As the Olympic torch goes around the world passing from hand to hand, it is becoming increasingly lucky that it contains fire for if it did not it would probably be burned. The Olympics are to be emblematic of global unity but they have an ironic history of being the source of the expression of fiery political tensions. The 2008 Summer Olympics prove to be no different, in fact they may serve as the epitome of such tension.
Why is it that so many individuals in the world have such a problem with the Olympics being in China? China has a promising future and is almost certain to be the next emerging global superpower. The Chinese economy is undergoing rapid expansion the Chinese are some of the smartest and most efficient people in the world.
Maybe that's the problem. The most intelligent and effective have long been the worst people on a global scale. Examples that come to mind are Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Osama bin Laden and our current president. China has a disgusting contemporary history of violating the rights of sentient beings, often in the name of efficiency.
It's the reason they massacred protesters in Tienanmen Square, because why arrest protesters to silence dissent when you can just kill them? Due process is a process and that is not efficient. Last year the Chinese government went through the streets murdering all of the dogs in China after a rabies outbreak. They drove through honking horns so that they would hear the dog barks and then beat them to death right there in the streets. No vaccination, no euthanasia because that's not efficient.
China is rapidly industrializing as it intertwines certain ideals and concepts of communism with that of Western capitalism. Western capitalism indeed but Western democracy is lacking. The result is a more efficient society but that contains a populace with few rights and resources while the government rapes them of it all.
The leaders of the so-called "democratic" Western World allowed China to host the Olympics this summer. This despite their gross actions of misconduct against those who reside in China, not by choice but by happenstance occurrence.
The leaders of democracy are first the leaders of capitalism and China is the face of capitalism. But the Olympics don't belong to governments, they belong to us, and if progressives get their way that torch is going to keep having a rough time as it travels around the world. One can only hope.
