Thursday, March 23, 2006
death to the nation state
nationalism. what a disgusting site to behold! persons parading around with so much pride and patriotism, but what does it mean? in the end nothing. what is the nation, but an imaginary line drawn in the sand to denote where one state ends and another one begins. human beings are forced to remain behind these lines, and if one wants to walk across the sand, they will need a passport and permission. the nation-state is the cause for so much marginalization in the world. bigotry and racism are artificial man-made institutions spurred on by the nation-state. one could draw similar parallels with war, poverty, and famine.
which brings me to the common wealth games. the common wealth games is like the olympics, it is first an advertisement ploy by the media, second a sickening display of nationalism, and third and often times forgotten, it is a sporting festival. who makes up the common wealth? it is a bunch of relic nations still clinging on to the idea of being under the rule of the british crown. when one athlete wins their event, what happens? the nation's flag comes out and a victory lap is expected. i am all for the victory lap, just drop the flag, and please drop the sponsorship plug. it is degrading to watch and more self degrading for the athlete to open their mouths.
how much more exciting would a major international sporting event be without the nationalistic back drop? it could be an event where there was no medal tally ranked by nation, but one marked by competitor. it could be an event when the medal ceremony is played out, rather than the winning teams national anthem played over the loudspeaker, "we are the world" was played instead.
which brings me to the common wealth games. the common wealth games is like the olympics, it is first an advertisement ploy by the media, second a sickening display of nationalism, and third and often times forgotten, it is a sporting festival. who makes up the common wealth? it is a bunch of relic nations still clinging on to the idea of being under the rule of the british crown. when one athlete wins their event, what happens? the nation's flag comes out and a victory lap is expected. i am all for the victory lap, just drop the flag, and please drop the sponsorship plug. it is degrading to watch and more self degrading for the athlete to open their mouths.
how much more exciting would a major international sporting event be without the nationalistic back drop? it could be an event where there was no medal tally ranked by nation, but one marked by competitor. it could be an event when the medal ceremony is played out, rather than the winning teams national anthem played over the loudspeaker, "we are the world" was played instead.
