Flying thoughts and racing ideas

So. I didn't theme this blog. That's okay. The reason for that may be apparent with the title of this post. My brain never seems to stand still long enough for me to logically comprehend and make sense of all my thoughts. Sometimes I wish there was a way to categorize them all, and organize them into files and folders, like I do with my courses. But at other times, I am grateful for not having a strict organizational regime in my mind. Can you imagine what that would be like? I am content with my mind being more like an old treasure chest, memories strewn haphazardly and discovered years later with a chuckle, or a gasp (I can't believe I did that when I was 16!!!).

But enough of this. On the subject of flying thoughts and racing ideas, I think I should mention that I've been following the Olympics (indirectly, of course, mostly through my friends and my sister) a lot more than usual. The Olympics are a symbol of unity and friendly, peaceful competition, and of course, excellence in sports. Competing nations at large meet in solidarity and their people cheer for one another. The sports are an excellent way of fostering unity and solidarity, and provides athletes with the opportunity to test themselves against worthy opponents from all over the world, a chance that I am sure is very appealing to athletes.

But what defines it exactly? It is obvious that the quest for medals often overrides the quality of friendliness and intensifies the competition. Consequently, athletes are subjected to an insurmountable pressure to perform not only well, but place within the top 3. And if they don't, then they are subjected to taunts and ridicules by their media, as if they don't feel bad about themselves already. Since they are largely funded by corporations and tax money, athletes are made to feel deeply responsible for their loss.

And underlying all of this is a larger, deeper, more problematic issue that confronts every single nation hosting the Olympics. This year's Winter Olympics committee in Vancouver is being highly criticized by the international media for their poor organization. At the same time however, what is less publicized are the large number of protests by the Canadian First Nations people about the land that most of the Olympics pitches and ski hills are built on. This land is claimed to be stolen, Native land for which of course, the Native people have not been compensated. In addition, the east side of downtown Vancouver, generally notorious for harbouring a large number of homeless people has been mysteriously 'cleared out' with little or no evidence of where these people now are. All this, I have been hearing about through word of mouth. There is barely any media station that is publishing any information about it, no doubt having been silenced, either by the government or their corporate sponsors.

I have never really kept up with the Olympics. Until now. I am very interested to see whether the stolen land will be returned to the First Nations people, and whether Vancouver's east side will again be teeming with the homeless once the charade of the Olympics is done with. One thing I've learned through my education these past few years is that every global action has a far-reaching consequence beyond its original intention. And since we're living in a globalized world, it has become all the more difficult to deflect this chain reaction.