Olympic Flame-in-a-Box Climbs Mt. Everest to New Heights of Silliness
The notion of climbing Mount Everest now seems rather quaint instead of courageous and innovative as it was for so many years. Kind of like going to Niagara Falls to get married: the media’s and American middle class’ ideal for much of the 20th Century. So China’s obsession with dragging their sorry asses to the top of the world’s largest rock with a flame-in-a-box seems mostly laughable, especially when you read in this article about their over-the-top security measures, violation of privacy and general paranoia about Tibet and the Chinese international image (which is more like self-image because the rest of the world sees China for what they are while the Chinese continue to see a much more magnanimous and guiltless image in the mirror).
Of course, the environmental and spiritual atrocities being committed on Everest by the Chinese and all the other “climbers” and “adventurers” are enough to be critical of this useless and dangerous circus act. But then again, that’s all climbing Everest really is anymore. So the fact that the Chinese are doing it shows how shallow, self-esteem-challenged, and environmentally ignorant they are. What a sad, sorry stunt.