It’s hard to deny that Olympics are pretty interesting. Even if I don’t really watch them intensely, I have to admit that the idea of countries from around the world, coming together, and giving the world a chance to see all of the greatest athletes in the world, all in one place, is pretty darn cool. Countries gathering into a single city, representing their home countries as individuals, but representing humanity as a whole. Countries fade, and in its place you see people sporting for the sake of the game. Well, unless you live in America.
I don’t think I’ve really touched upon my disdain for this country here on 64Digits that much, but something that really drives me nuts is it’s pride or patriotism. Team USA, Team USA, Team fucking USA. Is that really all that is going on over in London? No. No it’s not, but for all that we see, it may as well be. Sure, I can understand that a lot of people are interested in the sports we compete best in or even just barely compete, but what about all the other sports that some of us haven’t even heard of? Sure, I can understand an interview with the American team that just lost a water polo match, but how about the fucking people that just beat them? Just because they aren’t American doesn’t mean they aren’t amazing. We rarely get to hear about the other people. Every single time, when they have nothing to show, the empty space is filled up with all these dramatic background stories of people who are competing for America; sometimes they replay them, or sometimes they just fill the space with more ads. Have you seen some of the countries these people come from?! I’m all for seeing the guy triumph out from the broncs, but god damn there are countries with people who make it out with just as many tribulations, if not more. I want to see them, know their story, hear their voices, see their faces, and fucking acknowledge their existence, not as a person from another country, but as a person.Pride should exist though, don’t get me wrong, if we are going to get that awesome interview with the Polish or Australian guy, I don’t give a shit if he or she talks about his or her love for the country they represent. Hell, they should give a shoutout or a challenge to America, let us know that we can be beaten; maybe then I’ll be on the edge of my seat. We need to see that there is pride for other things out there besides America. For us Americans, pride is shoved down our throats at an abnormally high level; it’s almost like America has compensation issues. Every single freaking commercial it’s some stupid company comparing themselves to olympians or talking about how they “help them reach their goals.â€? “Team USA,â€? it says at the bottom of the commercial, “Proud Sponsor of Team USAâ€? or (I love this one) “Official <noun> of the Olympics.â€? Even then, if they are the official something of an international event they still put an extra amount of American-esque flag patterns all around their logo and the traditional “Team USAâ€? at the bottom. Yeah, go McDonalds, way to represent America by being Olympics official choice of food, I’m sure athletes from all over the world are raving about American food by now.35,442It’s the attitude really that is the problem here. We got to be number 1, number 1, number fucking 1… when we really aren’t. Maybe we can at least look close to number 1 at the Olympics, because we sure as hell suck at everything else. Whenever I say that, someone always likes to add “but your country have the best militaryâ€? as either: an act of kindly reminding me another reason to hate this country, or because of stupidity. Frankly, a military that does more harm than good (it occasionally does good, I looked into this), and gets an unnecessarily large amount of funding from a government that can’t afford it, it is the worst organized military in the world, in my opinion.I love you, so much :(Everyone already knows about America’s poor attitude though, this is nothing new. Really the Olympics, or the way that America approaches it, is just an example of the stupidity behind this country’s attitude. So nothing really has to be said, since really it’s just part of something bigger that will probably never go away or at least until the baby boomers die. Still, I just wish I got to see something, as international as the Olympics, from a world perspective and not from a spoiled country.
@ferret: yeah I know that feeling. America fucking sucks. But as a pessimist, I doubt I'd fit in anywhere. Then again, America has probably sullied my idea of humanity in the first place.
I was thinking Germany, or some other country with a Germanic language. I need to do some research and actually learn a language and have some kind of income/marketable skills first.
Canada is looking pretty good right now, considering the options. US and UK are dumps. I don't think I could handle living in a non-English speaking country because I'm terrible at language, nor could I live in a hotter climate because I find hot weather unbearable.
So that pretty much rules out everyone but Canada. Maybe New Zealand.If I spoke other languages I'd move to Scandinavia or East Asia or Germany or Switzerland.@sir xemic: We're also pretty boss at american football actually.
Don't really dig my country as a whole, love my state to death though.
I've got issues with America, but there's a lot of stuff I like about it too. That's how I approach everything. I may not be the most patriotic person, but it's better than all the incessant anti-patriotic people I know. These people piss me off to no end, always finding something to bitch about when it hardly even affects them.
Military suddenly got the ability to spy on citizens? Great. Why are you worried? Do you have something to hide? Breach of privacy? Okay, would you rather let the terrorists run free because they're under the guise of a citizen?(I don't defend this in any way, so don't get the wrong idea. I just think going all drama llama because of something that doesn't really affect you is silly.)So which is worse? Having a little attention turned to you for two minutes because it's expensive to do this to everyone, or get blown up because you had to have all your rights in line?As an American, I can say that most Americans are so fucking spoiled that they think everything's a conspiracy when something changes.Don't take me as being anti-Ferret here though. America's probably not the best place in the world, but as Rez said, it's not the worst either. We could all be stuck starving in Africa, or in the Middle East with no rights at all. I just don't get why everyone has to find something to complain about. I guess it's true in every case that people love bad news more than they love good. That's a curse we've put on ourselves.I should point out that you should never take me as confrontational. I'd pitch the opposition no matter what side you chose because that's what I do. I don't mind people who take a side because they've researched both of them well, but people with narrow-minded viewpoints bug me. Note that you're not my target, Ferret.
But on the matter of the principle, I agree. Like I said, I'm not condoning this act either. It makes me nervous and sure, it's a breach of privacy. But as I said, we're all so fucking spoiled. Few other people have the right to privacy and freedom of speech like we do. Bashing your leaders in some countries gets a firing squad on you. Not everyone has the right to bear arms. You can't deny that Americans are spoiled by our many rights.