Gucci Little Piggy

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No Meat, No Medal

Perhaps the question being asked most often in these Olympics is, where are the Indians?  Why does a country with more than 1 billion people have fewer medals in their entire Olympic history than one U.S. swimmer?

There are a lot of different reasons for India’s poor showing.  The lack of desire, the lack of infrastructure and investment.  Poor genetics is another explanation.  But how about the fact that, according to one poll conducted by CNN, 31% of Indians are vegetarian?  Their dominant Hindu religion restricts their diet, and it’s possible that a lack of access to abundant meat or other economic explanations confounds on the religious aspect to ensure that even those who do eat meat don’t eat all that much of it which would bring with it a limited amount of muscle fuel which limits the athletic achievement of the entire nation.

The data is about a decade old (via GOOD), but a compilation of per capita meat consumption shows that U.S. residents consumed over 120 kg of meat per year; Chinese consumed over 50 kg per year; Indians consumed just over 5 kg of meat per capita.

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24 Responses to No Meat, No Medal

  1. albert magnus 08/10/2012 at 12:56 pm

    My understanding is that a lot of the Indian vegetarians still drink a lot of milk.

  2. Heartiste 08/10/2012 at 1:01 pm

    vegetarianism may also depress brain functioning, which might partly explain india’s low average national IQ. anyone know if india’s high IQ elite eat meat? or have a history of eating meat?

  3. Jokah Macpherson 08/10/2012 at 1:21 pm

    Heartiste, I think it is the other way around – the Brahmins (the highest caste) are the ones most likely to be vegetarian.

  4. Camlost 08/10/2012 at 1:31 pm

    Indians are some of the most practical people around, and also minimalists when it comes to exerting effort. (even the high-IQ programmers that migrate to the US) I think they honestly don’t see the point of sports.

  5. dejour 08/10/2012 at 1:51 pm

    Possibly one of many factors. If it were the only thing, then you’d expect their medals to be at, say, half of their expected value. They seem well below this.

    Also South Asia has dominated some sports. Cricket currently, and for several decades (historically) field hockey.

    Obviously if the Olympics were designed by South Asians, cricket would be a marquee event. Is it possible that cricket sucks up all the best Indian athletes (and that the skills used in cricket don’t translate well to other Olympic sports)?

  6. PA 08/10/2012 at 2:06 pm

    The photo of Usain Bolt with girls of Swedish handball team flashing gang signs will likely be the lasting image from these Olympics, as was the photo of Hitler saluting at the Munich stadium the iconic photo of the 1936 games.

    Here is an interesting question: as far as these girls are concerned, how does being in that photo affect their social standing in places where it matters to them?

    I more and more inclined to believe that the promotion of real and symbolic Africanization of the white woman has from the beginning been part shit-test and part biological warfare on the part of powerful whites against weaker whites. To pass, a white woman in good standing will talk the talk, but will not actually mix with blacks – sexually or culturally – except in the most measured and ironic ways. Fact is: proles mix, SWPLs stay white.

    So the Swedish girls… are they now going about with a feeling like they fucked up big time?

  7. Camlost 08/10/2012 at 2:31 pm

    Well, gang signs or not, at least they didn’t do the Crip Walk like Serena Williams did in London…

  8. LS 08/10/2012 at 3:24 pm

    There was an Indian in one of the boxing matches who didn’t look too bad.

  9. Lara 08/10/2012 at 4:39 pm

    Maybe if you are a strict vegetarian, but I don’t think your body needs a huge amounts of protein to function well. Hershel Walker is supposedly a vegetarian. My grandfather has always been strong and in good shape and he doesn’t eat much meat. He eats a wide variety of fruits and vegetables daily, and prefers fish to meat.

  10. Vagab0nd 08/10/2012 at 4:41 pm

    @Heartiste – The elite brahmins are strict vegetarians. But they do drink a lot of milk. In fact meat is considered bad, specifically because it is supposed to make you either dull, or passionate, depending on how much you eat. Compare India to Pakistan, and Bangladesh – same genetic pool – but india is way ahead, because of it’s emphasis on philosophy and learning.

    The current dullness among indian population, is because centuries of muslim (and british rule) killed off most of the aristocracy – leaving the proles to multiply like crazy.

    As far as lack of olympic golds – a country needs to have a sports culture, as opposed to a play culture. India (and pakistan) is very much a play culture – sports is not organized, it is a light recreational activity.

  11. TheGManifesto 08/10/2012 at 4:46 pm

    Indians are all about cricket and field hockey…as well as science, engineering, medicine, etc. They aren’t interested in Olympic sports and don’t get much self-esteem out of them. They have other priorities. Important ones actually.

  12. Anthor 08/10/2012 at 6:18 pm

    The sports that India plays the most, cricket and squash, don’t feature in the Olympics.

    I did some digging, and in the Commonwealth Games, India outperforms Canada and England.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Commonwealth_Games_medal_table

    But there is a big difference between growing up in India vs. in the West, as I understand. Here is an Indian in the US who won a nationwide bench-press contest, pressing over twice his bodyweight.

    http://www.appeal-democrat.com/articles/lift-92107-gym-weight.html

  13. PA 08/10/2012 at 6:18 pm

    I see it now!!!! it’s …. her…

  14. bigdeal 08/10/2012 at 6:22 pm

    Pa said: “The photo of Usain Bolt with girls of Swedish handball team flashing gang signs will likely be the lasting image from these Olympics”

    I don’t get why everyone is so focused on this picture? What exactly is the big deal? Unless you’re assuming Bolt “ran” through all three of them at the same time, then what’s so special about white girls throwing up a few gang signs with a black guy?

    Sure – there’s a cultural and racial component to the mere fact that this picture has been so publicized; after all, the media loves to put out there the false idea that all white women want BBC. But the picture and the action itself of ironically mimicking black culture is decidedly mundane.

  15. Clarence 08/10/2012 at 8:15 pm

    It’s mundane and 1, possibly 2 ( I could see an argument) of the 3 girls aren’t even hot.

    I see nothing to complain about in this picture. It’s 3 girls posing with one of the greatest athletes in the world, not with some local ghetto thug.

    As for the OP, lack of a meat in a diet is, at most, part of the explanation. It’s rather true that Indian sports culture is rather strange in comparison with most countries.

  16. Lara 08/10/2012 at 8:48 pm

    I think it’s mundane also. I’m not sure how a Jamaican and three Swedes would even be familiar with a Crips gang sign. There’s also nothing particularly sexual about it, except that they are in his room, sitting on a bed, rather than in a public place. If you wanted to sleep with someone, you wouldn’t bring your girlfriends along.
    I do think it’s interesting that Usain was sought after by three women, from a very white country. I doubt the South African handball players showed up at his room.

  17. Lara 08/10/2012 at 8:56 pm

    That’s why I think white culture in the United States will hold. As you get more exposed to black culture, you get more adamant about preserving your own.

  18. Lara 08/10/2012 at 9:09 pm

    White women are aware that black men have higher rates of STDs. That’s going to put a real damper on any attraction.

  19. breitbart.com 08/10/2012 at 10:39 pm

    Just move back to England and tend to your own yard. Take your loser father with you, I don’t want to spend a cent on his health care or retirement.

  20. C.R. 08/10/2012 at 11:07 pm

    ha, it’s that faggot Dr. G posting under a new name. you liberal loser. control yourself and avoid this blog. why are you so weak-willed?

  21. Lara 08/11/2012 at 9:31 am

    Usain Bolt has an Eastern European girlfriend, anyway, so he’s doing okay. Only losers go out with American women.

  22. Nikos 08/11/2012 at 12:11 pm

    I agree, it is mundane, and means nothing. Weren’t the Crips big in the 90s, and are mostly nothing today?

    It is unsurprising that white nationalists are the only ones troubled by this, given that they are bottom-rung white men who are the most vulnerable to getting out-competed.

  23. Pingback: Linkage Is Good For You – 8-12-12 | Society of Amateur Gentlemen

  24. Brasco 08/14/2012 at 12:16 pm

    Since there are so many factors including diet and culture, you can’t definitively go to genetics as being a reason. You can’t say genetics plays a role unless you have an apples to apples comparison (controlling for diet, training, environment,etc.). Then that would be a true test of genetics. Also it depends on the support. Like many have pointed out, West africans seem better suited for sprints and Kenyans/east africans long distance. What if they did not know that and tried to do the opposite sport? Would we then say they have poor genetics if they performed poorly? No, I think the case would be that they did not find the right niche for their abilities. Who knows… maybe Indians would be great at olympic weightlifting (for example) if they had sufficient calories and training facilities. You can’t come to a conclusion on genetics without the controls and studies to back it up. Otherwise it’s just speculation and pseudo-science.

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