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Olympic Games display lessons in competition …
After tonight's opening ceremony at the Beijing Olympics dazzles the world, the Games will morph for many viewers into a titanic battle between the United States and China for the prize of prizes: Which country will capture the most medals?
(Photo – Test run: Fireworks explode in Beijing over the National Stadium on Aug. 2 / China Photos via Getty Images)
Not that the Olympic Games are supposed to be about national pride over individual and team achievement. But the reality is that they often are. At times — most recently when the U.S. and Soviet Union were locked in fierce competition to prove the superiority of capitalism or communism — the Olympics take on an added symbolism.
So it is today. For all that the Olympics are billed as China 's coming-out party into the world, they are also about whether China 's emerging system, a blend of capitalism and political repression, will prove such a powerful model that it will seriously challenge U.S. and Western-style democracy.
These Games are a perfect metaphor for China 's emerging competitiveness in areas beyond athletics. For centuries, it was focused on keeping the world out. Not anymore. Beijing is aggressively engaged in the world, in ways that hold lessons for Americans who've grown doubtful about their nation's ability to solve problems and achieve great goals.
The physical changes alone in China are astounding. Two decades ago, bicycles dominated the streets, even in Beijing . Now, the Chinese are on target to outdo Americans by 2015 in cars owned. Skyscrapers dazzle in the place of humble homes and communal toilets. Drab blue Mao tunics have given way to trendy chic. Billions have been poured into Olympics facilities, including the magnificent "Bird's Nest" stadium.
The intense discipline to remake China is by no means relegated to just brick and mortar. This singular focus extends to the Games themselves, and the historic hopes of outdoing the USA in medals. After the Olympics were awarded to China in 2001, it launched Project 119 — named after the total number of gold medals it first felt it could realistically target and win — as part of an ongoing effort to boost athletic achievement. Talent scouts scoured elementary schools, and children were forced into sports for which their body type or abilities were deemed suitable. Individual choice was often submerged to the state, hardly a new development in China .
What is new, or certainly changed, is the perspective of what China has become. Americans, from politicians to business executives, have a tendency to be awestruck by China 's rise. The China debate has an undertone of panic to it, much as when the U.S. feared being overtaken by Japan in the 1980s — fears that proved overblown when Japan fell into a swift and prolonged economic slump.
Unquestionably, the U.S. can learn from China 's path to new wealth and success in what essentially is a case of the teacher learning from the student: Competition starts with a willingness to set goals and work hard to achieve them. This can require commitment and sacrifice of the sort the USA needs to bring its trade and budget deficits under control. One of the scariest aspects of the present global economic situation is that China holds a large portion of U.S. debt.
In the short term, dictatorship has certain advantages over messy democracy in the race to accomplish Big Things. In the long run, however, China 's Achilles' heel is its cavalier disregard of individual freedom and human rights. It's on display in the way Beijing is attempting to control every aspect of the Games and reneging on many of its promises to allow more freedoms. China also has brewing social and economic problems, from labor unrest to pollution to rural poverty to the proliferation of unsafe products.
Even so, a Pew poll shows that the Chinese overwhelmingly approve of the direction their country is headed. They buy into the deep streak of nationalism the leadership uses to justify its tight control. For now. But will it last if social conflict erupts in the coming decades? Will the people demand less corruption and overseas investment, and more attention to social and economic problems at home?
The Beijing Olympics will reinforce a fundamental truth the USA has had a hard time remembering: Success requires setting objectives and marshalling the discipline to achieve them. Who is showcasing that lesson? China , yes — and every Olympic athlete basking in his or her hard-won achievement.
Posted at 12:22 AM/ET, August 08, 2008 in Olympics 2008 – Editorial, USA TODAY editorial | Permalink