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BEIJING 2008


MosJan

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Thanks! I passed on everyone's regards and told her a great part of the Armenian community was familiar with her by now. She laughed.

 

Here's a photo of her giving her autograph to one of the many kids waiting in line:

 

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/nairih/biur1.jpg

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OLYMPICS SERVE TO PROMOTE NATIONALISM

Nickolas Conrad

 

The Daily Evergreen

http://www.dailyevergreen.com/story/25875

Aug 24 2008

WA

 

The United States is not the best country in the world. The 2008

Olympics should be making this quite evident now that China has

pulled ahead in the medal race. I am sure that coming in second is

unacceptable to all the flag-waving Americans who take pride in our

country's domination of other nations in any trivial way.

 

It is important to keep a perspective on what a national, physically

competitive enterprise entails. The Olympics is a summation of

human physical achievement divided by national borders. It is

entertainment. Every four years we congratulate ourselves on how

far we can throw a spear, toss a disc or swim segmented lanes of pool

water. It does not bring the world together to create peace or harmony;

rather, the Olympics is used as a showcase for political egotism.

 

As far as bringing greater harmony and collaboration, the 1936

Olympics, held in Berlin, Germany by the Nazi Party, should serve as

an example. The Nazis held and won the 1936 Olympics; the U.S. took

a somewhat distant second. The Nazis flaunted their racial theories

to other nations and led us into the conflagration of World War

II. Sports did not create greater harmony. If anything, the Olympics

made the situation worse.

 

Sports are a cathartic expression of our aggressive natures that

revel in violence and domination. Sports do not bring people to the

negotiation table. Russia is not pulling out of Georgia any faster

because they feel any respect for American athletes.

 

When I watch the Olympics, I see a contest that brings out blind

ethnocentric patriotism. Everyone becomes uncritical and gives their

undying devotion to their country's honor. This patriotism causes us

to wish for our opponents' utter humiliation. All I see is people

waving their flags, complimenting themselves and denigrating their

competitors.

 

The Olympics is an embodiment of the 19th century notion of nationalism

based on the ethnic, geographic and linguistic heritage of different

people. Having studied the political history of the 19th and 20th

century, I am extremely suspicious of naive nationalism. Most of

the wars of the 20th century can be attributed to nationalistic

fervor. The genocide of the Armenians by the Turks, the World Wars

and wars of resistance and liberation are all results of violent

nationalistic fervor.

 

Let us take a moment and put aside our patriotic self-love and reflect

on China's lead in the Olympics to remind ourselves the U.S. is not

the greatest country in the world. Dominating others through physical

competition, economic arrangements or military does not qualify any

nation as the greatest.

 

We are taught as children to pledge our allegiance to the flag. As

we grow up, we fill our time watching Hollywood films or events such

as the Olympics that are blindly patriotic and one-sided. Since the

U.S.' establishment in 1776, it took us 89 years to end slavery and

189 years to make equality a reality in law. It took us 144 years

to give women the right to vote. To expand the U.S. territories,

wars of aggression were fought against American Indians, the British,

Spanish, Mexican and Filipinos. We dropped two atomic bombs on Japanese

civilians, indiscriminately killing two entire cities of men, women

and children.

 

I appreciate America and all the opportunities it has provided

me, yet I will not let the media brainwash me into unquestioning

patriotism. We have to question even the most sacred icons of our

identities to truly see ourselves for who we are.

 

 

 

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