How Will the Olympic Movement Navigate the Merger From South African Apartheid to Israeli Genocide?

The distance between organized sport and organized genocide seems large. Most often the gap is large. But not when it comes to the Olympics Movement.

When I see images of large numbers of people paying such avid attention to sports contests that have very little meaningful effect on the condition of the world, it riles me.

It makes me think of all the topics requiring the urgent attention of large numbers of people, most of whom fail to find sufficient time to inform themselves adequately even on the really big public issues of our time.

It riles me when I see full grown men being idolized and paid big money because they have devoted themselves to developing deep into their adulthood, a high level of expertise in children’s games.

I riles me when hockey games come to resemble wrestling matches and football games mimic hand-to-hand combat in territorial warfare.

It riles me to see the culture of beer swigging, junk food obesity as well the commodification of female sexual flaunting placed on such open display for mass consumption, including by young folks during the most impressionable years of their lives.

But sports has many facets.