Today, the Olympic games are another way to breed prejudices towards other nations, using national pride to validate these emotions. They are also used as an attempt to prove to the world that one country is better than another. This is a severe disintegration of what the Olympics should embody. So why did the meaning switch from one of personal glory to the flaunting of national highlights take place?
To make this switch, there must have been a change in the way people group themselves. In the ancient times of the games, competition was by individual. There was only pride in one’s self, only the winner taking with him the eternal glory of victory. Today, an entire nation takes a part in the glory of one individual. Why is an entire nation of people allowed to take part in victory? Why does an athlete compete for his nation, and no longer for himself? This switch happened when nations started to compete as teams in 1896 Olympic Games. National and international politics were bound to get involved in Olympic proceedings because of this switch.
Governments just cannot leave well enough alone. They feel the need to control as much as possible. Of course governments would rather compete as nations instead of individuals. A nation is exponentially stronger politically than an individual. So national governments are now involved. And what happened? Most governments would do most anything to claim victory, even if it is by deceitful means. Go figure. Leave it to governments, which should epitomize the ideas of justice and honest, to wreck the pure spirit of the Olympics. DOWN WITH GOVERNMENT!
... Nah, I'm just joking. But really, there should be serious limits on what governments should be allowed to do when it comes to international games. And cheating is at the top of my "no-no" list.
No comments:
Post a Comment