Loosely Connected Thoughts On The Olympics
Aug. 7th, 2008 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poliphilo1. Once every four years we take the temperature of planet Earth.
Every nation turns up. Every nation is watching.
It's too big an event for governments to control, though- God knows- they try.
Interesting things- horrible and inspiring- will happen in spite of the wishes of government.
2. All governments are horrid. Some are more horrid than others.
The Chinese government is almost certainly less horrid than it was in the days of Chairman Mao.
There's no way the governments of the USA and the UK can lecture China about Tibet while they still have troops in Iraq, etc, etc...
The Beijing Olympics has opened China up to the rest of world. This is almost certainly a good thing.
3. My Radio Times contains a guide to the Olympics. In every event it gives me the name of a "Brit to Watch". What a ugly phrase! What an ugly idea!
How lovely if it were all about youth, beauty, speed, strength, grace- but it's not. It's mainly about nationalism.
Those American athletes turning up in Beijing wearing face masks- what rank bad manners!
Flags and national anthems should be banned and athletes should compete as individuals. Fat chance!
4. The Bird's Nest stadium is really pretty.
This icon of the new China was designed by Swiss architects.
Lots of homes were demolished to free up the site. The displaced people say they have received no compensation.
Ach- the moral complexity...
Every nation turns up. Every nation is watching.
It's too big an event for governments to control, though- God knows- they try.
Interesting things- horrible and inspiring- will happen in spite of the wishes of government.
2. All governments are horrid. Some are more horrid than others.
The Chinese government is almost certainly less horrid than it was in the days of Chairman Mao.
There's no way the governments of the USA and the UK can lecture China about Tibet while they still have troops in Iraq, etc, etc...
The Beijing Olympics has opened China up to the rest of world. This is almost certainly a good thing.
3. My Radio Times contains a guide to the Olympics. In every event it gives me the name of a "Brit to Watch". What a ugly phrase! What an ugly idea!
How lovely if it were all about youth, beauty, speed, strength, grace- but it's not. It's mainly about nationalism.
Those American athletes turning up in Beijing wearing face masks- what rank bad manners!
Flags and national anthems should be banned and athletes should compete as individuals. Fat chance!
4. The Bird's Nest stadium is really pretty.
This icon of the new China was designed by Swiss architects.
Lots of homes were demolished to free up the site. The displaced people say they have received no compensation.
Ach- the moral complexity...
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no subject
Date: 2008-08-07 01:50 pm (UTC)The only thing is, one of my best friends from high school was an Olympic swimmer. She trained for that all her life, and when she was 16, she was at her peak and won 3 gold medals. It would have been a shame if some political squabble had taken that away from her. So, even though I have stern reservations, I am glad athletes are getting the chance.
But, if I were there, I would probably wear a mask, too. China's unabashed consumerism is apparently the reason why gas is so expensive now (at least that is what we are being told), and there attitudes about pollution are totally unacceptable. If they want to play in the global market, they need to learn to follow the rules.