Olympics.
To think that the whole think is costing so many billions of dollars is making me sick. We don't have money to save people in Africa. We don't have money to offer free education. We don't have money to fix roads. We don't have money to help others. But we have this much F***ing money to hold the Olympics???? I won't even start on the topic of the opening ceremony, or the hockey team or anything at all... Fame, glory, to hell with it. If you think of the whole thing in economic terms, there's no way you can think of it as a positive thing. And I'm sorry if I'm offending all the athletes in the world, but yeah... Anyways. This isn't what I wanna talk about.
What I wanna talk about today is Joannie Rochette, the figure skater who's representing Canada. While it's a fact that I am a supporter of Kim YeonA (the Korean champion)... I think we should have a thought for Joannie Rochette and the terrible ordeal she's going through. The 22 years old girl just lost her mom, who had made the trip to Vancouver (and was doubtlessly her most intense supporter) to see perform.
Okay, so you say "why would KY even think of it"... Well I'm 22 years old and I really don't want to imagine what the girl is going through... but for a moment today, it crossed my mind. This morning, my mom got in a skiing accident. Nothing major, just the arm that she can't use and lots of bruises... she also fell on her head but she was wearing a helmet, which is good cuz it could have been much worse. Of course people who call you to tell you what happened don't start this kind of topic saying "she's fine", they start by saying "she got in an accident", so for a few seconds, my heart started thumping really hard and my vision got blurred. That was just for a few seconds and it was a horrible feeling, honestly.
So when I read on the news that Joannie Rochette's mom died in Vancouver... I felt somewhat heartbroken for her. Because if I lost my mom today, I would be destroyed and lost and I wouldn't know what to do.
Well I think I'm not making so much sense in the way I'm expressing it.. but yeah... I think I'll pray for her tonight.
11 Comments:
For fuck sake, really. This money should go into pockets of researchers *cough* like me *cough* who actually use our time, money and brains for society's good. The government can't finance universities so departments cannot recruit new profs but we have money to finance a freaking ceremony that's not even close to perfect (major fail at that 4th structure that never got up).
no kidding eh. I thought "wow it's cool that Canada got the Olympics" but when I found out how much we paid for it and for that ridiculous ceremony (which let's be honest sucked at 70%)I was totally outraged.
i mean, start by fixing roads, paying profs, paying research, giving money to help other countries and then if you have any left give into the olympics... but GEE, the whole "we don't have money" is SO OUTPLAYED.
lol sounds like you've been hanging out with adrienne a little too much. what was vancouver supposed to do? spend nothing and hope people would be impressed? you're already taking a piss on the opening ceremonies, which were "far from perfect" (as they always are, regardless of the country), even though it's been one of the cheaper ones in history (london's costs are projected at 9 billion, and the beijing olympics--the opening ceremonies of which were taped and edited, and the citizens told to stay home and out of sight--cost taxpayers 44 billion). it's a known fact that hosting the olympics bolsters the local economy of a given country and can provide lasting positive effects, so it remains to be seen whether or not the cost will offset the benefits.
and since when have you become such a socialist, anyway? i can understand fixing the roads, but pouring more money into universities for professors to fiddle away on anarchist movements and the like (erroding their own lifesource...? who's going to pay them when everyone's in factions?), or encouraging students to forestall joining the job market and instead enter grad school in useless fields so they can party for a couple more years before uprooting and moving their labour to the US...? (i'm not saying this to take a piss on akane btw--i'm sure she's legit--but i've met countless grad students during my time at mcgill who fit the bill perfectly). free education is a lovely idea in theory, but horrible in practice.
i'd also like to know what makes you think canada doesn't already donate a ton in foreign aid? we're in the top ten, and the figure is several times what we spent on the games (which is a considerable amount given the size of our population). funnily enough, i don't think i've once seen south korea on any of the charts i've looked at... oh wait, it was near the bottom of one of them... ;)
not saying this to pick a fight or anything, but i'd really like to know why you think these things. you keep bringing it up, but your arguments are full of holes.
well its not JUST about Canada, it's about the whole Principle of the Olympics. We already had it in Mtl so I think we did our part, now we hold it in Vancouver. A lot of people in Vancouver are suffering from the Olympics, I think we need to look at not just the repercussion for the country as a whole but especially the direct effects on the citizen there. Sure they'll get some tourism but what about the people who don't have the means to pay more tax in a already very highly priced city??
Don't misunderstand Sumi, it's not about JUST Canada. I mean I did dislike the opening ceremony, because of the messy image it gave us and all the justification I had to do to people... but that's another story.
Just think about it un biasedly, not thinking I'm making fun of Canada or whatever. Why are we holding olympics? Because it's a sport event and it's fun and it brings up International communities together. Good.
How much are we spending on this? How many billions?
And in comparison how much money are we putting in research and development of other countries??
Now compare the two figures and tell me with no backthought and honestly that you think it's logical that we invest more money in sport events than in helping others, helping ourselves.
Sure we are top 10 in helping countries, but since when is it about being in a chart to show we are good? it's not a game, people are really dying out there and they need more than a few millions, they're gonna need billions to get out of their situations. But we can't afford so much more, Just because we prioritize so many other things, like sport.
It's the same thing as America wasting money in weaponry. They do have a purpose too, but we still think it's dumb and they ought to put more money in their own people or helping people in Africa and Asia and stuff.
Don't you think it's just illogical that it would cost so much for 10 days? and then the government says we can't do this and that, that we have a recession.
I mean, if every country had seriously the money to do everything it has to do, and THEN invest in Olympics, I'd say "Great, do it"
I mean I love watching sports, so I can't say I wanna suppress it, far from it.
But right now, I cannot objectively think it's a positive investment when comparing their figures and numbers to what is needed elsewhere.
I don't even hang out with Adrienne. But I think if research can be helped, then go ahead. And if students can be helped too, that's great. I never asked for students loan and I did get annoyed at all those kids for striking when tuition is so cheap in this country... but if I have to choose between the Olympics and investing in my people, my decision wouldn't take long.
vancity IS overpriced, fair enough. but i think it's a bit naive to think the games are to blame for the rise in or worsening of homelessness. vancouver has always had a problem with homelessness, a lot of it having to do with the high dropout rate and doping, not to mention the fact that we're coming out of a recession. it may indeed have contributed a tiny fraction to the problem, but i think you may find that a lot of those people are demanding assistance without even bothering to try helping themselves.
i too would like to know just how much we're spending on the olympics, because whenever i run a search on google, it always comes up as just short of 2 billion dollars. the financial aid we provide amounts to far more than that, so i don't think the argument that we're spending more on sporting events than helping others holds. people are reluctant to send money overseas because a lot of it is squandered by the governments of said countries. if it was actually helping the people it's supposed to, then great. but the truth is that it often isn't, so i can understand why people are hesitatant to finance the lifestyles of other countries' leaders.
as for the cost, i do not think it's illogical. there are SO many cities competing to host the olympics (that only happen every four years), so the fact that we even got it in the first place is an honour. the whole world's eyes will be on the host country, so it's in that country's best interest to show its very best side... especially if it wants the games to be an investment that will have lasting effects into the future. the government says 'we can't do this and that, we're in a recession and have no money' because they really don't--they did not have the money to host the games and had to cut funding from other resources in order to live up to the expectations demanded by the olympic and international committees. this might sound ridiculous to some, but the olympics often are an investment that attract not only tourists, but potential investors and other sources of income that better the economy. the reality is that very few countries actually have the funds to hold the olympics, and often rely on the income the games generate to help make up their initial losses. if the requirements to hold the games means having endless supplies of money to fix the world, then i think we will soon find ourselves without any olympics at all... and that will be a sad day, because it really is an event that brings people together and has lasting positive effects.
id love to keep arguing for ever about my opinion to you but
1) it's just an opinion. It's never meant as a personal offense and I never meant to criticize just Canada's, but just priorities in general.
2)what's in it for you ? from what i know, you're not an ex athlete who centered your life on training for this one event and you probably wouldn't hate it if investment were directed to other fields that can be judged (still as a matter of opinion) more important.
3) i don't think it's a crime to be idealist about the way we should care about people. International aid might not always work out, but there's also much to blame on the unwillingness of ppl and gov't to make it work out.
This said, do you still want to argue that my opinion is "full of holes" and that I am "pissing on the olympics" or that "South Korea is at the bottom of Intl aid"?
I don't mind you telling me what you think, but I do somewhat mind the way you turned it into something so personal when clearly it wasn't the idea at the beginning.
My general opinion is:
Olympics are overrated, people invest too much time, energy and money into it. It's not like I'm bashing Canada or you or anyone.. it's just an opinion.
And I don't think you can say with all conscience of mind that you think Olympics is the most important thing in the world either. Or can you?
i've never thought that the olympics were the most important thing in the world, but i certainly don't think they're a waste of money. i enjoyed how it brought people together and gave us something to bond over, and how finally my country showed some unabashed patriotism that made me feel like part of a community for once. sure, the money and energy spent on the olympics could be better spent on solving the world's problems, but you could say that of almost any commercial undertaking, so why write provocative things that rain on everyone's parade and make them feel bad about enjoying them? that's all. just my opinion.
but--just to clarify where i'm coming from--when you write these kinds of things about the vancouver olympics (a la facebook) but not, say, the beijing olympics, it makes you sound like you've taken issue with the way canada did the olympics just because it's "crappy old canada." we did a really good job and should be proud.
Glad to see u felt like u belonged to a community.
On a different note, as i mentioned in previous blogging entry, this is my blog, I write the shit that I want and I won't alter it just cuz it might shock some people. As a matter of fact, as a reader, getting offended or whatever is a decision that you make by yourself.
And since other people agree with or enjoy what I write, it appears I can't please everyone. Not that I'm intending to.
But then again, you're used to me writing my opinion about everything, why get offended now? you could've gotten offended when I "pissed" on that Korean choir or all those other events I went to and disliked.
Don't make it a personal issue just cuz you think I'm "pissing" especially on Canada, Sumi.
It's only your own perspective that I shat on Canada just cuz it's "old Canada", cuz as I wrote those lines, I didn't give a damn whether it's China, Canada or the U.S.
As for the opening ceremony, it's true, I didn't like it and I prefered Beijing visually. But that's also a matter of opinion la.
I didn't dislike the closing ceremony. Pleased?
i've never thought of this discussion as a personal issue, but i see that the way i've said things has bothered you. for that, i'm sorry. your post has made me realize that my approach to these kinds of things is a little too hostile, although i don't mean it to be when i type them up.
anyway, i'm not trying to get you to censor yourself, i just think that while we do have freedom of speech, we also have to be held accountable for what we say. if you publicly insinuate that something like the olympics (for example) shouldn't exist for reasons x, y, and z, but said reasons don't hold when you consider a, b, and c, then it's fair game to point that out whether it's on your blog or over facebook or in person. as for why i don't take exception with your other entries, it's simple: if i don't experience them then i don't have an opinion or any right to comment on them, really.
as i said, my method was wrong, so i'm sorry if i hurt you.
Sorry, my last entry was also a bit over the edge now that I'm re-reading it.
I guess I took it a bit more personal than I had intended to, not because you don't have a point but maybe because it was so sudden and you seemed to use very well chosen and (gotta admit) slightly hostile words... so I was confused as to what kind of message you were trying to send me.
I don't mind people enjoying the Olympics, I just don't like how some place so much importance on the Olympic events and make it a point of honor to bring themselves up through it. You know like those (not all but some) US kids who shit on Canada or whatever country's successes or defeats just cuz they think it's so important for US to be superior? And now that I think of it, not just the US, but I also saw lots of Canadians and lots of Koreans doing it... It brings community sense and it's good but I dislike this kind of counter effect. And well, money matters and all that. Maybe since I realized I am so poor and unable to get a decent loan from the gov't, I am starting to understand the striking kids better? Haha, makes no sense maybe...
Anyways, forgive my over reaction to all this.. but yeah that's what blogging is all about right? let's put this behind us.
still want to see you in korea, but... not looking good. will tell you more on facebook.
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