Ah, it’s that time again.

The one where friendly competition, gold medals and torches are the first things on everyone’s mind, and any bad blood, political biases and talk of nuclear bombs are just about the last thought on the minds of these supreme athletes.

Definitely not the last item on the list of worries, but certainly somewhere at the bottom.

Talking with coworkers and regulars at the coffee shop raised a few topics of debate, but we all seemed to be on the same page — making this less of a debate and more of a support group vibe.

Personally, I do not love the idea of the Olympics; I love learning about the history of the Olympics, back when the competition was (deathly) serious, and deeply rooted in ancient Greek culture.

However, as unpatriotic as it may sound, the Olympics seem fairly useless to me.

I totally understand the whole “diversity” and “togetherness” aspect, but I feel like there are better ways to effectively convey that message.

Historically, modern Olympic games have left hosting cities deep in debt.

Then, once the games are over, and the athletes and spectators have packed up and gone home without any worries — except maybe feelings of self-doubt after heading home without a gold, silver or bronze — an entire city is left to clean up the literal and metaphorical messes left behind.

The Olympic structures are built specifically for the events and then are torn down or completely abandoned and stand empty and unused.

This makes zero sense to me, especially when you take into consideration how expensive these buildings were.

Why are we [humans] so wasteful that we think throwing away billions of dollars for the sake of sports is acceptable?

Do you know what a city, or entire country, could do with a billion-dollar budget?

I’m not exactly sure, either, but I do know that billions of dollars could go toward so many useful resources to help the populations of these hosting countries instead of putting already impoverished cities deeper into the debt-hole.

The conversation then led to the fact that the Olympics don’t need to be obliterated entirely, but the focus should be placed exactly where the heart of the games lies; which is with the themes of unity and competition.

Why not use already existing locations and structures?

Better yet, why not use the Olympic games as an opportunity to reach out to communities in need, instead of using athletes as living advertisements for whichever sponsor they represent?

Call me cynical or less of a “patriot” toward my country, but the Olympics continue to be more parasitic to their hosts than a positive way to promote international diplomacy.