Well, news in recent days has shown the Opening Ceremony to be a bit of a farce. I can't say that I am very surprised. The fact that the IOC gave a country with a horrendous human rights record the Olympics suggests a lot of things they have done have been a joke. It is one thing to use computer generated images to make aerial shots of the fireworks seem more impressive but to have a small girl lip sync the national anthem is pathetic. Apparently the girl with the best voice needed some help from an orthodontist so they made her sing it and then had a "prettier" girl "perform" it for the world to see. As if anybody cares what a 7-year-old's teeth look like when she is singing. The whole idea of looks being important in this instance is creepy on so many levels. If they are going to fake the Opening Ceremonies I have a sneaky hunch they'll do whatever it takes to win a medal. China is such a great place, I really wish I could raise my daughter there.
(Photo from Getty/AFP.)
6 comments:
Sir, I think you need a great big hug. Things I've learned in life. 1) There's no such thing as a free lunch. 2) Life's not fair. 3) The sun will come out tomorrow and 4) The Big Red Machine was the greatest baseball team, past, present and future.
So... I take it you don't like China all that much. While I don't agree with some of the things they do either, I don't see it as all that different than here. The prettiest people are chosen for TV, while some of the more talented are never seen because they don't have the right "look" either.
Secondly, I think it's a little wrong for the US to criticize China so heavily when they have bought out $1 trillion of our debt. Not to mention a $230 billion+ trade deficit with China, or the fact that probably over 2/3 of all materials in the US come from China.
At least we know where China stands. Meanwhile, people here are still trying to live the "American Dream." Just work hard, and you too can be rich and powerful. People in the US are working harder than ever but the distance between the haves and have-nots continues to grow. Trickle-down economics? Give the people with the most money the most breaks and easiest time and that money will filter down to the people who need it the most. How did people ever fall for that?!
People are losing their homes left and right, they can't afford to put gas into their cars because there is a shortage, or "crisis." Why then, does Exxon post the highest quarterly profits for any company in US history exceeding $1,300 PROFIT PER SECOND.
Start a war, privately contract out the "rebuilding" jobs in another country to firms you have a stake in at 10 times the cost, get filthy rich, and do it because you got voted in again because you agreed that God doesn't want gay people to get married. I'm struggling to see which is the worse leadership.
I know this wasn't the point you were making, and it's a completely different rant of my own, but I had to get it off my chest LOL. I just feel like banging on China is just another distraction.
Kyle,
You sir need to read this...
http://www.obamatookmydollars.com
... particularly the part on bar stool economics.
American's are losing their homes because they were stupid and signed up for loans they could not afford. (The banks were also stupid to grant the loans and should not, in my opinion, be bailed out by the government.) Many in America try to live above their means and that is their own fault, not the US government's, the rich, or anyone else's. When you live in a free country you are allowed to do stupid things... but I shouldn't have to pay for my neighbor's stupidity.
As for Exon... welcome to capitalism! No one was saying that we should hold its hand or feel sorry for it when it was bleeding money (even with the tax breaks) not that long ago. The reason the government subsidizes them is because exploration for oil is prohibitively expensive. And whether you like it or not, our country is dependent on oil. No one in his or her right mind would get into oil exploration/refinement without the incentives because there are much better ways to make money.
A little know fact is that while Exon's profits are insanely large at this moment in time, its profit margin is STILL smaller than most large cap companies. I.E They are making less money per dollar invested than most other companies!
On another note... our "poor" have no idea what poor means. Rural China, where they still have no electricity, eat 90% rice and use outhouses as bathrooms, is poor. There is also very little freedom of religion, speech, etc... in China.
We are definitely living in a time where the world operates as a "global economy" but that doesn't make us like China, at least in most of the ways that matter.
I appreciate the passion from kyle but to compare the policies and communist regime of China to the US is ludicrous. The US may, and does, have its faults but "banging" on China is completely within reason. I find it hilarious that one can say "we know where China stands" when in fact everything they do is under a shroud of secrecy. In reality we do know where the US stands and if you don't like it then I'm sure voting for Obama will make everything better.
I re-read my post and see that it didn't come across as I wanted it to...
I just find it hypocritical to use one hand to write about how terrible China is while the other hand is taking their money to bail us out of our problems. The scary part for me is that they pretty much hold our economical future in their hands.
I also feel like we "know where China stands," because we do. We know how citizens are treated, and when they don't want something to come out they keep it a secret. We know who they are.
I also agree that "poor" by our terms is nowhere near that of other countries. But, if China ever decided to free their citizens, and let them make a living wage, what would happen to all of the products that we import or jobs that we outsource?
I guess my biggest issue is that I feel like people in this country are just oppressed in different ways. Freedom of religion and the idea of the "American Dream" keep good people working hard and striving to be more because God will help them, or because in this country anyone is free to be anything. Meanwhile, I feel like some people exploit this faith and hard work to better themselves. A LOT of people lost their homes because they got in over their heads, but there are also a LOT of people who work as hard as anyone, yet fail to earn a living wage.
As for Exxon... I do know that future drilling and technological R&D is extremely expensive, but I think we also knew that it was coming. We knew oil wouldn't last. We knew we had to start exploring other means of energy a long time ago. I feel like we didn't because we wanted to squeeze every last dollar we could. It doesn't mater who suffers as long as people make their money. I see parallels to the most dangerous drug in America being legal. People don't like to lose their money.
I'm sorry for spinning your post into something completely different, but these are things that I worry about, and I don't think that, "voting for Obama will make everything better."
I think we have our own, serious, unique problems that need to be addressed. Being a global citizen, and caring for the rights of all people is a responsibility we all bear a great cause to champion. At the same time, I feel like it's difficult to read about how deplorable China is when we take advantage of it every day.
And, yes Joel, this is football Kyle. How's life outside of arguments LOL?
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