[Paleopsych] WorldNetDaily: Olympics: Add drugs, remove jingoism

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Olympics: Add drugs, remove jingoism
4.9.2
[All laws have arbitrary elements. It's the nature of human reality. This 
is a bad argument.]

    The idea of the Olympics is great. But there are at least two aspects
    of the event that should be modified.

    First is the fact that the athletes are all there as representatives
    of their nation states, not as individuals, even though athletic
    competition is something that occurs strictly between individuals or,
    at most, small teams. What does, or should, that have to do with
    politics? The answer is, nothing. Personally, I like to support the
    athletes that I find most appealing, regardless of what government's
    passport they have in their pockets. It's disgusting that the games
    are so often used as an opportunity to rally the masses in jingoism.

    The 2004 games weren't bad in that respect - nothing could top
    Hitler's 1936 games or some of the contests during the Cold War in
    that regard. Especially the 1980 games, when Jimmy Carter shamefully
    forced American athletes to withdraw, after years of preparation, to
    give weight to one of his fatuous political conceits.

    What should be done? The Games should be privately organized, open to
    the best athletes in the world, regardless of their nationality.
    Politics don't belong on the playing field. Or, really, anywhere else
    between people of good will; but that's another subject.

    Second is the hysteria about drug use among athletes. Drugs serve
    several basic purposes: to reduce pain, to give pleasure, or to
    enhance health or performance. Often the lines are blurred among these
    purposes and effects. How do you draw the line? Where do you draw the
    line between natural substances that occur in foods, drugs that are
    necessary for a medical condition, or some prohibited substance that
    an athlete might have been accidentally exposed to? And who has the
    right to draw the line? Caffeine (as in coffee) is a performance
    enhancer, but it's legal; cannabinols (as in marijuana) are not, but
    they're illegal. It's all arbitrary, hypocritical and destructive.

    These rules are as stupid as would be rules saying all athletes must
    eat the same diets to level the playing field between those from rich
    countries and poor ones. Or as stupid as the recently dropped
    prohibition against professional athletes competing in the Olympics.
    Lots of improvements have been allowed in equipment and clothing over
    the years. Why not improvements available from drugs as well?

    In any event, it's not a technical issue; it's an ethical one.
    Athletes own their own bodies; it's their right to do whatever they
    can to enhance performance.

    It's shameful to see the careers of great athletes ruined simply
    because they were trying to be all that they can be. If any
    compromises are to be made, there ought to be two classes: Standard
    and Open. Athletes could compete in either or both. It would make for
    a hell of a show. And a much more honest one.
                                 ___________

    Legendary speculator [19]Doug Casey logs 150,000 miles a year,
    trekking through jungles, deserts and high mountain passes, while his
    readers sit home and collect returns of 400 percent, 4,170 percent,
    even 10,060 percent. He is the author of the best-selling "Crisis
    Investing" and "The International Man." He also edits the newsletter
    [20]International Speculator.

References

   19. mailto:dcasey at worldnetdaily.com
   20. http://www.shopnetdaily.wnd.com/store/item.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=11&SUBDEPARTMENT_ID=68&DROPSHIP_ID=43&ITEM_ID=83