I hang my head in shame for what the world, more specifically America, has produced. In a day where there is still hunger and starvation in EVERY country in the world, a growing sport is emerging. It even has an official sanctioning body.
The International Federation of Competitive Eating sanctions more than 100 competitive eating events a year. That's two competitions a weekend of people ramming as much food into their bodies as possible. The participants involved call it a sport, some even call themselves 'athletes'. Heck, even ESPN is covering it (click on 'modern roman orgies' above). Flat out - its gluttony; one of the seven deadly sins, remember?
In a society where we acknowledge that kids and adults are too fat because of what they eat, we now have a "sport" where people try to do exactly what we tell them is bad for them - and the "sport" is growing both in the number of people involved as well as the caloric content being ingested. Why does an idea like this even enter a grown person's mind? I've seen teenagers attempt to out do each other just to prove their macho-ness but why didn't someone say, "That's just pure stupidity. Why are we promoting such behavior? Fire the the ad agency who came up with this idea and beat the moron who suggested it."
But no, this raw symbol of why people think Americans are the spoiled kids of the world continues to shine forth. Its greed and callousness and contempt all rolled into one. We know what the world needs but don't give a shit enough to help out. We'll free the people of a domineering dictator as long as they have oil, which serves our needs. We have so much stuff that we make competitions to see how fast we can make it go away. We are so self-absorbed in the drive to get all things materialistic that we ignore what simple needs others have. I think America would be better off giving the world the finger at the beginning of each press conference, at least there would be no doubt about our intentions.
So like the ancient lore of Roman orgies being one of the trademarks leading to the collapse of its empire, competitive eating has become a trademark of the good ole US of A. I'm ashamed indeed...
2 comments:
My question is: after the guy injested over 40 hotdogs and buns, how much time passed before he was hurling into the bushes?
I find competitive "sport" eating a bit interesting from a psychological and sociological perspective: what sort of person enters these sorts of contests, and even MORE interesting: what sort of person joins other spectators of this so-called sport?
I suspect the competitor and the spectator are both bored out of their minds and probably have some sort of unhealthy fascination with food.
From what I understand, you have to keep the food down or it doesn't count. Supposedly they've stretched their stomachs through "training" that it can expand to the necessary size.
I dunno if I share your interest (not actual interest but analytical) simply because I really DON'T want to know more about it. Its just sick. Pure gluttony. *disgust*
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