Marion Jones Part of Darwin on Steroids Trend
Marion Jones is capturing headlines with her alleged admission that she used steroids. While an overwhelming majority of Americans (75%) believe steroids use in sports should be banned, according to a poll of Facebook users conducted today, it’s clear that the use of artificial stimulants is moving forward in an inexorable march.
Marion Jones is simply part of the “Darwin on Steroids” trend, which itself is a phenomenon of the “Time Compression” Ubertrend, trends that suggest that evolution and life, respectively, are accelerating.
Another example is Barry Bonds. Fans have surmised for a while that Bonds used drugs to enhance his performance. A March 2004 USA TODAY/Gallup/CNN poll found that 64% agreed with the statement that Bonds “probably used steroids.”
Yet, his record-setting ball fetched an astonishing $752,467 from fashion designer Marc Ecko, who announced that the baseball Bonds hit for his record-breaking 756th home run would be branded with an asterisk before being donated to baseball’s Hall of Fame.
So, while a majority of fans disapprove of the use of steroids, we also have a culture that indirectly condones the near-robotic performance of steroid-pumping adults. That undercurrent points to a future that will produce superhuman, android-like performers who will battle each other in near-nightmare-like scenarios, as portrayed in many science-fiction movies.
If you’re skeptical about this scenario, witness the rapidly growing popularity of “ultimate fighting” spectacles, a sport that amazingly enough seems to find growing appeal among female sports fans.
The evolution of American football players clearly shows the “Darwin on Steroids” effect. The U.S. is breeding their favorite gladiators bigger and stronger, so they can better compete in their virtual “sudden death” matches.
There’s no question that the widespread use of steroids among athletes is causing a “nagging creep” to set in. Already, 13% of Facebook users polled by Ubercool believe steroids should be legalized, while another 12% are not so sure.
That nagging doubt is reflected among young athletes who are increasingly joining the steroids club. The National Institutes of Health’s ongoing Monitoring the Future study found in its 2004 survey that 270,000 eighth, 10th and 12th graders nationwide (3.4%) admitted steroid use, a 62% increase in use among 12th graders since 1991.
While steroid abuse is far less common than the use of so-called recreational drugs, many experts report its application is increasing among college and high school students.
As far back as 2002, USA Today reported that “teenagers, looking up to those elite athletes whose muscles ripple with steroid-enhanced power, are picking up some dangerous training tips, health experts warn.” At the time, estimates of steroids-using kids were in the 500,000 to 600,000 range with abuse by non-athlete females said to be “twice as high.”
Marion Jones merely joins the club that now also includes the once-lauded 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, who was recently stripped of his title and banned for two years. The Darwin on Steroids trend is simply unstoppable because science has become an integral part of human evolution. At the going rate, society will one day join the Romans and hail its “gladiators” with that same famous saying, “Ave, Caesar, morituri te salutant.” Only in our case Caesar is the almighty dollar and those who are dying off are the non-steroid-using athletes.
Add comment October 5th, 2007