Vancouver has been dipped in a coat of red and white. It’s national pride on a scale the city has never experienced.
But while the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have successfully translated nationalism into a city-wide party, there are potential problems with fostering such a collective identity, a professor of social psychology has warned.
“We all feel needs to connect with others and one of the ways that we do that is feeling part of a larger group,” explained Michael Schmitt. “I think that you can certainly see examples of that with the Olympics, with people feeling a sense of national pride.”
A positive outcome of that phenomenon can be observed in the relatively peaceful crowds that have packed Granville Street and the downtown core, Schmitt said from his office at Simon Fraser University. The city’s bars and nightclubs have kept the party going during the Olympics, but alcohol-related violence has not been widespread.
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On the other hand, the same feelings of national pride that might prompt a person to pick a piece of trash up off the street can be used by bodies of authority for specific political ends.
“Think about a lot of the identities involved around the Olympics,” Schmitt said. “There is certainly lots of indoctrination and socialization that begins when we’re very young, encouraging us to feel a sense of national pride and even pledging an allegiance to that identity. And most information that we usually tend to get comes from within a nation, and is often biased in a way to make us continue to feel positive about that identity.”
He continued, “The same kinds of national pride that we might see around the Olympics can be used to help to create justification and support for military endeavours in other states. That, in some ways, is the potentially more dangerous side of what otherwise seems pretty harmless: that these identities do get used to fulfill particular political ends.”
According to Schmitt, organizations like the International Olympic Committee and Vanoc have been able to strongly associate themselves with notions of international peace. He argued that that has made even controversial initiatives very difficult for people to question.
“In many ways, a sense of pride or attachment to Vancouver and B.C. was used to convince a lot of people that the Olympics was actually going to be a good thing for the people of Vancouver and the people of B.C.,” Schmitt said. “And I’m actually pretty convinced that the opposite is true.”
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Comments
Twenty two years have passed and a whole lot has changed. Oh if you want to compare, go back to the 1936 Olympic games.
Calgary rode on the backs of volunteers mostly. Whereas Vancouver is a corporate marketing scheme to the hilt. if that isn't enough to convince you of there being differences, I don't know what would be.
Sports are in many ways just a tool of distraction and manipulation of public feelings and perceptions to further the elaborate long term agenda of the military industrial financial complex that controls pretty much all important sectors of society.
The "war" in Afghanistan was not started by patriotic hockey fans. We're also not at war with the country; we're there to throw away money building schools for them while we close the ones in Canada. Really we're there to build infrastructure for a massive network of oil pipelines and drive around in pointless patrol circles while being attacked by insurgents using weapons the Americans sold to them during the Soviet–Afghan war.
Furthermore, people are generally not as stupid as you seem to think they are. People CAN tell the difference between acceptable and positive expressions of nationalism and destructive forms of it. As for biases within our national understanding, I'm guessing it's been a while since you've attended some sort of public educational institution. When we learn about the settlement of Canada, we learn about the mistreatment of indiginous populations such as unfair treaties, residential schools, head taxes, etc. When we learn about WW2, we also learn about Japanese internment. When we learn about the evolution of our political traditions, we learn how race and sex determined who was allow to participate within these traditions. There is nothing wrong in collectively showing pride in something we all have contributed to in one way or another. What the Olympics have done is create a possitive common narrative that can be shared by all Canadians, regardless of how someone identifies themself.
What we are seeing during these Olympics is the birth of the Militarization of North America.
Does anyone actually believe that all these CCTV cameras and rentacop security guards will disappear after the games?
Because of the aforementioned causes of national pride, that seem to be pretty lacking in substance to me, and more in the nature of corporate marketing than genuine causes of national pride, we are then supposed to be proud, by extension, of all the government and Canadian corporation travesties of justice, neglect of care for large segments of our population, ever increasing concentration of wealth and power in the hands of a tiny elite, progressive internal militarisation, our ongoing yet hidden external aggressiveness and ever deepening alignment and integration with U.S. foreign and domestic policies - ultra violent and rapacious policies which are nearly universally hated and feared around the world.
Are you serious? You have no idea why the people of Canada are proud of their country? YOU even list 2 examples of YOUR pride in your second sentence!!! I will never understand the reasoning behind the belief that to take pride in positive accomplishments somehow threatens the moral fabric of our society. So Canadians shouldn't be proud of their country because another state tortured detainees captured by the Canadian Forces or because our environmental standards (though actually pretty high vis a vis the rest of the world) are less than the eco-ideologs in Europe? That's your reasoning??? Everything else that makes our country great should be thrown out the window? I'll tell you something. I'm "deeply ashamed" of our "human rights commissions" trampling over free speech rights and finding free people guilty of having undesirable emotions. I'm ashamed that in the name of equality, my government makes it illegal for an individual to seek out their own care when it comes to their own personal health. I'm ashamed that it's acceptable for universities and private interests to offer scholarships to students based solely on their gender and race, not on their work ethic or "content of character" (sound familiar?). Why do I bring this up? I certainly don't expect the readers of this paper to agree with any of my grievances, but that's exactly the point. In the context of our entire existence as a species, Canada today is the most humane, ethical, and responsible society not only envisioned by theorists, but actually implemented by thoughtful and caring people. The fact that we can disagree about many significant issues, while still remaining united in a respectful coexistence is something EXTREMELY rare in the overall history of our existence as a species. We should be proud of this wonderful accomplishment and we shouldn't be chastised for displaying this pride in our collective good from time to time. No one is saying that Canada is perfect, but people should be able to display pride in an overwhelmingly positive work in progress. Besides, anyone who thinks that the Olympics is going to change the core consciousness of Canadians really hasn't put the effort into understanding what being Canadian means. I guarantee that the people who hated Harper before the Olympics still do, and the people who hated Iggy and Layton still hold the same core beliefs they did three weeks ago.
Beth
So is the idea that indigenous people should have special rights and privileges above and beyond the rest of us when we are all being served up in the same multicultural stew. Descendants of the original peoples of Turtle Island are now being used the same way the poor little Russian proletariat was used to seize the lands and resources of Russia (and especially their yummy foreign assets.)
Telling the truth is never popular, but it's always right.
In our drive prove ourselves as the best in the world, we have ignored helping other countries develop their women's hockey teams, and now the sport is at risk of being taken out of the games.
If Canada were truly serious about the Olympic ideals, we would add an athletic development component to our international aid programs.
Anyone in favour of sponsoring an Afghan female biathlete for the 2014 games in Sochi?
Why didn't you just go ahead and say what you really wanted to say: You don't want us being so damn American.
Well, too bad for you and your fellow multi-cults. We're waving our flag and painting our faces. Too bloody bad for you. The most positive thing about the Vancouver Olympics is that it struck a blow for social engineering. And I say BRAVO to that!
Mary, what is it about our environmental record that you are ashamed of? Did you know that Canada was only one of four countries to sign Copenhagen? No, of course you didn't know. Your master don't encourage individual thinking. Maybe they don't have your best interests at heart, Mary. You need to think and investigate on your own. Don't let Suzuki and Gore Inc. do your thinking for you.
I don't think it would be possible. Would they wear their niqabs inside or outside their skin tight spandex uniforms? Why don't we worry about getting those girls to school without having acid thrown on their faces, or about giving them the freedom to move about without wearing a mobile tent and being accompanied by their jailers or husbands. I think that takes precendence over having a presence in the Olympics.
Is a REAL job one that has "real" hours or a "real" cubicle, sends you home in time to watch the "real" news and the "real" network TV programs? All so that you don't have to bother to develop intelligent, critical views of the "real" world?
It's so much easier to dismiss people by confining them to an "other" group in your narrow mind (ie. lazy, crazy, communist, conspiracy theorist), than it is to open it up and realize that opinions you haven't accepted yet might have some merit. Maybe we all benefit from listening to each others' opinions instead of dismissing people because they think differently. Isn't that among the foundations of democracy?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_Rv0hCF6I
Pride in your athletes is one thing, I'm all for that, but I didn't see any names written on those flags giving athletes props.
As for the over the top singing of Oh Canada from every alleyway, ask Amy Goodman why she was interrogated for 4 hours by the STASI/RCMP/CBSA at the airport whether she was going to comment on the Olympics. They gave her 48 hours to come in - give her lecture and get outta Canada. Free speech? Not likely.
Ask Chris Shaw why the Olympic terrorist 'security' detail came knocking on his door to tell him they'll be tailing him for the duration. He's an author who wrote 'Five Ring Circus: Myths and Realities of the Olympic Games'. More free speech. Right.
Keep drinking the corporate KoolAid - because IOC doesn't give a damn for your Charter of Rights, ask the Women's Ski Jump Team who were denied their rights in Canada's Supreme Court, because IOC is not encumbered by the laws of the country where they hold their corporate shill.
Ask your poet laureate, Brad Cran why he wouldn't participate either. 'Notes on a World Class City: Why I have declined to participate in the Olympic Celebrations' - http://bradcran.com/vancouver_verse/notes-on-a-world-class-city-why-i-ha...
I'll let a past Olympian, Laura Robinson explain 'A Shameful Track Record: The Olympic movement plays fast and loose with basic democratic values.' http://reviewcanada.ca/essays/2010/01/01/a-shameful-track-record/
Then ask yourself why the government cut 90% funding to your Arts & Culture because of the Olympics.
Canada can sign whatever in Copenhagen, but when you have a 50 km., tailing ocean in Alberta at the oil sands, where 1,600 ducks landed and sank to the bottom....it doesn't mean shit what you sign, actions speak louder than some front page news.
http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20100301/syncrude_de...
Should I be proud that Harper is letting Canada become annexed by the USA? Not particularly. Mind that flag waving, k?
I think these games definitely fanned the flames of Canadian nationalism, which could be a good thing in some ways, so that Canadians feel more distinct from her neighbour to the south, and more likely to want to pursue independent policies and values, but there is a danger that nationalism can descend into agressive jingoism. Ultimately, it is up to the people, the government, and the media how this inflamed Canadian nationalism will express itself in coming days.
http://bit.ly/cdZoRi [To read the rest of the article]
Nationalism: pimped out bigotry
Those of us who went through public school in Canada likely remember learning about "Canadian Identity" and what makes us so different (better) than Americans. Now that I'm in the real world, I see no difference. Fuck nationalism. It's a way to keep the livestock (you and I) obedient and ignorant. We march with pathetic pride under the banner our masters have given us. Solidarity! We sneer at our southern neighbours, separated only by an imaginary line. We fight amongst ourselves instead of opening our eyes to the real crime: centralized government is fundamentally immoral. Democracy = mob rule. Statism is an ethical failure. Statism is terrorism. If you don't believe this is true in Canada, look at video footage of the G20 protests.
http://www.freedomainradio.com/
www.agorism.info