OK, so since there is more to live than what creepy-crawlies live in my apartment - like Jet lag and the inability to sleep more than 4 hours - take a look at this article from Japan Probe on the Olympic Ojisan (Olympic Old man). Just how politically poignant are the Chinese Olympic games? What kind of repercussions will this have on the U.S. and China's relationship? How concerned should the rest of the world be with China's blatant fascist ideals and human rights violations?
The answer to the very last question, I know: a lot. While I realize that the Japanese and Chinese have a long, painful and complex history with one another, sort of like the co-dependence two friends who act cordial in front of others, harbor "secret" frustrations or even hatred that others pretend not to notice, but really could not exist without one another. Dare I say, yin and yang?
Please comment if you something or anything to say about this issue, it'll give me something to do. :)
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4 years ago
6 comments:
I'll be stupidly honest: the Olympic games, which I adore, and the politics surrounding it this year in China are sort of making me hate the Chinese in the same way my brother talks about the French. They (the Chinese) have screwed us once or twice in the Olympics and I'm already calling them "cheaters" in situations that have nothing to do with the games. Is this right? No. It's stupid, and I don't actually have anything against the Chinese people, obviously (in fact I'm one of the most tolerant people you know) but it's amazing what one little thing like that can make you fel like for a day when it has to do with your country.
And yes, the Japanese feud with the Chinese has always been interesting to me. Taking little digs at each other in kids' shows, even (remember the Chinese news reporters in Dragonball Z?). It's pretty incredible.
oh and roaches would make me fly back immediately.
Let's talk national pride here. Is it really so clear-cut in America? Moving to Japan has really made me ponder the benefits (not simply the downfalls) of ethnocentricity within a nation. America is, well, every ethnicity, so where is the unity? In our copious gas consumption?
Questions upon questions, Ricardo.
Yeah, it's sort of ridiculous. I'm sort of against the idea of "patriotism" but I see the Olympics as sort of like any other sporting event. Everyone has "their" team.
There is no unity in America because like you said, we are every ethnicity. In fact, when you fill out stupid forms, your ethnicity choice is "White/European" not "White/American." hmm.
My concern with the cheap shit at the Games is more along the lines of a reverse-ethnocentricity. We, the "American People," that being the people who were born and grew up here, are blended right in with the government that cares even less about us than it does about foreign policy. The people I am behind in the Olympic Games are the athletes, people who are, for the most part, my age and younger. People who grew up here and trained their asses off because they felt like they had something to represent. Who are they representing? They weren't sent by military, so I figure it must be people like me, who are trying to be athletes and overcome personal boundaries and achieve "big things."
If I was in Japan right now I'd be rooting for their teams too, I'm sure.
See, patriotism is like a lost cause to most Americans. I disagree with a loathing for it however - just imagine a world of more unstable governments, less security, and the idea that being a traitor, a.k.a. not being avidly patriotic, was not only seen as purely wrong and counter-intuitive but also inexcusable. I am proud to be an American, I'm just not sure who or what it is I am proud of: if it's capitalism, then I have about as much in common with Americans as I do Japanese, who are very active consumers, perhaps moreso than Americans.
I too, however, support the athletes. Moreso than caring what country they are playing for, I like to watch good, clean, hard-earned sportsmanship. A good game is better than a game where my home team wins 34-0, any day. Although seeing American basketball teams whoop EVERY other country has been fun, haha.
I think it comes down to the morals and values that we (can) have in America that the majority of the world doesn't have. To be an American is more about having so much freedom to express oneself that other people would get murdered or arrested for. We may be very ethnically diverse, but we do have one thing in common: The rights to be free. That can unite us all if something like an invasion or a government takeover was going to happen (which will never happen). Remember the last time there was world destabilization, we had WW2.
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