Why Do We (in the USA) Have To Be Rabidly Patriotic? Or, Is It Time To End The Olympics?
A slightly biased rambling on the state of the Union.
The Tokyo Olympics, for better or worse, have ended. My viewership and attention has waned, and from what I’m reading, that’s the case across the board.
I honestly feel like we are either nearing the end of the Olympic Games (for a while, anyway. This has happened before), or some kind of large-scale adjustment.
I’m now seeing the pride of my Conservative friends that the US came away with the most gold medals. Yet, they bristle when I remind them that it’s exactly one more than China, and that we’ve sent the largest delegation of athletes. So…is it really a victory?
Larger delegations matter in diplomacy and war, hell- I’ll even give you business deals, because that’s what the US is all about- but in a sporting event, it just feels like we cheated.
I, for one, would like to see a limit, or some mechanism to level the playing field. Burkina Faso has no chance, and this is a glaring internationalized example of how, no not everyone gets a fair chance. Not in America, not in the world. If you’re born rich, you’re eternally better off. Some conservative USians (international friends- don’t use “seppos”, it’s defined as a pejorative, and I treat it as such), will claim it’s not true- you can always climb your way to victory, no matter how poor you grew up. But it’s not true. This is clear evidence of that.
We’ve seen Simone Biles, the Olympic promise for the US in these games, perform less than perfectly, drop out, and then return to medal fashion.
When it was discovered that she left to focus on her mental health, some in the conservative world unleashed disrespectful tirades against her (and I’d say myself as someone who knows a thing or two or three or four about anxiety). I heard, “we prefer people who win”, which brings to mind the tantrums of a certain ex-president. He lost, by the way. (And it wasn’t stolen because everybody predicted that was how the election count would go).
It was argued that leaders should buck up and win, no matter what. I dissent. As a teacher, I’m sure you’d want me to focus on my mental health and bow out before politics, disrespect of students and parents alike, and evaporating funding erode my efficacy in and desire for teaching. I think we could make a much more immediate, but similar, argument for military field commanders and police officers.
But, hey, let’s arm everybody.
We’ve also seen a usurping of the US Women’s Soccer Team (kind of, I mean, they did get bronze, so 3rd best). This was met by a chorus of applause from conservatives, since Megan Rapinoe knelt during the National Anthem (shudder!). In fact, former president and lifelong commentator-about-everything Donald Trump encouraged his followers to label this schadenfreude.
For your viewing pleasure, here is a transcript of a conversation I had on social media:
Guy: Glad the women’s soccer team didn’t win anything!
Me: Why? You don’t like your country?
Guy: Ha. I don’t like a team that bashes the country they are from.
Me: Like the Belarusian athletes who criticized their team, and are now finding themselves on the run, lest they get tortured at home?! I’d say we have some enviable freedoms here…
Guy: I like my country, but not jackasses from this country who bash it.
Me: So, you’d agree that Evers (current Democratic Governor of Wisconsin) and Biden are doing a great job, then?
Guy: No! They’re the problem. They’re ruining America!
Me: How dare you speak against your country?! Do you not love it?
(Blocked)
Here’s a tangent: more recently, there was a strange incident in karate, in which the athlete who performed a kick that knocked out the opponent was disqualified in a move that was too aggressive (yet, would totally win any karate tournament), resulting in the opponent being surprised in his hospital bed with a gold medal. What?!
Biden is also being blamed for our high gas prices lately. This, despite the fact that when gas prices are high during a Republican president, conservatives defend the president (correctly) by noting the prices have nothing to do with the president, but rather the market, and quite honestly- speculators who cause panic.
I also mentioned how high gas prices are in Europe- $2 a liter in Iceland. But many in the US fail to do the conversion to realize that equals roughly $8 a gallon. Still, they grumble about high gas prices.
And they tell me I need to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance and National Anthem.
And they tell me not to criticize our elected leaders, unless they’re Democrats. Holy hell! If there’s anyone we should criticize freely and relentlessly, it’s our “elected” “leaders”. Instead, we’re disrespecting our teachers, military, and government workers.
As a teacher of 19 years, I’ve been told by the left that I don’t make enough, and we don’t get enough support. I’ve never received more pay nor more support. I’ve been told by the right that I make too much, and I’m indoctrinating our youth (WTF). My take-home pay and my support has dwindled as a result. Students and parents have disrespected me, quite openly, as a Spanish language teacher, because conservative USAians think they can get by in their own little world and not have to learn about other cultures.
Yet, unlike the Belarusian athletes I mentioned above, I do have the freedom to criticize my country.
I love my country. The USA is beautiful. I feel comfortable here, and there are many things I can do that billions of others around the world can’t. But if your air conditioning doesn’t work on your car anymore, you don’t abandon it.
I love the USA. I just don’t like some of the people here. And I think the Olympic Games have fallen victim to the venomous polarization of politics here. Maybe it is time for a little respite.