Go for the Real Gold
All that Olympics money could be better spent elsewhere
The 2024 Summer Olympics are on and it’s only a matter of time before the whining and hair-pulling start. Why aren’t our athletes doing better? How come we haven’t won more gold medals? Why haven’t we spent more on the development of our table tennis team?
As the Games wind up, the hand-wringing and finger-pointing will undoubtedly intensify. If the U. S. team doesn’t achieve a respectable medal haul, the national shame will be palpable.
What’s going on here? Why do Americans experience a biennial national nervous breakdown over the results of sports which they normally wouldn’t cross the street to watch?
The problem is that the country has bought into a concept that runs contrary to basic American values and interests. After all, the Olympic Games are run and organized by elite, wealthy organizations, organizations that are not accountable to anyone. And the much-touted concept of the Olympics as an international meeting of amateur athletes died years ago.
Today, the Olympic Games are rife with highly paid professional athletes or nominal amateurs who earn large sums in product endorsements. And doping remains a problem among Olympic athletes with their unhealthy, win-at-all-costs attitude.
