"You Didn't Win That"

The Olympic coverage reminds us how politicized everything in our lives has become.  We do not celebrate the achievements of foreign athletes or teams. Medal tallies by country are fodder for bar room and coffee shop discussions.  Everyone wants the US to be "Number One" even though the other athletes might have  performed better.

Peggy Noonan in WSJ Op-Ed  recounts the remark of a friend, watching Michael Phelps winning another gold medal.

"How about that Michael Phelps? But let's remember he didn't win all those medals, someone else did. After all, he and I swam in public pools, built by state employees using tax dollars. He got training from the USOC, and ate food grown by the Department of Agriculture. He should play fair and share his medals with people like me, who can barely keep my head above water, let alone swim." 

At first it seems a clever riposte to the oft-repeated Obama sound-bite that has had conservative pundits all in a twitter ("You didn't build that.").   But after some consideration, I think this is, ironically,  illustrative of the truth behind Obama's un-cropped remarks.  He was not saying that successful businessmen did not earn their success, rather, he stressed that no one accomplishes anything entirely on their own.  If you accomplished something you benefited from an education, a supportive infrastructure, previous research...much of which were funded by your fellow taxpayers. The sentiment is unpopular with ego-maniacal CEO's who think they are gods who deserve 50 times more pie than any of the other team members.

I'm thinking, "How about that Michael Phelps.  He's a fast swimmer.  Lucky for him that he got so much help from his parents who sacrificed time and money so he could get coaching and a place to swim every day during his youth. Most people with athletic promise aren't that fortunate. He personally worked hard and deserves the glory for his excellent performance; I'm sure he is thankful to those who supported him over the years.  He couldn't have done it without them "