Some Modern Propaganda

      This last week I've seen a lot of the Olympics, as I'm sure all of you have as well.  Even if you haven't turned on your TV, it's pretty hard to avoid all the coverage on Facebook, Twitter, newspapers, etc.  But a lot of the attention the Olympics has been getting is pretty distorted.  In fact, I think the media has been putting out some modern propaganda, like Roosevelt's speech in Chicago.
First off, let my say that I enjoy the Olympics mainly because I like all kinds of sports.  It is really something special to see the best athletes in the world competing against each other.  For me, the best part of the Olympics is being a part of a story, hearing about everything the athletes have gone through, all culminating into one massive moment.  It's hard not to care.  To me, that's what the Olympics are really about.
Unfortunately, the Olympics have gotten away from that.  They aren't just a competition for the world's best athletes anymore.  They are a battleground for nationality.  NBC and other media have turned the Olympics into a mock-war, and we're all buying into the propaganda.
First-off, let's look at all the complaining that's been going on about the host-ctiy, Sochi.  This is what everyone seems to be talking about anyways, so it will be a good place to start.  Twitter has been buzzing with talk of how unprepared the city of Sochi was for the Olympics after a few journalists tweeted the following pictures:  there was the brown hotel water, the uncovered man-hole, and the sign that says they are supposed to throw used toilet paper in the trash next to the toilet rather than flush it.
I understand that some of these things are kinda gross.  I get it.  Sochi is not Paris.  But out of all the things the Olympics has to offer, the people, the stories, and they choose to talk about the dirty water?  I realized that something else is going on.  The media is trying to get people interested.   They're digging up controversy, creating it even, to try and get more people to care.  Like Roosevelt talking about Latin America, the media is choosing to talk about all of the bad, and none of the good.
Want another example?  See what the major networks have to say about the Olympics.  Notice that they keep talking about the possibility of a terrorist attack?  Okay, so Russia is a hostile country, and they've had problems in the past, to say the least.  I get that.  But why do they keep bringing it up?   Because controversy means viewership.  It doesn't do anyone any good to keep mentioning the threat of terrorism.  In fact, it probably makes it worse.  But NBC doesn't care, as long as you keep buying into it.
They're making Russia look like a terrible place to get us interested in the Olympics.  They're hinting at the Cold War, stirring up arbitrary emotions.  They're making Russia's president Putin look like an evil dictator. They're feeding us propaganda the same way Teddy Roosevelt fed it to the people of Chicago.  The difference is that Roosevelt wanted Americans support imperialism, while the media just wants to raise viewership.  They're saying, "You don't want the bad guys to win, right?  Better go cheer on the US so those dirty, scary Russians don't take home all the gold."
People need to get their heads on straight.  The Olympics are about the athletes and the competition.  It's not about how nice the hotel was that a journalist stayed at.  It's not a war.  It's not about politics, either.
Ironically, the US President is the one who put things into perspective when he said this about all the negative attention surrounding Putin:
"We tend to have pretty blunt conversations," said Obama about meetings with Putin, later adding: "He does have a public style where he likes to sit back and look a little bored during the course of joint interviews. I think that’s where some of these perceptions come up. My sense is that’s part of his shtick back home politically as wanting to look like the tough guy. U.S. politicians have a different style. We tend to smile once in a while." (interview w/Bob Costas on NBC)
What is Obama really saying?  It's all about perceptions.  I'm sure if the Olympics were in Grand Rapids, some Russian journalists could find some pretty gross hotels, and some brown water, and all of the Mcdonalds we have, and make it look pretty bad over here, too.   They could show Obama's face when he makes those goofy smiles, and convince the Russians we have an idiot for our President.  The real losers here are the people who believe what they're told.  It's all about perceptions.
You can listen to what people on Twitter are saying, or think what NBC wants you to think, or you can just watch the Olympics for yourself.   I have.  Sochi looks pretty beautiful to me.  The athletes are fine, and the competition is fierce and very enjoyable.