1d ago

oh come on (edit: yes this is real)

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I think this sounds fun? Would make for a fun "state pride" thing and would be fun to watch. Kind of like a mini Olympics.
Calling it "the hunger games without the killing," is a lot like saying "the Boston Marathon bombing but without the bomb." Just a fairly normal athletic event.
I don't understand why people are up in arms over this. Is it maybe a silly thing for the president to be pushing for? Sure. But I'd rather him work on this than almost anything else he's prone to work on.
- Yes. Theoretically.
  Problem is:
  It has eerie parallels to the Nazi's glorification/politicization of youth athleticism: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_League_of_the_Reich_for_Physical_Exercise
  Similarly, it might end up tied into this: https://www.whitehouse.gov/america250/america-prays/
  It's classic Trump TBH. A good idea in an innocent way, if one totally ignores history and gives it the absolute benefit of the doubt. And his followers can use it to troll people who point out potential danger as 'hysterical'.
  
  I mean, "the Nazis glorified youth sports" feels like an empty argument to me. Hitler liked dogs. That doesn't make me morally obligated to hate dogs.
  And yeah, Trump has abhorrent policies in other areas that could taint this. That doesn't mean this idea in particular is bad.
  
  To be clear, it's "Nazis used national youth sports events to glorify eugenics."
  You're right. This is probably fine and innocent.
  But it feels creepy the same reason gameshow fiction feels creepy; historical context, and skirting but not quite crossing some lines. Like, this would be a lot less creepy if Trump and his party didn't flirt with White Replacement Theory believers, or "fertility boosting" advocates like Vance. They'd absolutely advocate for this exact type of event, for all the wrong reasons.
  So yeah, if this is a wholesome high school olympics between states, I'm all for that. You shouldn't be getting downvoted so much.
  ...But stay skeptical, too. There's a nonzero chance the messaging won't be so pure.
- It's just a little on the nose with the one boy and one girl from each state. And let's see how the diversity in these boys and girls will be, it's probably gonna be some white ethnofascist bullshit parading around the perfect children. But let's see.
  
  I mean, I assume that the states would be able to nominate their competitors themselves.
  
  "I volunteer as tribute!" -Totally normal things for athletes to say
  
  I'm glad that's not a thing anyone has said in real life then.
  Look, no one involved in coming up with this idea tied it to the hunger games, and no one thinks that you'll actually have a "I volunteer as tribute" type thing going. And, not to put to fine a point on it, but "volunteering as tribute" loses a lot of it's negative connotation when it's not literally volunteering to go die in a gladiator pit.
  Trump has done innumerable things to be upset about. We don't need to make up fake rage bait. Just look at the actual bad things he's doing.
  
  Anyone can volunteer for tribute
  But only a select few will make it all the way to DC instead of say South Sudan, or El Salvador, or a quaint little island they know about...
  
  It's like your reading an ad for it lol
  
  Yes, I agree the Trump administration has been disgusting with regards to immigration. Absolutely a stain on American history.
  It seems a stretch to tie this to that though.
  
  And I assume Trump would want to pick the girls himself, after "inspecting" them.
- It's stupid on so many levels.
  No way a tiny state like North Dakota can produce two world class athletes, while powerhouses like California and Texas with have a plethora to choose from.
  But say it was actually fair and balanced. How do you set it up? I can't think of a place in the country that's ready to have a mini-Olympics on short notice. Do you know of any arena with a fifty lane track?
  And what sports are we competing in?
  It would take a smart person a couple of years to make this happen. Donnie thinks he can snap his fingers.
  
  Idk if you've read The Hunger Games but yeah that's kind of the whole idea
  
  I mean, you could say the same about the Olympics. There's no way a small country like Jamaica could possibly beat a huge country like the US.
  But sometimes they do. That's what makes it so exciting.
  And what are you on about a 50 lane track? Does the Olympics have a 200 lane track for all the countries? You do it in heats. Have you ever watched a track and field event? And practically every state has a facility that would support a track and field event with around 120 people. That's not absurdly large.
  I assume it'd general track and field, though it's a little odd if you just have 2 competitors per state to do all the events. Though I think that actually makes it a little more interesting. Kind of triathalon-y.
  I don't think this is as hard to organize as you seem to think it is. Yes, it requires coordination and stuff, and is more than just a snap of the fingers, but if you assigned a qualified and well funded planning group to it, I'm confident you could get it put together by summer.
  
  Jamaica spends more on its Olympic team than the US does. They enter around 60-70 athletes, while the US is spread thinner with around 600.
  So ultimately Jamaica spends over 10x per athlete. And that’s state funding, which the US doesn’t do. Team USA half-asses the Olympics, falling back on sheer population size to garner the required athletes at the right time, rather than having a proper training programme.
  
  Compare it to China then, which does state sponsor.
  Or, hell, South Dakota can state sponsor their Patriot Games athletes if they want, to try to give them an edge. Make it a point of state pride or whatever to pull better competitors than a state that's bigger but doesn't care.
  Alabama does better at college football nationally (historically) than much bigger states because of a culture difference. The idea that California would outperform them just because they're bigger does not in fact bear out in reality.

127 comments