Events in the month of August have certainly placed our modern notions of nationalism, identity, sovereignty, and the Westphalian concept of the nation state under close scrutiny. This bit from Alvaro Vargas Llosa on individual sovereignty and the Olympics is quite cool:
Hammon was vilified by many people in the sports world, including Anne Donovan, the U.S. women’s basketball coach, who said that she was “not a patriotic person.” Hammon’s decision to play with the Russians contains a moral message. Individual sovereignty, it tells us, is a space that no collective force should violate. Invoking nationalist notions to condemn a woman’s pursuit of a dream that does no harm to anyone is to put national sovereignty above individual sovereignty — the seed of totalitarian ideology. Hammon does not love her ancestors, her family, her Silver Stars teammates or her friends on the U.S. national team any less because she took a cherished opportunity to play in Beijing. “This is a game of basketball,” she said in defending her decision, “this is not life or death.” A traitor? No, an heir to America’s grandest tradition: the right to the pursuit of happiness. (…) Despite the best intentions of the Baron de Coubertin, the French aristocrat credited with reviving the Olympic Games in the 19th century, the international competition has as much to do with collectivist nationalism as it does with universal fraternity. Any individual act, however small, that tears down a nationalist barrier during the Olympics should be applauded as restoring the games’ true meaning.
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This is quite a narrow-minded and ignorant analysis. There’s nothing remotely “cool” about it.Americans shouldn’t be offended by Hammon, they she merely laugh at how pathetic she is. Russia, however, should be deeply offended that the Kremlin was willing to sell out Russian citizenship in such a patent charade.Let’s review the many omitted facts:(1) By allowing Hammon to play for Russia, the Russian team undermined any medal it might win. The world would only say: “You only did that because you had the American helping you.” What does that say to the members of the team who are genuine Russian citizens.(2) Hammon’s presence on the Russian team can be used for propaganda purposes by the Kremlin to justify such things as the Georgia attack (“see, Americans like us, they play for us, they’re not serious about Georgia”).(3) Team USA blew Team Russia off the court in their semi-finals match.(4) The author seems utterly devoid of morality. Would it be just fine for an American to have played for Nazi Germany to get a shot at a bronze medal?Not too many American citizens are associated with this blog, I believe. As such, you might be a little more careful when you lecture us about its meaning.
Actually, Bob is a dual Canadian/US citizen, and I am a US citizen. I’m not sure what you think I am lecturing about.Also, I think Vargas Llosa has very interesting ideas, especially his comparison of Putin to Latin American dictators. He’s a critical voice.I have absolutely no concern for the possible propaganda with this basketball player. You’d be hard pressed to find an American that would want to move to Russia and live in tyranny and get thrown into jail for showing up at the wrong protest. It’s totally laughable the way the Russians have thrown any scrap of reputation left into the garbage this week.On the other, the way the games work allowed for a Chinese national, who for years has run an extremely successful business in the USA, become the USA Gymnastics team coach. That’s not even really propaganda, but just a good story.