Why Do You Want to Kill Our Olympic Athletes With Your Consumer Behavior?

There's lots of talk about how bad the smog is in Beijing for these 2008 Olympics. We've all seen the photos. That's bad smog. The Australian goes so far as to say - or repeat that an "expert" says - that athletes could die in the smog.

The "noxious cocktail" of athletes pushing themselves to the limit and the Games' city's dirty atmosphere could trigger a serious - and potentially lethal - asthma attack, Murdoch University Associate Professor Peter Dingle said.

It turns out that you, American, if you can step outside of the consumer matrix for a brief moment, are the killer. I know you're worried about high prices on all consumer goods this summer, the most popular complaint having to do with gas prices ('cause that's good domestic-drilling politics). But while you're bumping along through life, saving your spare change this summer, and watching the Olympics tsk-tsking about the Beijing smog, you're killing the Olympic athletes. McCLatchy:

Earlier this summer as the Olympic Games approached, the Chinese government sent businesses around this capital city an unmistakable message: China would do everything possible, including shutting down whole industries, to ensure the games' success...

The measures, analysts said, have paralyzed industries in Beijing and much of five affected regions and will be felt around the world long after the Olympics.

With China dominating global production of many goods, U.S. consumers will likely see higher prices if not outright shortages for products such as mobile telephones manufactured in the affected areas. The Olympics restrictions will also affect world supplies of auto parts, semiconductors, Vitamin C, steel and domestic Chinese supplies of cement and aluminum.

It would be easy to read this with a groan about coming higher prices. But the actual message is that that smog sustains your lifestyle. It's either your consumption practices or the athlete's lives. Be a patriot.