My wife and I were at a house party Friday at 8:08 pm on 8/8/08, the moment the Chinese determined would be the most auspicious to open ceremonies for the Beijing Olympics. As we joined other guests around a 63-inch HDTV, I could not help but marvel that elsewhere in the world the same events were being watched. Somewhere in a Kenyan village, I pictured an inexpensive cellphone being passed from hand-to-hand to watch the same images we were seeing in this comfortable San Francisco home.
I am told this opening ceremony, and parade of athletes is the most watched event in history, eclipsing the Super Bowl, whose most memorable recent event was the surprise display of a fading pop singer's breast. I hope that these astoundingly synchronized, graceful and powerful performances have greater staying power on people's minds.
Every two years, I find myself moved by the parade of athletes. True, among them are a few cheats, but overall this is a collection of amateurs--this year from over 200 countries--who have collectively invested millions of hours to present this show to the world. Over 95% of them, these runners, jumpers, swimmers, object throwers, gymnasts, riders, kickers, climbers, boxers and so on will go home empty handed, with little but a memory that will add pride to the rest of their very diverse lives. As they walk down the streets of their physical neighborhoods, people will point at them and nod in admiration as they walk by.
For me, the Olympics have always been a display of the best that people do. It is a demonstration of optimism, a way to show that people's competitive spirits can be entertaining rather than devastating. The Olympics are a display of hope for a peaceful world.
There are those who do not see it this way. They argue that the "Beijing Bird's Nest" masks the dark and oppressive truth about China's government. It seems to me that one does not mask the other; nor does one truth eliminate the other. To me, one needs to understand both stories to even begin to understand China. I for one, will draw no conclusions on all of China and it's population just because of Tibet or explosions in a province that wishes not to be part of China.
Tibet is part of China's story just as much as Iraq is part of the US story. I hope that the world understands their is more to our story than Iraq and that Iraq continues over the objections of most Americans. I assume the same is true in China.
But to tell the story of either country, one should try to incorporate all their pieces of the story, not discount one as a diversion from the other.
