Excerpt from the book

³Philosophy of Olympism´

(pub. 2004.) by LjubodragSimonovi, Belgrade, Serbia. E-mail:comrade@sezampro.rs

INTRODUCTION

The 20

century is behind us. If we tried to determine the distinctive phenomena of that historical period, sport would surely take a prominent place. Itacquired the same significance that religion had in the Middle Ages: the OlympicGames became the most important festivity of the modern world and the Olympicidea its "humanistic" gospel. Modern Olympic paganism is the form in whichcapitalism wiped out Christianity (as well as other religions) and became the chief ideological instrument for integrating people into the spiritual orbit of capitalism.The calendar of leading sports manifestations assumed the role of religiouscalendars and became a spiritual pivot, while the stadium became the mostimportant cult venue of the modern world. Sport is not only an "ideological curtainconcealing the real evil" (Adorno), it is the bourgeois means of erasing the culturaltraces of mankind and destroying the emancipatory heritage of civil society. The basic aim of modern Olympism is not to transform the world into a culturalcommunity of nations, but to turn it into a "civilized" menagerie. Stadiums have become modern concentration camps in which the hope of a better world is beingdestroyed and modern hordes of barbarians are being generated. Sport is not onlythe "opium for a socially structured defect" and thus "one of the chief ways of escaping from reality" (Fromm), but also a way of degenerating man: a sportsspectacle is a ritual through which the capitalist "holy spirit" inseminates peopleturning them into capitalistically transmuted animals.The myth of modern Olympism

falls into the circle of myths by which theideologues of West-European colonial states try to obtain the "civilizing"legitimacy for their colonization of the world. It ranks with the myths of the"exploratory" character of the voyages of Columbus and the "civilizing" nature of the Catholic "missions". At the same time, the creation of the Olympic mythcreates a mythological conscious and a mythological relation to the fundamental principles of capitalism:

bellum omnium contra omnes

and the absolutized principle of performance

(

eistung

) as expressed by the maxim

citius, altius, fortius

. The Olympic Games are a "festivity of youth" (Coubertin) - and thatmeans flourishing of the vital force of capitalism and a revived faith in its"eternal" values. Hence the significance attached to the "holy rhythm" of theGames (every four years), which by no means must be interrupted. ModernOlympism is one of the most aggressive totalitarian ideologies of the 20

century,which tends to destroy man's dignified liberating spirit and "reconcile" (Comte)him to the existing world of injustice. It is one of the supporting pillars of thespiritual firmament of the 20

century and thus the chief political tool for

achieving one of the main goals of monopolistic capitalism: to do away withdemocratic institutions and establish direct control over the working class.Coubertin's precept that direct "control in heads" must first be established in order to establish successful control in institutions, intended by the Nazis to help themcreate a "new order", serves as the guiding principle of the advocates of the present "new world order". The increasing number of increasingly bloody sportsmanifestations is meant to divert people's attention from fundamental existentialissues and weaken their capacity for judgment: sport has become the "cheapestspiritual food for the masses" (Coubertin).The criticism of Olympism should be seen in the context of capitalism becoming a global totalitarian order governed by the most powerful capitalistconcerns. They have set up "supranational" institutions (NATO, IMF...) that serveas "substitutes" for the institutions based on the sovereignty of citizens andnations, and form the fence of a global concentration camp within which thecapitalist centers of power endeavour to enclose mankind. The so-called"international sports associations" act as the "Trojan horse"

of the ruling politicalgroups and multinational concerns, and with their authoritarian structure and"supranational" regulations were the first to have questioned national and civilsovereignty. They are the most important tool of the "new world order" for destroying national cultures and integrating people into the spiritual orbit of capitalism - at the level of slaves. Olympism is the crown of a "mondialistic"ideology which seeks to remove all normative (customary, moral, legal andreligious) boundaries that could get in the way of establishing a global capitalisttotalitarianism. Sport imposes rules contrary to the elementary human and civilrights modern legislation is based upon: sex segregation; right to inflict serious bodily injuries and kill; monstrous abuse of children; turning sportsmen intomodern slaves; drug abuse and using sportsmen as experimental specimens;antidemocratic character of the "international sports associations", particularly theIOC as an authoritarian organization which through the national OlympicCommittees dictates the rules of conduct« All these "details" indicate that sport isa "pure" embodiment of the Social Darwinist and progressistic spirit of capitalismand thus the basic instrument for producing a global positive one-mindedness:Olympism is the cult of the existing world and the philosophy of positive life.From this mythological relation to Olympism arose a mythological relationto its founder, Pierre de Coubertin.

We can say without exaggeration that theideologues of the "free world", largely assisted by their colleagues from "realsocialism", turned Coubertin into a new "Messiah", whose Olympic gospel revealsthe true purpose of man's existence. "Feeling" that Coubertin belongs to the circleof "the chosen", his most devoted followers declared him to be the "divine baron"and wrote the legendary biography which affirms his "messianic" character anddescribes his "messianic" (Olympic) path. Coubertin himself greatly contributed tothe creation of his "divine" aureole. In the modern Olympic movement he saw the"Church"; in the members of the IOC he saw the "trustees of the Olympic idea",

peculiar apostles of Olympism, while for himself, the "spiritual father" of theOlympic movement, he envisaged the role of the "high priest" of modern Olympic paganism. The head office of the IOC became the new Vatican. In view of Coubertin's aspirations to turn Olympism into the dominant (religious, philosophical and scientific) thought of the modern era, which will supply peoplewith a new purpose of life, we are clearly dealing with a peculiar messianicmission. What distinguishes Coubertin is the fact that he appears as "The Restorer"(

e Rénovateur

) of the ancient Olympic Games - meaning a messenger of thegods of Olympus and thus the organic link between Hellenic and moderncivilizations.

Basing himself on the view that the Greeks "little devotedthemselves to thinking, and even less to books", Coubertin wished to create a positive man and build a positive society. However, being a scribomaniac (he published over 600 books, essays and speeches), he obviously disregarded thevery principle he established as one of the foundations of positive life. Coubertinshould not be taken at his word. The analysis of his writings clearly shows thatthey were not intended to prompt the reader to consider the crucial existentialquestions, but to make him fanatical and induce him to follow the interests of the parasitic ruling classes. Coubertin's Olympic writings are a synthesis of political pamphlets and "truths" that seek to assume a biblical character. They do notdevelop a critical and libertarian, but an apologetic and submissive conscious, andthus correspond to the "practical" philosophy they represent.The myth of Coubertin is based on the assertion that he devoted his life tothe creation of a "better world" governed by "peace" and "cooperation betweennations", and that it was the reason why he "restored" the ancient Olympic Gamesand inspired them with a "new" spirit. If that is so, the question is: why are theworks of Pierre de Coubertin - whose written legacy amounts to over 60,000 pages- unknown to the public? How is it possible that in most countries, in which the100

anniversary of the modern Olympic Games was pompously celebrated, not asingle line from Coubertin's writings has been published? To make things evenmore bizarre, the main censors of Coubertin's work are the official "guardians" of his Olympic idea. The major reason for the Olympic gentlemen to assume such anattitude towards the "divine baron" lies in the fact that in his main worksCoubertin appears as a militant representative of the European bourgeoisie, whoelaborates

the strategy and tactics of dealing with working "masses", women and"lower races". Coubertin's political writings are political instructions to rulers of the world how to efficiently deal, by means of sport and physical drill, with thestruggle for liberation of the oppressed and establish a global supremacy. It is oneof the main reasons why, even six decades after his death, the gentlemen from theIOC, together with those from the national Olympic Committees, do not consider publishing Coubertin's collected works, presenting instead to the public excerptsfrom his writings in the form of

elected texts

(

extes choisis

(1)

from whichalmost everything indicative of the true nature of his Olympic doctrine has beenomitted. Since Coubertin openly stated that capitalism was an unjust order -