The Nature of the Beast

Who wrote this? "In ancient times, a Westerner had to journey for months, even years, to reach China. Today, thanks to modern air travel, it takes much longer." And again: "China is the world's most populous nation, with a population of more than 1.3 billion, making it home to one out of every four people on earth. Think about what that means. It means that if you belong to a family of four, one of you lives here in China. (To find out if it's you, check your driver's license.)"

The great Dave Barry of course!



Which brings me to the vexed question of Beijing and the Olympic Games. People often ask me where I "stand" on the Olympics. Well, at this late stage in a life which has accommodated with the greatest of ease events and phenomena such as apartheid, the Vietnam War (I was for it) and the two Iraq wars (I was for them both), I have decided NOT to watch the Olympics.



Why not? As is often the case in human motivation, there are a variety of factors involved:

* Bloatware. It just seems to me that the whole enterprise has got out of hand. In this connection, it's interesting to note that even the Chinese are finding it hard to attract people to attend some of the more obscure events like canoing or badminton. Conscious of the potential embarrassment caused by the sight of empty stands, the Chinese have moved swiftly. Never short of a million (people) or two, they have co-opted healthy volunteers to attend the "festivities" and to cheer lustily for all and sundry. "It doesn't matter who wins or loses, but how you play the game".
* Doping. Enough has already been said and written on this topic.
* I could be wrong but I don't think the British have got much chance in the field and track events.



In spite of everything, I still think there is nothing quite as exciting as an athletics contest, so what belated onrush of principle is preventing me from watching this time?

Well, it seems to me that, in the case of Tibet, we for once in a blue moon, had an opportunity to seriously embarrass the Chinese authorities without provoking a dangerous diplomatic or political crisis. With the protests against the passage of the Olympic torch from one country to another, it seemed for a while that we, by which I mean the people and not their governments, might actually be prepared to organise a(television) boycott of the Olympics. But that was to seriously overestimate our "commitment" to anything over and above an afternoon of media-covered protests.When it comes to the crunch we prefer pleasure to principle. And that's the awful truth

I am as lazy and selfish as the next person but unless we are prepared to use our combined economic power to get our point across, we could at least shut up and get off the backs of our governments.