The Olympics is now a week past, yet only yesterday did I finish watching the coverage that I recorded on my DVR.
Three times during the Olympics I came within minutes of filling up my DVR’s hard drive. Once I did need to delete about 20 hours of unviewed programming so that I could record more. But other than that, I was able to keep one-step ahead of the recorder.
This week, though, I was able to view the Olympics at a more leisurely pace, without the pressure of additional events being recorded on a dwindling amount of memory. I was finally able to watch the Gold medal match in men’s basketball, which was much closer than expected and a great game.
The closing ceremonies were awe-inspiring, just like the opening ceremonies. But the one thing that I can’t shake is the knowledge that China reportedly spent close to 40 billion dollars on the games. That’s an incredible amount of money that certainly could have been spent on more important investments or laudable pursuits.
True, Beijing will end up with some great infrastructure as a result and the world likely has a more complete perspective of the nation of China, but at a cost of 40 billion dollars?
Throughout it though, I have truly realized that China is indeed a sleeping giant—and the giant is beginning to awake.
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Peter Lyle DeHaan, PhD, is an author, blogger, and publisher with over 30 years of writing and publishing experience. Check out his book The Successful Author for insider tips and insights.