Monday, August 11, 2008

Pearl 21: Nationalism is a Double-Edged Sword

The positive vibes of the XXX Olympic Games trailed over a few days as the accomplishments of the American atheletes and teams sunk in.  A world record number of Gold Medals, 46, were collected by the Americans and a total medal count of 104 was 16 more than the second place athletes from China.  It gives me a feeling of pride for our country and for our culture and values.  I had the same feeling four years ago after the Beijing Olympics, even though we did not fare as well in those games as we did in London.  It happens every four years and it is a good thing.  I wrote a "Pearl" about those feelings of national pride for my grandchildren four years ago and I thought I would share it with you.  Please feel free to comment.  Enjoy!
Dear Gehrig and Eliana,


 Good evening my sweethearts.  Granny and I sure enjoyed our time with you in New Jersey while your mom and dad were in Paris.  They had a fabulous time but we enjoyed our time with you even more.  You are growing so big and are so accomplished for being only 18 months old.  I think both of you will be very athletic given what I saw on the playground equipment at Maggie’s Park. 


 Granny and I watched some of the 2008 Beijing Olympics last night.  It was fabulous.  The highlight of the competition was the men’s 4X100 meter freestyle swimming event which featured a French team who were the odds-on favorites to take the Gold Medal.  They were so confident before the event one of the French swimmers did a little “trash talking” and boasted his team would “crush the American team”.  There is an old saying, “Pride cometh before the fall” and it held true last night.


The American team was good, figured to at least take the Bronze medal in this event.  Of the four young men on the American team, its biggest star is Michael Phelps, a world-class swimmer who is heavily favored to break the 36-year old record of seven gold medals in one Olympic Game set in 1972 in Munich, Germany by Mark Spitz.  He needed his teammate’s help in this event to keep him on that pace.  The other swimmers on the relay team were all very good.  Garrett Weber-Gale was to swim the second leg behind Phelps followed by the first African-American to ever swim in this event, Cullen Jones.  Swimming the final leg was the oldest member of the team, a 41 year old journeyman swimmer with a good track record, but with some marginal races under his belt, Jason Lezak.


 Phelps’ first lap kept it close, but the French swimmer had the lead.  When Jones hit the water he didn’t lose any time and Weber-Gale gained a fraction.  Then in the final 100 meters, Lezak did the impossible.  He not only caught the boastful Frenchman, Alein Bernard, but beat him to the touch by .24 of a second in a thrilling surge at the finish.  The stadium erupted as the winning team flashed on the scoreboard and Team America leaped for joy, screaming and bellowing, their testosterone levels in overdrive.  In America, I am certain that every viewer screamed along with them as did Granny and I.  It was an emotional moment to see the American underdogs not only win the Gold Medal, but set a new World Record of 3 minutes, 8.24 seconds, which, by the way, beat the old record by over 4 seconds!


Today I drove into Dallas to take my drag car to be painted.  I made several stops and everywhere I went I heard people talking about the spectacular swimming event and the even more impressive American win.  There was animation and enthusiasm in everyone’s voice and an unmistakable pride.  I have heard and seen this before when other events and circumstances have drawn this country together and united us. When all that energy is channeled correctly, it is a hugely positive force, but when channeled incorrectly, the opposite is true, which brings me to my next Pearl.


Twenty-first Pearl:   Nationalism is a Double-Edged Sword


 Pride in one’s country is what the Olympic Games are all about.  Athletes from around the world prepare and train for years to represent their country in this once-every-four-year event.  National pride, as well as billions of dollars, is on the line and the strongest and best physical specimens of humankind sacrifice everything to compete and win.  Some countries with small populations might only be able to send a few athletes while huge developed countries can afford to send hundreds to the Games and at great expense.


Why do we do that?  Why do we spend the money and resources it takes to excel at a game?  Because when our athletes win and the Stars and Stripes, the symbol of our nation and our people, rise above the heads of our valiant warriors on the medal stand, a feeling of nationalistic pride sweeps over us.  At that moment, as our national anthem plays in the background, we feel at one with our fellow Americans and it seems like there is nothing we cannot accomplish if we only pull together.  The fervor of victory is intoxicating and we will pay any price to experience it.


 On that same day, in another corner of the world, nationalistic fervor went awry.  The Russians, still smarting over losing a valuable piece of the old Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to a now independent and democratic Georgia, went to war to regain that territory.  I won’t pretend to understand the politics or the military stratagems surrounding this conflict.  I can only hope and pray it is over quickly and that cooler heads prevail.  To paraphrase President Bush in an interview he gave yesterday, isn’t it ironic that at a time when the world comes together in the friendly and spirited competition of the Olympics to promote peace and harmony among nations, this act of war and disharmony erupts to ruin it.  This is the negative side of nationalism.


 As Americans we can channel our nationalism into positive ventures which serve all mankind, or we can turn that mighty force to serve selfish ambitions.  It is my prayer for you, my darlings that you will grow up in a world with the vision to put aside the negative aspects of nationalism which embraces war and conflict as a means to achieve an end, and substitute it with a positive nationalism which embodies the spirit of the Olympic Games, a spirit of cooperation and oneness as a means to that same end. 


 God Bless you and God Bless America and every other peace loving nation in the world.


 Grandpa Jud

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