As I watch the end of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, I can’t help but enjoy the competition. People from all over the world come together to compete for the chance to be called “best in the world”. Many of the athletes don’t make any money doing what they do, and so this is the chance to show off their sport and maybe get 15 minutes of fame.

On top of the athletes competing for themselves, they’re also competing for their countries. The Olympics are a matter of national pride. If you think that isn’t the case just consider Canada’s Own The Podium program, which invested over $100 million in developing their athletes to dominate the medal standings. It hasn’t paid off in the way they expected, but they are dominating the gold medal count.

The Olympics were started in ancient Greece. The reason has been disputed, but I know exactly why they stayed around for so long and were revived in the 19th century. Our world has been plagued by war since the dawn of man. We’ve fought over resources, controversies, and women. We don’t get along. Up until World War II almost every country used a strong protectionist policy. Keep jobs in your country and tariff the crap out of anything imported. The Olympics were a time when we all put down our guns and just waved our flags in the name of friendly competition. All of the major countries of the world came together to compete. With a few exceptions, even Soviet Russia and the United States willingly competed with each other.

But with the end of WWII, and eventually the Cold War, most of the world started to get along. Trade agreements were hammered out, companies started operating in countries all over the world, and cultures merged. Politicians of the world regularly meet to discuss global issues, many times a large number come to consensus agreements. For example, during the financial crisis all the major central banks cut rates collectively, and many of the countries also launched fiscal stimulus programs. Granted, we disagree on many things, but at least we’re all talking.

In the protected societies of the past, one of our major connections with the rest of the world was the Olympics. Countries and cities bid on being able to host the games to show off their respective cultures and other proud things. But as I first noticed in 2008 with China, I didn’t learn anything that I couldn’t have found on Wikipedia or YouTube. I even knew who a good portion of their celebrities were.

To quote Tom Friedman, “The World Is Flat.” And in a flat world, the Olympics just don’t matter anymore. They don’t serve any of the purposes they used to. Our national pride is no longer based on success in the Olympics (unless you’re Canadian ). Leading in industry, education, and global responsibility matter more. Corporations have noticed this as they’ve slowly started to wind down their funding for various Olympic teams.

And when I say the Olympics no longer matter, I’m mostly speaking for developed countries. Developing countries still have something to gain. Jamaica, aside from tourism and drug trafficking, doesn’t have much to offer the world. So it makes sense that Usain Bolt is a national hero. China wants to show the world that there’s more to them than cheap labor; that they can compete with the big boys (China, we already knew that, you’re the world bank now). Brazil will do the exact same thing when they host the summer games in 2016 in Rio. Same goes for South Africa, which hosts the FIFA World Cup this summer (another quadrennial event for those of you that don’t follow soccer).

It was fun watching the Olympics, and I will continue to watch the Olympics in the future for the same reason I do now, to see sports I normally don’t care about. But it’s not about national pride. Globalization has ended national pride for me. The US did wonderfully in the Vancouver games, but due to our partisan politics, international policing, and lack of industrial and educational leadership, I’m more ashamed than ever to be an American.

By The Weakonomist

The Weakonomist is the founder of Weakonomics. Clicking the picture of the puppy will tell you more about him. If you like what you're reading consider subscribing to the blog, following him on Twitter, and checking out the related posts below. Please consider a donation if you really enjoy Weakonomics. Also keep in mind that nothing I say can be construed as financial advice.

categories: economics, government