Celebrate Your Right To Ignore (or Watch) the Olympics

Viewership for the Olympics is down (way down) from 2018, to an audience for the 2022 opening ceremonies that was 43 percent smaller than that which watched the winter games in 2018. But that still leaves millions of Americans choosing to watch the international contest, which is fine. Unlike the situation in many other countries, U.S. Olympic teams are supported by those who spend of their own accord, so everybody is free to glue themselves to the screen, to tune in on occasion, or to totally ignore the event without being compelled to fund the proceedings against their will. And that's as it should be.

"Unlike nearly every national Olympic Committee in the world, the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee's Olympic programs receive no federal government support," the Olympic Committee's Team USA Fund notes on its website. "Thus the U.S. relies on private resources to help fund America's elite athletes as they focus on their pursuit of excellence at the games."