Ever since I was a child, the Olympics have always fascinated me. Who would not love the pomp, the majesty and the pageantry? From an early age, I gazed in wonder at this great festival of "amateur" competition spanning the globe to bring a constant variety of sport, the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. Then, as maturity sometimes does, the bubble burst with the reality that these games are far from amateur events and there is more on display than the constant variety of sport. This is big, worldwide economics and the prizes are as huge as the losses.

Of course, the idea of an amateur competition with people competing simply for the pleasure of the sport and the right to claim the crown as the world's best is intriguing, but it has been a long time since Olympic athletes were amateurs. Even before professionals officially began competing, athletes benefited from endorsements, bonuses from home governments and special privileges. From a capitalistic point of view, that seems perfectly normal, even if it is not Olympic competition in its purest form. Besides, trying to keep the competition pure would be futile at best since people are people and will always look for some way to increase personal advantage, even if it means bending the rules. The real tragedy of the Olympics is the way it reflects the condition of the world.

While watching the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, viewers cannot help but notice the quality of the air and the grandeur of the facilities built just for this competition. If the Chinese government wants us to, I suppose we can turn a blind eye to the condition of the country the same way the world tried to pretend atrocities did not exist in Berlin at the 1936 Olympics when Hitler put his Aryan supermen on public display. I cannot, however, ignore those big, beautiful sporting facilities and imagine that America did not build those. Oh yeah, China takes the credit, but the money behind the projects was purely American.

Everyone knows that an America budget surplus in the year 2000 became the largest deficit in the Nation's history, a deficit larger than that of all 42 other presidents combined. It is still growing. Everyone also knows that much of that deficit comes from supporting the war effort in the Middle East to liberate, control and rebuild Iraq. Sure, we needed to stop Hussein, and, sure, we needed to preserve our interests, but it sure cost some money. Have you ever wondered what Iraq is spending to help its own cause?

A recent Time Magazine article reports that Iraq had a budget surplus in 2005 of $24 billion. Due to increasing oil prices, that surplus became $32 billion in 2006, $40 billion in 2007, and will reach around $74 billion by the end of this year. That is great for them, but, during that time, only 1% went toward rebuilding their own infrastructure. Americans, on the other hand, spent $48 billion on reconstruction in Iraq. Now, the future might change, but it is now clear that our efforts in Iraq did not receive equal effort from the Iraqi administration. Do you want to know more? Guess who is funding our war efforts? That's right, China.

China, among other nations, is buying the bonds and giving the credit that allows the U.S. to fund the continuing war effort in Iraq and other countries. As a result, the tax dollars collected from honest, American citizens are being used to pay the interest on the loans used to rebuild a country that does little to rebuild itself and China is using its share of the profits to build not only new sports venues to wow the world, but also roads, schools, power plants and dams. The money that should be spent in America to help Americans is helping Iraqis and Chinese. Realizing this, I can no longer enjoy the Olympics. Iraq is the "mouse that roared", and China is America's loan shark.

Whenever I tune the telly to an Olympic event, I see smog, I see fantastic buildings and I see cover-up. I think of the 463,000 jobs lost in America this year as U.S. unemployment rose to 5.7%, the highest level since 2004. I think of my neighbors spending their hard-earned dollars to build infrastructure in other countries that we need here, and creating jobs there instead of putting people to work here. I think to myself about what would happen if John McCain were to win the presidency and continue these wars the way he says he will. Where will our economy and our budget deficit be then? I want to enjoy the Olympics and I want to cheer the athletes, but it feels too much like enjoying the sinking of the Titanic and cheering the passengers as they plunge into the cold, icy water one by one.

The band plays on while everyone dons life vests. Every passenger must know by now the condition of this unsinkable ship, but how long will it be before the realization hits that there are too few lifeboats? If only Captain Bush had not been in such a hurry, if only we passengers had not been so overconfident, and if only someone had thought to provide enough lifeboats, maybe the Olympics would be more enjoyable. They say hindsight is 20/20 and that information combined with twenty-five cents will get you a quarter. Right now, even a quarter sounds pretty good, but I do not know whether to mail it directly to Iraq or China. It will end up over there sooner or later. I'll decide later. Right now, I am just going to tie on my life vest, enjoy the orchestra and marvel at The Beijing National Stadium, the stadium America built via Iraq. Maybe China will decide to rename it the American Beijing National Stadium in our honor, but I am not going to hold my breath for that one. I am going to need every breath to get me to the shore.