Move over America
Move Over America, there is a new villian in town. I was watching the olympics, and a chinese athlete came on the screen versus an athlete from another country and I wished the chinese athlete would lose, I asked around and many people felt the same, they now saw China as the big bully, with an unfair advantage......
Until recently, USA used to be the team everybody loved to beat and also derived secret pleasure in its defeat. Deep within, the world was happy when USA lost, be it basketball, tennis or athletics, USA was the all powerful giant and it was always USA against the world. I think all that has changed in the recent past, in as must as people liked to see a new champion, they never thought China would so totally become a super power leaving even the USA far behind, the intial cheer spurring China on has now been replaced with the antagonism reserved for USA, funny how things turn.
China has now taken the place of the erstwhile USSR and I fear another cold war in the offing (let us let that thought marinate till another post).
What is the difference between USA and China, USA we can say is actually an amalgamation of athletes from different countries, yes there are home grown US athletes but there are also many 1st generation and 2nd generation mexicans, kenyans, cubans etc. sometimes one feels as if USA just collects all the best athletes from around the world and uses them, where as the chinese athletes are totally home grown. USA has access to the best research, China has a billion people. Sports in the US supported and nurtured by corporate sponsorships, while in China the state plays a major role. The US athletes are more out in the open i.e. public, whereas chinese athletes, as everything else in China are all hush hush, nobody knows whats hapenning until the red box opens. Both places there is dedication and discipline, forced by the market in the US and forced by the state in China.
I guess the sticking point is both of them are bullies, they just bull doze their way without caring for what is right and wrong, I feel that comes from power, as they say, power currupts. Every country has been at the receiving end of the stick from either USA or China and that creates the bitterness which in turns instigates the antagonism towards their athletes. One can also say that nobody likes meteoric rises, its like hitting the lottery, a lot of people are suddenly jealous of you and hope you fall into bad ways, similarly thats how people view the rise of China, especially with its underhand tactics.
Both USA and China will walk out with the majority of the medals, where does that leave the rest of the world, is the olympics just a tussle between those two, with everybody else fighting for the left over scraps?
Why dont people like China now, one reason is because it gets away with everything, another is that secretly we all wish our country was as efficient as China, but it is not possible because we are built on different values (freedom, choice, independence) which though important we sometimes feel are empty. One reason is it always hurts to see some one, who used to be among us, suddenly vault to the echelons of world and start dealing with the world in its own terms.
Until recently, USA used to be the team everybody loved to beat and also derived secret pleasure in its defeat. Deep within, the world was happy when USA lost, be it basketball, tennis or athletics, USA was the all powerful giant and it was always USA against the world. I think all that has changed in the recent past, in as must as people liked to see a new champion, they never thought China would so totally become a super power leaving even the USA far behind, the intial cheer spurring China on has now been replaced with the antagonism reserved for USA, funny how things turn.
China has now taken the place of the erstwhile USSR and I fear another cold war in the offing (let us let that thought marinate till another post).
What is the difference between USA and China, USA we can say is actually an amalgamation of athletes from different countries, yes there are home grown US athletes but there are also many 1st generation and 2nd generation mexicans, kenyans, cubans etc. sometimes one feels as if USA just collects all the best athletes from around the world and uses them, where as the chinese athletes are totally home grown. USA has access to the best research, China has a billion people. Sports in the US supported and nurtured by corporate sponsorships, while in China the state plays a major role. The US athletes are more out in the open i.e. public, whereas chinese athletes, as everything else in China are all hush hush, nobody knows whats hapenning until the red box opens. Both places there is dedication and discipline, forced by the market in the US and forced by the state in China.
I guess the sticking point is both of them are bullies, they just bull doze their way without caring for what is right and wrong, I feel that comes from power, as they say, power currupts. Every country has been at the receiving end of the stick from either USA or China and that creates the bitterness which in turns instigates the antagonism towards their athletes. One can also say that nobody likes meteoric rises, its like hitting the lottery, a lot of people are suddenly jealous of you and hope you fall into bad ways, similarly thats how people view the rise of China, especially with its underhand tactics.
Both USA and China will walk out with the majority of the medals, where does that leave the rest of the world, is the olympics just a tussle between those two, with everybody else fighting for the left over scraps?
Why dont people like China now, one reason is because it gets away with everything, another is that secretly we all wish our country was as efficient as China, but it is not possible because we are built on different values (freedom, choice, independence) which though important we sometimes feel are empty. One reason is it always hurts to see some one, who used to be among us, suddenly vault to the echelons of world and start dealing with the world in its own terms.
posted by adarsh adarsh at 1:34 PM
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