Governments should spend more money in support of the arts than in support of athletics such as state-sponsored Olympic teams.

I disagree with the statement that governments should spend more resources on arts rather than athletics, especially state-sponsored Olympic teams.

Sports is the best way for a country to show themselves to the world and build up their confidence. The 2008 Beijing Olympics slogan was “higher, faster, stronger”. But for most developing countries, sports is the best way, or even the only way, for them to prove their ability. People can be motivated by competing, winning, and the glory of their own country. Sports combine all of them. “Why do you Chinese care so much about the result of a volleyball game?” “Because our mind is not strong enough. One day when we are confident enough, we won’t need to view results as the only value of sports.” These are lines in the movie “Leap” which is about the history of the Chinese national volleyball team. Decades ago, China was going through a tough period of time when the country just came out of a hundred years of turbulence. At that time, a win in an international sports field could provide huge motivation to people all over the country.

Developing sports can make a country’s order more stable. Olympics is the highest international stage of athletics, but through the origin of why it began, we see that it can reduce the will for war and make combat more civilized. For a government, the first mission is to keep its state stable, and sports can aid this goal. Great athletes can influence many person in the country. They encourage people to spread their will of competing in a more civilized way and therefore reduce the risk of social unrest.

Sports can improve the overall health of people. Health is the most valuable thing in one’s whole life. Improving sports infrastructure will give citizens a better environment to do exercise. Arts can also improve people’s health mentally, but since sports cost much less than arts for citizens to participate, its influence is greater.

All things considered, we can conclude that governments should spend more resources on athletics rather than arts.