miles or deadlift 300lbs or flip their bodies around a large beam using only their hands in order to provide for their basic necessities. The Olympics exists to entertain the modern world, even if some of those skills may yet be an active part of the lives of the rest of the world.
So, we know that the Olympics are, truly, a fantasy of showing that we still have the capacity to live physical lives when few who are competing actually do (beyond their specific training). They are also a fantasy of the idea that everyone gets a turn at greatness. They don't even accomplish this very well. Wikipedia says there are 245 countries in the world. The UN has 192 member states. This site lists 231 participating Olympic nations (some of the names and attendance have, of course, changed). The same site shows that 123 have won at least one medal in the modern games. The simple arithmetic shows 108 nations have never won a medal of any kind. The night of the opening ceremonies, NBC was quoting that 87 had not won medals. There may be some overlap and repeats, so, I'd have to read them more carefully, but, either way, more than 1/3 of nations participating have never won. The 2006 Olympics gave medals to only 23 nations. The 2004 Olympics saw more at 71 recipients.
There's really oh so much to discuss on this topic. I could go on about how the Iranian swimmer was alleged to have been prevented from competing by his government, while Israeli newspapers proclaim their complete inability to understand the Olympic spirit and the IOC insists he withdrew due to illness and an Iranian coach shakes hands with the Israeli coach of the Russian basketball team. Or I could discuss how the Israeli team doesn't have a single Israeli-Arab member on its team of 43, despite their 20% of the population and the success of some Israeli-Arab athletes. Or I could talk about how small some nations' teams are or how the IOC continues to award the games to nations with dodgy human rights records. Or how Taiwan (competing as Chinese Taipei) is at the Olympics but not allowed to join the UN. Or the commercialism of the Olympics may be taking away from its glory at the same time as it ensures that other athletes can compete with those fully sponsored by their home nations. Or how the Myanmar hunta sent 6 athletes to the Olympics while China still refuses to address its support on the 20th anniversary of the 88 massacre. Or how, as the men's Cycling road race rounded Tienanmen Square, the NBC commentators called the 1989 massacre, which left between 200 and 3,000 dead or injured--depending on who you ask, an "incident" or some other such euphemized, castrated term.
It's a lovely sentiment, to put away one's differences with another and come together for a common purpose like the Olympics. But, despite the discussions of so many about how they're "not thinking about the issues" and are "trying to enjoy the sports," these are not differences we're talking about. We're talking about rights and we're talking about justice. Those are not "differences." Whether you support off-shore drilling is a "difference." Whether you like Coke or Pepsi is a "difference." Dead civilians are not "differences." Cencorship is not a "difference." Attacking, threatening, posturing, and more threatening are not "differences."
The sentiment is nice. But, it would be better if there were any integrity behind it.