Got this feminist on my twitter arguing with me about how the Olympics should be stopped because they promote a racist, classist, sexist, whatever-ist society (and when I brought up Jesse Owens, one of history's great anti-racism stories, she more or less ignored the point).
Then as "evidence" she posts this article and it promotes stuff like "competition" as a bad thing, and reading it in full is even worse, so I dismissed it. She stood by it though and eventually got pissed off enough at me to block me or at least discontinue the argument.
...And seriously the more I read this the more I scratch my head so help me b8
MarvelousGerbil posted... Competition is a terrible thing. I mean, why would we want to fuel any kind of progress in the world?
Yeah I centred on this.
Woman X: The obsession with Olympic success undermines the goal of cooperative, participatory sport. <-- true
Me: @Woman X: Co-operation and "participation" is something kids do to test the waters before trying to win. It's complete BS to want that in an event that is set out as a series of COMPETITIONS. Winning is what matters.
Me: "In any case, the nature of competition... only a tiny fraction can end up ultimate winners." - SO? That's the POINT!
Woman X: @Me THAT IS CAPITALISM. that is inequality. that is human suffering. mega events matter. they magnify inequalities.
@Me oh my god get out of my feed and my life
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Oops! I'm breaking the fourth wall! http://imgon.net/di-CFMD.gif
The fundamental problem seems to be that anything that encourages one person to feel good about themselves makes other people feel worse by comparison, and Ms. X believes that nobody should ever be upset by anything.
Which seems like a noble goal until you realise that the universe is a cold and uncaring place, unhappiness is inevitable, and we might as well get some practice at being miserable. And if we can make other people feel good at the same time, everyone wins. Metaphorically.
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"I'm Commander Shepard, and you're standing in the biggest library in Citadel Space. Look me up."