The Fifth Ring

Yesterday marked the end of the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. While I didn't pay very close attention to the games and standings, I heard all about the opening ceremonies. The opening ceremonies were marked by the fifth ring of the classic olympic symbol. Instead of having five normal rings like it should have, the last ring didn't form a circle. Instead this what was displayed.

Since the opening ceremonies I have heard story after story about why it didn't open. The last ring of the Olympic symbol represents North America, so of course, some people took this as a blow against the USA. I have heard a range of answers: some say it was just a malfunction while others say it was Russia getting back at us for the Cold War. Personally, I think it was just a malfunction and don't think that a country would disrespect another country like that.

But some people do believe that Russia purposefully did this. While I don't believe it, I can understand why they think this. People assume the worst. That is part of human nature, but that characteristic to assume the worst can cause unnecessary divide and conflict. The US and Russia/the Soviet Union have had their past and while it isn't totally behind us, I believe mentalities like assuming the worst continues these divides between our countries.

Another interesting point about the opening ceremonies at the Olympics was that when Russia presented its history to the world, it seemed like they were very picky about what they presented. They showed only positive historical points. I understand that they didn't want to display all of the faults of their past but I believe this is similar to how history is taught in America.

Often, American History textbooks decide what information to put in and what information to avoid. They often glorify parts of history that make America look good, while skimming or not even touching on the demoralizing parts. Not to be cliché but America needs to learn from its mistakes and when the mistakes aren't taught to students, they aren't able to correct past mistakes.

Taxing Junk Food - Making America Healthier?

I have recently heard about many ideas about taxing unhealthy food, while keeping healthy food tax free. Every reason is to help America with the continuing problem of obesity and unhealthy habits but I can't help but wonder what underlying motives might be at play.

A Navajo Nation just recently hiked the tax prices on unhealthy food. The hope was to get people to think second about buying unhealthy food and maybe converting to that healthier and, in some cases, cheaper option. The council members of the Navajo Nation were reported as saying the goal was to "promote more healthy eating habits on the Navajo Nation in order to combat the growing problems of obesity and diabetes." This goal is a good one, no doubt. I would love to combat junk food that leads to diabetes and obesity. I think everyone else would too. It is proven that junk food can have detremental effects on your life, but what they say is the goal seems to me as a cover maybe.

I belive so many places today campaign these tactics to try and influence people on buying their products. First of all, most people are willing to continue and buy these unhealthy options because they think "what difference is a couple bucks." Then for those people that do switch to healthier products, how much cheaper is it because of the tax breaks. Often with this healthier food it costs way more than one would think. The prices start off higher than junk food because healtheir food needs more preparation and more care. Then healthier food goes bad quicker than most unhealthy foods, causing people to buy healthier products more often, then making a bigger dent in your wallet.

This reminds me of the famous breast cancer ribbon. This is now on hundreds of companies saying they support breast cancer aid. And while I'm sure they support breast cancer aid, many may use it as a marketing ploy to lure customers. And I wonder if the companies stop thinking about aiding people with breast cancer, and think about it only as a ploy for more money. I feel that some morals can easily get lost in this process.

Relating the food to the breast cancer ribbon, I think they are similar because companies or towns may use that ploy of buying healthy foods, but I'm afraid that the true ideal of making America healthier may get lost along the way with many companies. Can you think of any symbols or ideas similar to this that are sometimes lost because of a need for more money? How important do you think this issue is?