The Olympics: Brought to You by Capitalism
by Zach LahnOne of the few opportunities Americans have to witness and participate in true national unity happens every two years during the Olympic Games. Spurred on by the tradition and spirit of the games, Americans come together to root for their favorite athlete or event, setting aside, almost wholly, entrenched political views to witness the raw power of…Capitalism.
In actuality, the setting aside of political views for the Olympics is done by only one side of the political spectrum, the Left. This is common with a polarized political system, for true political unity one side, more often than not, is forced to cave. What many liberals fail or refuse to recognize however is that they are caving to conservative principles daily and the Olympics helps to unveil the true liberal love affair with capitalism.
At the heart and soul of both the Olympic Games and the free markets you will find the same driving force, competition.
Love watching the Olympics? Thank Capitalism. Competition and the desire to better one’s own life has brought about the motivation and innovation needed to produce nearly all of the devices we use to view the Olympics. With something as simple as pushing the power button on a flat screen TV, liberals are confessing to the pure success of the capitalistic system. Whether listening on XM radio, streaming live on a computer, receiving a TV signal via satellite, updating medal totals on a mobile phone, or watching in person, the means of viewing is courtesy of the fruits of capitalism.
The reason for this is simple: personal computers, satellites, cell phones, TV’s, and passenger jets were not designed with the intent of losing money or breaking even, they are here because investors wanted profit and consumers wanted product.
Viewing method is by no means the only area of the Olympics that is deeply-rooted in capitalism.
No one wants uncompetitive athletic performances and no athlete goes into the Games looking to lose. Athletes train for years to prepare for their two weeks of opportunity, and they require the best and latest in training technology. It is the free market that builds and designs these training products, not a government entity. The market demand is recognized and met with the intention of making profit, not out of charity.
Whether it’s the new long distance running shoes, weight training equipment, sleeker swimming suit designs, or the healthier training supplements that help the athlete obtain an edge, the ability to create the edge is brought on by the capitalistic system’s incentive program.
For conservatives, this is not out of the ordinary; after all it’s the conservative ideology’s support and advocacy of economic freedom that has brought the Olympic Games into our homes and made them more competitive. We understand how the system works, and we understand that the luxuries we enjoy have a price tag attached.
For liberals the story is much different, primarily due to the fact that by definition liberalism, or progressivism, at its core advocates for systematic diminishment of our capitalistic economic system. For this reason liberals should be staunchly opposed to the Olympics. However, this fact is not recognized by the average Democrat voter. They do not realize that many of their leaders are looking to forcefully change the way they are allowed to live their lives, and cause the luxuries they enjoy to be more difficult to obtain.
Remember, it is liberals who are continually designing science void, emissions and carbon regulations which make traveling to the Olympics drastically more expensive. It’s liberals who are constantly pushing to raise business tax rates, which leads to a decrease in the same innovation and productivity which was necessary to bring us the HDTVs, laptop computers, cell phones, and training technologies that make our viewing and enjoyment possible. It’s liberals who see competition in general as the steamroller to the droves of victims whose dependence they sponsor through entitlement programs.
In all reality however this situation is not unique to the Olympics; this type of hypocrisy is on full display throughout our country daily. The reason is very simple: capitalism creates products of value and naturally people, including those on the left, want those products. The problem comes when ignorance and emotion step in and compel the same people who love their quality products to attack the producers and the means of production; it’s illogical and dangerous to our economy.
Regardless of ideological views, when you turn on the Games this week remember that, like it or not, you are able to do so because of the free market capitalism.
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50 Comments
the olympics are a waste of time ! its why greece is in the shape it is today .
Beautiful. This needed to be said. Isn't it great how much the left relies on the very thing they demonize.
While the Olympics may be a money pit. And I sure as hell don't want em in my town this article is dead on. The Superbowl is the same way. Why do libs love them both so much?? All they do is bash what brings them to us.
Our quality of life is a direct result of capitalism…
Very very true
Yeah right blah, blah, blah. As if westerners were the only capitalist in the world.
You must love the NFL and the Super Bowl then. You know the ones that have taxpayer subsidized stadiums.
Capitalism? How are tax dollars to build the required bloated infrastructure and projects to facilitate it anything to do with capitalism? This is nonsense.
If capitalism had something to do with this, no government would ever be involved.
More ironic is that themost liberal station NBC is carrying the games. The hypocrisy is chilling
You mean like, ohhhhh, HOLLYWOOD???
That is socialism dimwit…
Hey Zach i follow your facebook fanpage glad to see youre writing here. Love the article!!! You give me hope for today's. Youth keep it up!!!
Hitler liked the Olympics too but that was for “other” reasons…
As a capitalist, I sure wish I owned that trucking firm that shipped in all that snow to Vancouver!
I don't see any mention of the infrastructure that is not the capitalistic portion. And guess what that is the part that FAILS!!! The capitalist portions, many mentioned in the article are succeeding!!!!! Liberals are morons
Exactly right TP
I am wary of young Zach, whose bio describes him as being "pragmatic." That is another way of saying bipartisan……
Trav is correct to point out the government funding (like Canada's Own the Podium campaign) involved in the Olympics. And from a competitive point of view, how is allowing NHL hockey players into a competition for amateurs a legitimate competition?
brown voted for an easy thing..disparages the notion of a party of no..it was politically inexpensive and monetarily, as well..give it a minute..gop is getting their house ordered.
It takes guts to compete at anything when you're giving it all you got. It doesn't matter if its learning to play the fiddle or the New York marathon. Anyone who's ever given anything there all will be able to tell you how many times they lost or got outplayed while learning. The difference is a motivated person will strive to be better through extra practice, extra classes, ect ect ect. Nobody starts out on top its earned!! Therefore I say why the hell would you give anyone a trophy or prize they didn't earn? Do these people think there helping? All this type of thinking will do is make it acceptable to be a loser.
And yes I know before anyone tells me this is a tad off subject but I hate the "everybody gets a trophy" mentality and what its gonna do the kids that don't compete.
Jim pragmatic does not indicate bipartisan. I follow Zach on Facebook and I can tell you that's about the last thing he is.
Travis is way off base. If he only read the headline he may think he has a point but as tpr pointed out that is not the focus of this article and that part is SOCIALISTIC! AND IT FAILS!!! The truly capitalistic parts work. We are able to watch the Olympics BC of capitalism. We wouldn't have TV sets if there wasn't a profit motive!
Also I agree that the NBA and NHL are not truly competitive. But that's beside the article.
The liberals believe they should all get a gold medal, it’s only fair. The Super Bowl should end in a tie, etc.
I know! They could have the Liberal Loser Olympics were every one stands around digging lint out of their navel, kind of like waiting for some of Barry’s stash. At the end of the event they all pile on a podium and give them all a medal for doing absolutely nothing, aspiring to reach pinnacle of worthlessness…that’s the liberal way.
I second that. Its BS that you get a trophy or ribbon for participation. If you lose you lose. Pick ur self up and work harder
To do the Olympics the American liberal way, all participants would get a certificate of attendance.
Great article I love seeing young people this involved and intune with the truth. You have a great future ahead of you Zach keep it up.
Capitalism!! You gotta shittin' me!! This is Caqnada ferkrissake the venues were pauid for by the poor beleaguered tax payer. Capitalism my arse government collectivist spending sprees like this reak more of das Kapital than laissez faire capitalism.
A liberal would not be a liberal if he understood. The most base level of knowledge is not knowing that you don't know.
There is almost nothing capitalistic about the Olympics. Nothing. It has nothing to do with the free market. Stalinist Russia would have approved of the Vancouver Olympics. Large expropriations of land by municipalities, expropriation of tax dollars for creation of buildings that will benefit only Olympians. A select few corporate giants with monopoly rights to advertising and promotion. Exclusive corporate presence that attempts to crack down on any free market enterprise to use the Olympics as a means of capitalist entrepreneurship. Collusion with government to hand out tickets to special interests, government officials, business partners.
I mean, Jesus Christ. Does it even get less capitalist than this?
Article mentions nothing about venues just about the means of viewing and nature of competition.
You are right though. The venues are built socialistically and they are a money pit. No doubt about it. The tAx payer foots the bill of a losing operation.
I think the article is more pointing out that we are able to watch things like the Olympics and other sporting events BC of capitalism. Our everyday luxuries are produced by capitalism.
Liberals live in a fantasy bashing capitalistic good. While using them
Do some of you not know what capitalism is? Of course the building of the stadiums and the subsidization is not capitalistic but literally everything mentioned in this article is courtesy of capitalism!!! Some may not be happy to hear it but it is the truth
Capitalism has been very good for the Olympics. It gets more high-tech every time.
Who wants to bet that when those athletes get injured and need therapy or specialized treatment in their home countries they don't get put on a waiting list? Eh?
Too bad we can't mandate "diversity" in Olympic sports, then we could make them just like youth sports, where "everyone wins, so that no one has damage to his/her self-esteem." (Sarcasm)
Jerry Jones has BILLION $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ of his own cash invested in his new "Jerry World" in Dallas.
Don't always generalize douchebagger.
Get your head out of Obama's lap, he's late for dinner and his "after dinner" cocaine binge.
Didn't the Salt Lake Winter Games go off basically without a hitch? You know, American know how, etc.?
Haven't these Games – brought to us from socialist enclave Canada been a little rocky?
If you visitors get injured or sick in Vancover – remember – decent health care is just down the coast – for now.
Ya, until one competitor "gets wise". There's always a "bad apple" in the barrel that ruins socialism.
For the correct answer to the American Liberal Olympics, all participants would get a certificate and a medal. "And the winner of the copper medal for trying the hardest goes to ??"and so on
As it has been mentioned several times, This article is not talking about the olympics by themselves but with the way we follow the events (i.e. TV, radio, Internet) and the atheletes themselves (again the true amaturs, not the professinals who compete somehow).
I lived and worked in Atlanta during the sumer games there and hated everything about the olmpics themselves but the atheles who gave thier best to compete against the best from other countrys and won or lost based on personal effort and performance for the most part
One of the key lessons of capitalism is that government cannot create wealth or jobs; it can only hinder economic growth.
Someone should inform the new "Senator 41" from Massachusetts of that fact, as Drudge is reporting that Sen. Scott Brown will vote for the Dear Leader's "jobs bill".
I understand that Brown is from a very liberal state, and will sometimes have to break with the GOP and true conservatives and libertarians on some issues…but if Drudge is correct I hope this serves as a lesson to those who annointed Brown the Next Big Thing the day after his election, and before he had a chance to do a thing in office. Those would be the same people who annointed Colin Powell the savior of conservatism in 1996, and Schwarzenegger the right's future star in 2003.
Great article exactly dead on
My compliments to all the young people who dedicated their lives to their sport. There is honor in what they do.
or basketball..the olympics jumped the shark for me with that russian/american thing..no team sports in the olympics..should be the best of the best on a singular basis..athletes..
Amazingly, the origins and purpose of all this chaos are predicted and accounted for in the best selling, prophetic, political Conspiracy Thriller book, BLACK ROAD 2012, which I bought on amazon, and was a real goose-bumpy, totally absorbing ride: http://tinyurl.com/amazon-BLACK-ROAD-2012
uh, Jim, the Olympics finally abandoned all pretense of 'amateur' athletes a couple decades ago. the powers that be were forced to concede that the Soviet bloc countries were blatantly violating that rule. do you really think the Soviet hockey teams, et. al., of yore had real day jobs? now it's just the best vs. the best.
And no athlete would be able to finish a race until the last athlete has caught up and is next to him… No Athlete left behind!
It's so awesome we get to be capitalist because that means the government can't control the olympics. The last thing I would ever want would be for the olympics to be a way to promote governments! The olympics have nothing, I repeat nothing, to do with other people. It celebrates the individual, not as a member of a team, but as a capital-producing individual. God bless America!
I lived in LA when the Olympics were there in 1984. That's Los Angeles, not Louisiana. I had really thought it would make life miserable, but it was great. No traffic jams. Almost no smog (unheard of in the summertime in Los Angeles). A universally upbeat, Merry Christmas sort of feeling spread from downtown outwards. Most of the events were held at sites that were already developed, though a lot of them needed some modifications. Thousands of people took three weeks off work and volunteered to work as many hours as needed. A friend of mine designed and managed the communication system, for fun, doing for free what he had done for a lot of money before his retirement. Volunteers did almost everything. Very few people were paid or wanted to be. They were not being exploited, they were having fun. And at the end, the Olympics MADE A PROFIT. Most of it was donated to various youth oriented sports organizations.
[...] week remember that, like it or not, you are able to do so because of the free market capitalism. Email this to a friend | Print | Share on Facebook | Tweet this | // Posted by Editor at 11:23 AM Tagged with: [...]
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WTF….What was that reply Jamesb? You sound like the Dbag. Try making sense and writing like you actually made it through 3rd grade.
Remember, before you state that people always have to achieve greatness versus get it handed to them….GW Bush was elected President. That is an outright contradiction to your point. That is one big idiot that had it handed to him….
WTF? What part of that post do you find hard to understand you cock$ucker?
You douchebagging punk…try reading at a post 3rd garde level – pig.
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