WSJ piece praises India's lacking Olympics medals

Regarding "India's Olympic Achievement: Indifference - WSJ.com".

Mr. Dalrymple states that India should be praised for winning few medals due to lack of Indian government support for Indian Olympians:

"...there is one shining beacon in the world: India. Its low tally of medals in the Olympic Games puts practically all other countries to shame...It is not that India tried and failed. It did not try, and therein lies its peculiar wisdom and glory...it is India, whose government does nothing to encourage (or deter) its athletes, that is right, not the rest of the world...".

Dalrymple's doctrine is clear and emphatic: India failed at the olympics because of a lack of government support. Basically, Dalrymple's doctrine is that a nation is a fool, simply because it wins medals at the olympics; and, the more medals a nation wins, the more of a fool it is.

Returning to reality, where is the evidence to prove, that India failed at the Olympics, because of a lack of govt support for Indian Olympian types? Where is the graph plotting govt support $ for Olympians per capita vs medals achievement per capita?

Sometimes nations where the govt supports Olympians, win medals at the Olympics. Sometimes nations fail to achieve medals despite govt support for their Olympians. Sometimes nations win medals, despite a lack of govt support for the Olympians. Sometimes nations fail to win medals, and this coincides with a lack of government support for the Olympians.

India's low-medals-tally at the Olympics could have been due to causes other than, lack of official govt support. It could well have been, that even if India's govt had funded the Indian Olympians, the medals tally would still have been low.

When Dalrymple says, the Indians scored low at the Olympics because of a lack of government support, he implies that there is no such thing as Olympic achievement in the absence of govt support.

Returning to reality, there are plenty of examples of Olympian achievement despite a lack of government support. It is precisely these dramatic stories (that Dalrymple inexplicably ignores) featuring those who succeeded without govt support or despite hardships, that it would be reasonable to focus the mind on, if the object were to be, appreciating that which is relatively less-appalling on the Olympian scene.

There are many causes of a lack of Olympian performance: genetic, environmental, choices of the free-will. The environment featuring govt support is only one of the possible causes. To equate Olympian achievement with govt support, is to irrationally & unjustifiably, denigrate the importance of environmental factors other than govt support for Olympians, in terms of effect upon winning Olympic medals. Such environmental factors could provide clues to nations that do not perform well, regarding how to improve health and performance amongst their citizens.

Mr. Dalrymple, by emphasizing the govt-support-for-Olympians environmental impact, de-emphasizes the importance of genetics in terms of impact upon medals achieved. If genetics plays an important role in some sport in terms of medals achievement, the recognition of such can help us to not be fooled into thinking that the achievement was caused by an especially skillfully constructed & healthy environment, when actually the root cause was genetic. On the other side of the coin, the recognition of such can help us to overcome errors such as, the error that some race is genetically inferior in some way when actually it is not inferior.

Mr. Dalrymple's obsession with the role of govt support in terms of producing medal-winnings, conceptually eclipses (total eclipse) the possibility that the Olympian medal-winner's own free-will, & mental qualities flowing from that free-will such as genius and inspiration, play a role when an Olympian wins a medal. Whereas the reality is, that sometimes an Olympian wins a medal as a result of his spiritual or tactical genius. We can learn from such genius when we can spot it. When we spot such genius we can love it & appreciate it. But how can we even spot such genius, when recognition of such genius is obscured by the attitude that Olympic medals are produced by governments spending money on their Olympians and nothing else?

Even when national Olympics performance is due to government support of Olympians, such at least can constitute an example of government working effectively to produce results.

Note: I was impressed by the quality of the comments made online at the WSJ in response to this article. I wanted to post this with the comments I saw but apparently I have to be paying WSJ about $25 per month for print or online WSJ access, in order to be able to post with them.

@2012 David Virgil Hobbs

Olympics what I learned during the Olympics

There are certain loveable women
women of unusual anatomy,
women who sell sex to women,
women who lewdly exhibit their bodies
women who misbehave and sin
women whose parents were not Christian

Yet still, God has divine love for these women
even though they are untypical and sin

This love God has for these women,
can abide in a man's heart within

Sometimes man can feel this love for the woman,
before he and the woman have even spoken

Sometimes man does not feel this feeling
this God's love for another within,
until many years after
he first when young knew the girl

Man having this love God has for outcasts inside
far transcends the typical lustful state of mind

By prayerfully praising God Man can win
the victory of finding in himself, within
God's love for the untypical and those who sin

But the prayers must be fervent heartfelt prayers,
and be prayers that mentally involve God's praise

@2012 David Virgil Hobbs

Olympics 2012 closing day August 12

The Southern edge of the Adriatic Sea
is also the northern coast of Italy

Sunday August the twelfth,
year two thousand and twelve
sixty-six men of three nations
of the Sea of the Adrians,
Italians, Croatians, and also Serbians
total population seventy two million
won medals of bronze or silver or gold
in handball, volleyball or water polo.

For the honor of being amongst men the top nation
of the day per capita amongst the Olympians,
They vanquished their closest competitors the Cubans,
total population only eleven million

Two bronze and a gold were won by Cubans like Ramirez
in the lighter-weight men's boxing and wrestling events

The medals won by the sixty-six men of the Adrians,
evidenced a depth in terms of athletes, and of champions.

And would you rather enjoy as a fun contest
water polo, handball or volleyball events,
enjoying yourself with a dozen friends,
or would you prefer your time to spend
in solo physical combat that's violent?

Adriatic men know how to enjoy living
and how to be Olympian while enjoying

Olympics august 11 saturday events

Olympics August eleventh was war between,
British empire's Carribean sprinters,
Spanish empire's Carribean martial artists,
and martial artists of the Empire of Persia's
northern province of Azerbaijan.

Azerbaijan's conquest of two wrestling golds and boxing bronze,
locked it in struggle for the day's lead amongst Olympians,
against Spain's Cubans and Puerto Ricans in the Carribean
who won two boxing golds, wrestling silver, and bronze taekwon.

Azerbaijan's population is only eight million;
it's southern border is the northern-most border of Iran.

Carribean islands Puerto Rico and Cuba
off the east coast of central Latin America
have populations of eleven and four million
and are located near the West Indies islands

So I say, Persian Azerbaijan's three medals won the day,
over the four medals of Cuba and Puerto Rico,
and also beat both Cuba alone and Puerto Rico alone,
due to its medals per capita in combat sports today

British West Indies continued to excel,
running bronze and golden sprint relays
But one could say to a certain extent,
relays redundantly duplicate the solo race.
Men grow tired hearing day after day,
the same small nations praised in verse
by the mathematical poet.

Olympics August ninth, tenth

August ninth and tenth at the Olympics in London,
Looking at men's medal winnings per capita,
Britain and her little white colonies on islands,
would have been defeated by little Latvia;

But Britain's little black colonies in the Carribean,
whose population put together is only four million
Achieved many medals relative to their population

The result ending up being that Great Britain
& her little colonies on the islands,
all of whom still have as official anthem,
God Save the Queen the anthem of Great Britain

Staved off the challenge from Latvia,
a nation of only two million,
located just west of Russia,
south of Finland, and north of Poland

Bronze and gold were won by West Indian sprinters
in the race relay four by four hundred meters;
in two hundred meters they won gold, bronze and silver

Thus West Indians mister Lendore, mister Gordon,
mister Forte, mister Brown, mister Solomon,
mister Mathieu, mister Weir, mister Pinder,
mister Bolt, mister Blake, and mister Miller

Conquered the beach-volleyball bronze duo
composed of Plavins and Smedins the two Latvians,
and the Latvian Stromberg's cycling Gold,
To continue the British Empire's dominance
over the two thousand and twelve Olympians

August 1-8 Olympics: British Empire Navy vs Persian Army

Reflecting on what I think been's going on
during the last week at the Olympics Games
(Wednesday August first to Wednesday August eigth),
Observing through a lense that focuses on
men's per capita winnings from day to day:

I've witnessed a struggle featuring
Navy of Britain and her island colonies,
Against Iran's fantastically strong army.
The British empire has been winning
and appears set for eventual victory.

These little Euro-British colonies on islands
after centuries still have as their official anthem
God Save the Queen, the national anthem of Britain.

A week ago Wednesday August first,
the power was in the French swimmers

Next, Thursday August second Great Britain,
ruled sports of land & sea transportation.

On Friday August third New Zealand,
population four million persons
a small white colony of Britain's
conquered land and sea transportation

August fourth three little white colonies
(Canada, Australia, & New Zealand)
and their imperial father Great Britain
dominated sports involving movement
at high speeds over the land and the sea.

On August fifth and August sixth,
British named Afro-British West-Indians
from the islands of the Carribean
dominated land-running sprints.

On August seventh, Persian wrestlers & weightlifters
of the wild and glorious highest weight-classes,
dominated the world's weightlifters and wrestlers,
while the Persian Ehsan Hadidi won a silver
in the classically Olympian discus,
hurling the four point four pound discus sixty-eight meters.

On Wednesday August eigth, the British homeland collapsed
but her little white island colonies filled the gap
ruling water movement of various sorts,
the canoeing, kayaking and sailing sports.

Four of the last eight days I saw
the domination of the men of Britain
and her little colonies, mostly islands,
in water transportation sports.

It's been like ancient military history
a contest between British Empire's fast Navy,
And Persia's magnificently mighty army.