Olympics

[yokono]

So...I'm not sure if this really belongs in "politics" but I decided to put it here.

What do you think? Olympics=good? Olympics=bad? Or Olympics=neutral? (Blargh, I hate it when people don't choose a side, no matter how arbitrary.)

After the opening ceremonies my facebook homepage was taken over by posters saying how "proud" they were to be Canadian. I ain't proud to be a Canadian, that's stupid. It's through some arbitrary fateful alignment that I was born here. I didn't DO anything to be Canadian, except NOT move away from the country I was born into, therefore I can't really have a sense of pride as I accomplished nothing. Am I THANKFUL I am Canadian? Hells ya. Wouldn't have wanted to be born anywhere else. Except maybe Australia with their crazy upsidedown maps and hot Christmas.

And I enjoyed the opening ceremonies because they were chock-full of Canadiana. And I DO love Canadiana. Especially the good old cheeseball '80s Canadiana of my youth like Bryan Adams. But I just can't see how the Olympics "bring the world together" like so many people claim.

I am not COMPLETELY opposed either, but the harder I try to see the Olympics as a good thing, the more holes I see in them.

Take the opening ceremonies. Some applauded to incorporation of all of the aboriginal imagery and culture. Was it? Or was it cultural appropriation?

And the whole idea of competition divided by country. I don't think that creates a sense of global community, but rather further divides us along these man-made borders and reinforces the idea of "us" versus "them."

The other thing that I can agree with the protesters on is that it does seem to be a rather frivolous use of taxpayer funds. Especially in a place like Vancouver, where there are huge social issues (uh, Downtown East Side.)

SOOOOOO, anybody out there in forum land agree/disagree/not even know there's an Olympics on right now?

[Martin]

I agree except for the bit about the opening ceremony. I can't stand any of it.

We've got the real deal in 2012. What a waste of money. All that land that will just turn into a ghost town when the circus moves on. All that money that could have been used providing something useful for the country. I will not watch a single second of it and anyone who says that I should be proud of my country can kiss the darkest part of my white ass.