Open Mic: USA vs. China, More Than Just an Athletic Competition

Last Friday, most of us watched the Opening Ceremony from Beijing in complete awe of what we were seeing.

But, instead of sitting back and enjoying this unbelievably spectacular event, most of us tried our best to find some kind of fault with it.

We talked about how "scary" the 2,000 drummers looked. We might have thrown in a comment or two about how those drummers probably didn’t have a choice as to whether or not they wanted to participate in the opening ceremony.

We saw Yao Ming lead the China team in, waving that big red Chinese flag, and compared him to Ivan Drago walking in to fight Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV. 

In the days following the opening ceremony, instead of focusing on how spectacular the opening ceremony was, the American media instead focused on as many downfalls as they could get their hands on.

The fireworks might not have been real.

They tore down people’s homes to build the Olympic stadium and didn’t properly compensate them.

The little girl was lip-syncing because the actual singer was not pretty enough to appear on television.

All this shows how different China’s views still are from the rest of the developed world. 

If this ceremony had taken place in a country such as Australia, Great Britain, or any one of our other close allies, we would have happily sat back and commented on how wonderful the ceremony was and how great a job they were doing as Olympic hosts.

But this opening ceremony and Olympic games are taking place in China, a country that has experienced unprecedented economic growth and is likely to become the world’s next superpower within the next 20 to 30 years. 

The fact of the matter is that we feel threatened by China, and many of us were intimidated by the magnitude of the opening ceremony.

For the first time in the lives of many Americans, there is a country out there that has a legitimate, even a probable, chance of taking over our spot as the big dog on the block—and we don’t like it one bit.

We don’t like the fact that the Chinese population is becoming increasingly wealthy, while most of us are struggling through a recession.

We don’t like the fact that China doesn't have to, and chooses not to, fall in line with our views. 

And we particularly don't like the fact that China might win more medals than us in the 2008 Olympics. Most of us thought we were decades away from having to face that possibility.

So, instead of embracing and complimenting China on their Opening Ceremony—which was a clear display of how technically and economically advanced they have become—we try and find a way to degrade them because we feel threatened and do not want to accept that this country of 1.3 billion people might actually be closer to overtaking us on the world stage than many of us had thought.

For us here in America, the 2008 Beijing Olympics is no longer a friendly, goodwill event. It is us against our newfound rival, China.

Whether or not we win the most medals is no longer what’s important, as long as we win more medals than China.   

After the opening ceremony and the images we have seen of how quickly Beijing has evolved into a highly modern, bustling city, losing to China in the medal count would be more of a shock to our country’s system than most of us could handle.

Granted, China is a communist country that goes against much of what I and we as country believe in. And, I could write at least an article, if not a small book, about all of the Chinese views and actions that I do not agree with. 

But, that is what is fueling this newfound competition between us and China even more. 

Our competition with China in terms of economic power, military power, views, values, and general world power is oozing over into these Olympic games and we do not want to lose to a country that is a legitimate competitor on the world stage—and that also happens to have extremely different views than us on basic values such as human rights.

The real fuel behind the fire of our recent interest in the Olympic games, and our recent obsession with beating China in the medal count, is not our thirst for competition or a newfound interest in swimming, gymnastics, or water polo—it is good old fashion fear. 

Fear is the biggest motivator there is. Fear either makes you run or fight. 

The magnitude of the opening ceremony, along with a marked improvement in Chinese athletes, has intimidated us and we have responded by showing our fighting spirit.

This fighting spirit is being played out through the way our athletes are competing and how we as a country have shown our support and our strong interest in taking home more medals than China. 

In the 2008 Olympic Games, China has clearly displayed just how much they have advanced over the past decade, and this has come as somewhat of a shock to most of us. 

Hopefully this shock will awaken the sleeping giant in us as a country.