Athletes don’t ‘do it for Australia’
- Date
Sam de Brito
Haven ¢â‚¬â„¢t these Olympics dismantled one of our favourite national myths ¢â‚¬“ that our ¢â‚¬Å“selfless ¢â‚¬ athletes ¢â‚¬Å“do it for Australia ¢â‚¬ ?
The selflessness actually comes from their families, who sacrifice precious energy, time, money and fossil fuel on a group who are some of the most ambitious, single-minded and selfish people this country produces. They have to be. Meals, sleep, training, competition, medical treatment, rehab … everything revolves around them, yet we ¢â‚¬â„¢re served the fantasy ¢â‚¬Å“they do it for little or no reward ¢â‚¬ .
Please. How many people get the taxpayer-funded opportunity to put their adult life on hold, cocooned in a state of arrested development while they fly around the world chasing a dream? Attend an Olympic opening ceremony? Compete in a final? Win a medal? Wow.
This myth then feeds others such as ¢â‚¬Å“plucky little Australia punches above its weight internationally ¢â‚¬ and ¢â‚¬Å“we ¢â‚¬â„¢re a nation of battlers ¢â‚¬ ¢â‚¬“ as if to be born in Brookvale or Bendigo ensures your sinews are made of sterner stuff than a kid raised on thesnooty streets of Darfur or Baghdad.
Almost 2500 years ago, Plato wrote of the necessity of ¢â‚¬Å“noble lies ¢â‚¬ , constructed and voiced by a state ¢â‚¬â„¢s elite to maintain social harmony and cohesion. As a nation, we ¢â‚¬â„¢re special at manufacturing and swallowing absolute beauties such as:
¢â€“ We ¢â‚¬â„¢re egalitarian: despite the vertiginous gap between rich and poor, the most highly concentrated media ownership on the planet, and the fact we ¢â‚¬â„¢re home to the richest woman on earth and still think she deserves a widdle tax break.
¢â€“ We ¢â‚¬â„¢re sports mad: opposition fans aren ¢â‚¬â„¢t segregated at our sporting venues. No one gets stabbed or riots or commits suicide. Fans don ¢â‚¬â„¢t throw banana skins when black players go near the ball. We don ¢â‚¬â„¢t get 100,000 fans to college football games.
¢â€“ We ¢â‚¬â„¢re laid back: yet we work the longest hours of any nation in the developed world.
¢â€“ We thumb our noses at authority: but live in one of the greatest nanny states on earth. I recently saw two Germans laughing at how pathetic the ¢â‚¬Å“Alcohol Free Zone ¢â‚¬ at my local beach was as they photographed it. We live in a country where you can ¢â‚¬â„¢t fly kites or play ball games on the beach, or unleash dogs in parks. Rebels!
¢â€“ We ¢â‚¬â„¢re bronzed Aussies: yet 61 per cent of Australians are either overweight or obese and we ¢â‚¬â„¢re ranked the fifth fattest nation in the world.
¢â€“ We have an affinity with the bush: but I ¢â‚¬â„¢d wager more Poms have been to Uluru than Aussies. The majority of us are about as home out back as those schoolgirls in Picnic at Hanging Rock.
¢â€“ Mateship is uniquely Australian: we somehow think we invented the concept of friendship by renaming it. Reckon they might also have an idea of mateship in Syria or Sarajevo?
¢â€“ We believe in a fair go: except if you ¢â‚¬â„¢re a 13-year-old Afghani boat person. Or you ¢â‚¬â„¢re a gay couple who want to get married. Or you ¢â‚¬â„¢re disabled. Or Aboriginal. Or Muslim.
¢â€“ We just get on with it and don ¢â‚¬â„¢t complain: yet perpetuate one of the most vexatious, self-centred radio talkback cultures in the Western world.
¢â€“ We ¢â‚¬â„¢ve heard plenty of prescriptions about what our athletes need to do to improve their lot in the next Olympics and I think the first step is not much different than it is for the rest of this country: cop it on the chin.
Apparently, we ¢â‚¬â„¢re meant to be world ¢â‚¬â„¢s best at that as well.
Sam de Brito ¢â‚¬â„¢s blog can be found at blogs.theage.com.au/executive-style/allmenareliars/
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