Luxury consumer brands are the opiate of the people. Karl Marx never said that but, in China, that is the case. That's what they all said about Liu Xiang , the hurdler whose consumer brand advertising made him larger than life until he was forced to withdraw from his Olympic race with a muscle injury. Many speculated that he feared losing to the Cuban runner, Dayron Robles, but didn't pull out until the last minute to fulfil advertising contracts. Was the 2008 Olympics a testament to sports or to advertising?
One thing emerged clearly: the cool Jamaicans captured the spotlight. For a country both poor and small - two features that China disdains in other nations - Jamaica showed it has spirit. During the Olympics, the late singer Bob Marley's son, Julian, performed in Beijing, singing the protest music of his father, calling for freedom. But the security officials could not figure out the lyrics. Look at Jamaica's music: it has changed the world, exporting the spirit of revolution more successfully than late chairman Mao Zedong ever did.
But none of that matters. Beijing mesmerised the world by showing an unprecedented sort of spirit. Seldom have so many people been seen moving mechanically, as they did in the opening ceremony. Nor has anyone ever seen such amazing architecture - a 'Bird's Nest' and 'Water Cube', symbolic abodes of China's mythical phoenix and dragon.
With the blanket rolling back of promises for media openness - and even the refusal to allow protests by little old ladies in designated protest grounds - the Beijing Games have changed the nature of the Olympic movement forever.
No longer will this be about democratic Athens competing peacefully against fellow Greeks in the spirit of sport. This is all about the power of money and the full authority of the five-clawed dragon. People will be talking about the 2008 Olympics for some time to come, and trying to figure out what it all really means for the rest of humanity.
China's official media will be talking about the Olympics for a long time, too; of course, they have nothing else to talk about. Many talk-show programmes and print media are saying the Olympics changed China forever. Bloggers, however, are questioning whether it has changed anything in terms of security, internet monitoring, press freedom, corruption, commercialism, consumer money worship and the misspending of national funds. It may have changed nothing at all, and possibly even set things back. Of course, these are only individual opinions, which do not count since we all know the state media is correct. But such voices are out there asking hard questions, and being heard.
