USA! USA!
The following is the transcript of my closing editorial from episode 155 of my news podcast The Mind Killer. If you like it, please consider subscribing to the podcast
The 2026 winter Olympics ended last night, and it was awesome. One of the reasons is that sports are one of the last bastions of meritocracy in modern society. You can’t win by knowing the right people, saying the right thing, or having the right look. It doesn’t matter who your parents are, whether you’ve got the right demographics, or how many people follow your Insta. Outside of a few isolated controversies (looking at you, French judges), you win by being the best. And it’s inspiring to see the people who are the best at what they do get showcased for a couple of weeks. These people are amazing and they are doing amazing things. Half of the ski & snowboard events involve crazy people launching themselves as high in the air as they can, and doing ridiculous combinations of spins, flips, and grabs before landing on their feet.The other half involve falling as fast as possible down a mountain while staying in absolute control. The ice skaters are all doing quadruple spins and backflips. There’s an event where cross country skiers propel themselves across a snow-covered arena for over two hours. In a couple events, speed skaters start in a big pack, and sometimes they collide and multiple skaters get taken out! There’s an event where people dive headfirst onto a bladed sled and careen down a mountain at over 90mph. It’s incredible.
It’s also fun to root for America, because America is the best, and America kicks ass at sports. In the past two weeks, America won more gold medals, and more total medals, than any country except Norway. And Norway doesn’t count because they made up like half of these events to be things only they do. China didn’t even finish in the top 10 (pathetic!). American athletes embody the best values of our country - individualism, excellence, and ingenuity.
Of course it’s just a bunch of silly games, but what is life if not a series of silly games? So I say enjoy it. Indulge in a little bit of harmless tribalism. Watch some impressive people do impressive things. Feel some national pride for once in your miserable life. It’s fun! And it’s good for you. Go USA!