Green Jello Hotdish

The Olympics in Beijing start in a couple of days.  Athletes from around the world will gather to compete, to demonstrate the individual physical heights we can accomplish as humanity.  I’m not a hugely athletic person — and the summer Olympics have absolutely no sports that I care to follow — but I’ll still catch the opening and closing ceremonies, and since there is a fellow Anoka High grad competing, I’ll follow the wrestling events this year.

But it sounds like no one in the Western world is going to — or supposed to — enjoy the events this time around.  From cries of cultural imperialism on behalf of the West thrust on the East, to being upset that the International Olympic Committee awarded the games to a communist government with a spotty-at-best human rights record, the general undertone of this year’s games is that of suspicion, of injustice.

At best, this level of indignation is bull.  And it only goes downhill from there.

I’m sorry, but I’m not going to feel guilty about cheering for the U.S. team.  I’m not going to feel as if I am somehow communicating that the U.S. is culturally superior to the rest of the world.  I’m not.  I’m simply cheering on my team, my nation, my fellow Americans.

I’m not going to boycott the opening ceremonies because of China’s human rights record.  And what’s more, if you’re really that upset at their government, then you should avoid buying Chinese-made goods, avoid benefiting from the burgeoning Chinese economy.  That means everything, from the product you use in your hair to the ballpoint pens on your desk.  Do you receive promotional materials or “freebies” from places?  Better check where those were made.  Do you enjoy authentic Chinese food?  Double-check the importation information.  What about the parts in your car?  In your computer?

I’m not going to protest the summer games because of China’s pollution problem.  We, as Americans, simply modeled this behavior and continue to do so as we now come to the stark realization that we ripped up our rail infrastructure, we destroyed our fresh water supplies, we continue to fear nuclear and renewable energy sources.  The people in Beijing live in dense structures, perform many of their daily routines on foot, and many do not even have access to a passenger automobile.  In comparison, here we work for the “American dream” of an acre or two of land, 2.5 vehicles per household, far away from centers of commerce and trade.

I’m not going to be suspicious of the media reporting from a country which censors its information.  How is overt censorship any worse than a government that purposely lies to its people and the wider world?  A population so disengaged and lazy to check facts for itself and taking E! television as high-class reporting?

I might give some credit if this indignation weren’t complete bull.  So go off, protest the games.  Stand on street corners and decry the awful affects of globalization and the industrial complex.  Do your “grassroots” blogging and reporting.  Just don’t you dare let me catch you doing it as you sip from a cup, wearing shoes, underwear and clothing, holding signs marked with ink, all made in China.