Wednesday, August 13, 2008

On athletes...


There are doubtless many folks recently, who are feeling bad because Canada has yet to claim any Olympic medals this time around. Personally speaking, I really couldn't care less one way or the other. Let's face it... what does it mean (or not...) whether Canadian athletes win any medals at all? Seriously? That's right... it doesn't mean a goddamn thing. I could say that if you are an amateur athlete and strive to represent Canada, you have a long, hard road ahead of you. Canada does not go to any length to aid, support or train it's athletes. Perhaps our government has adopted the same view of athletes as I have, who knows...

And while we're on the topic, what about athletes? Particularily those who go under the banner of 'professional athletes'. Is there any other sub-group of our society which contributes less to it's overall welfare, while commanding the highest salaries of anyone? Can anyone even begin to understand, let alone explain the logic underlying this mode of thinking? So many other professionals, who contribute so much to our societies, are paid a mere fraction of what professional athletes are spoiled with. Truly, our sense of values are skewed. Doctors, nurses and other health care specialists, teachers, our military... people who contribute invaluable services to our society, earn far less than those who exist solely to entertain a certain segment of our population.

True, you'll never find large corporate entities willing to line up and sponsor/fund individual hospitals or doctors. The practise of medicine is not a competitive sport. Although with a little imagination, you can certainly see how it could be swung around to become so.

And the Olympics... Really? China should never have been given the Olympics. The IOC has sold out whatever morals they might have had left. There is not a nation that should have fielded an olympic team for attending these games. Everyone should have stayed home. This is just like the 1936 Olympics in Nazi Germany... But it's all about the money, isn't it? Never mind what they olympic ideals proclaim, China is a big mover and shaker on the world economic scene nowadays. China has a lot of ill-gained loot to spend and everyone out there wants a piece of it.

So let's sell our souls and our consciences too and jump on the bandwagon. Let's all get friendly with China. It's enough to make you puke. Tibet? Tiananmen Square Massacre - referred to in China as the June Fourth Incident? Do any of these ring a bell? No, of course not. It's all just 'ancient history' isn't it? Why punish China when they want to give away money?

I have not watched, nor do I intend to, any Olympic event to date. These games hold no meaning for me and I dare say that those who conceived them would spin in their graves if they could see them today. They are a farce... a travesty. Believe me when I say that the number of medals a country manages to bring home, is not any indication of how much you would love to live there. Ask yourself why this might be, the next time you're having any type of lucid moment...

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