Defending the Olympics = Defending The Wealthy, Greedy Few
- Me: Typical. A report fearing the financial worst and everyone starts kicking off about the Games being a waste of money. If I'm not mistaken, the majority of the people that loved the spectacle of the Beijing Olympiad are the same ones moaning about our hosting it. Shocking, really. I still think the Games being hosted here for the third time in Olympic Games history is a marked achievement and I still hope the games will produce memorable moments of sporting greatness that will be discussed for generations. What I will NOT deny is the amount of corporate & political greed that people can't seem to sandbox from the event itself. Look at the state of football. FIFA's constant pandering to it's corporate cronies has effectively corrupted a wonderful game on an administrative level... but does that stop people from loving the sport itself? No, it does not. So why then must the London Olympiad be used as a proverbial piñata because of certain companies and politicians' insatiable greed? Why should an inspiring, [potentially] beautiful event be marred by a movement that has affected just about every sport from football to american football? Why should the London Games be singled out? In short: leave the event alone and place the blame where it lies.
- MaxiMum: Many of us have been warning for a long time about how the Olympics are a big, expensive propaganda exercise which ever country they are held in. The fact that you have only just decided to open up your ears and listen to those warnings very late in the day, is not our fault. And thanks for pointing out that sport in general but football in particular, has been hijacked by a wealthy few. Many of us who are also sport lovers have been making similar warnings about it - that doesn't mean we hate sport, just because we worry about how greed is destroying sport in this country and around the world.
- Me: Like I said before: we have to address the issue where it lies. It doesn't lie with the countless thousands of athletes that have worked hard to participate in the Games. It doesn't lie with the countless billions of spectators that look forward to sporting events like the Games every four years, much less to the millions of Britons that are very much enthusiastic and proud to host such a wonderful event in our capital. Again, I reiterate: I do not make excuses for how the insatiable greed of the wealthy few are ruining events like these for working class many. My only interest is to preserve whatever seemingly little amount of positivity that these Games bring. The Games should not be made the scapegoat when these greedy so-and-so's will continue to try and profit off of everything that we like to enjoy... not just sport, but music & art festivals, free services on the Internet and much much more. They see opportunity where we see escape. So be it. We will fight them on it... but I would never allow the political ramifications to ruin the fun and crush the dreams of so many. That said, I heard all the grumblings from the very beginning. The greed problem still remains and will remain until something is done about it. Until then, leave the athletes and the supporters of the Games alone.
- MaxiMum: No one has said anything about blaming the athletes or spectators/supporters, so where on earth you get that from is beyond me.
- Me: I never said anyone was blaming the athletes and spectators/supporters. With all due respect, I think you're missing my point. What I said was: the greed on the part of corporate and political factions are a problem separate from the event itself. I find it somewhat asinine that some Britons look at the Games being 'a waste of money' because we're hosting it but envy the amount of prestige and notoriety that other cities/countries attain (Beijing, for example) from hosting the Games. I've looked through comments before commenting and the general consensus seems to be that we shouldn't have put the event on in the first place and/or we should've given up the right to host it a long time ago. The majority of postings are so negative, it's like there aren't any positives to come from this. That's flat out inaccurate. The spirit of the Games has been associated with that of a litter of fat-cats looking to rub themselves down with the gargantuan profits made from extorting the supporters/spectators. That isn't right, either. That was my point.
- MaxiMum: What people have been pointing out is the cost that the Olympics is causing this country when thousands of families and individuals many of whom are sick, disabled or elderly are facing are living in or facing poverty. Do you really expect people to care about a few gold medals when they are struggling to pay the rent/mortgage/bills and to feed and clothe themselves and/or their families? The Olympics is an expensive irrelevance to the vast majority of people in this country and rightly so when you consider the fact that ALL OF US have been the victims of grand larceny by the super wealthy for more than 30 years. So please, by all means enjoy the games but do not expect everyone else to feel the same way as you do when they are told that caring for the sick, disabled and elderly are too expensive but at the same time this government is wasting BILLIONS OF TAXPAYERS MONEY just for the sake of winning a few gold medals.
- Me: I see where you're coming from but that sentiment right there is what I'm talking about: Expensive? Yes. Irrelevant? To some, maybe but that's a matter of opinion. The Olympics have nothing - repeat - nothing to do with the heinous actions of super wealthy factions and the MPs that create in-roads for them to continue amassing such a wealth. The Olympics have nothing to do with the global economic downturn. The Olympics have nothing to do with the general incompetence of the world's leaders. The Olympics have nothing to do with things being expensive. Cost of living was already high and steadily rising well before we won the bid and as I pointed out before: it will continue if the real problems are not addressed. I do not accept that the Olympics are not part of the problem. It can be argued that an event like the Olympics are a distraction but that is down to perception and the opinions formulated from said perception. I'm not trying to diminish or make light of the plight we all face respectfully and collectively but surely [at the very least], we could use events like these to build some much needed morale. And it's not just the gold medals. Believe me, if it weren't for the Olympic bid, East London would've never gotten the regeneration it so desperately needed. That is invaluable in itself. It just seems to me that a vast majority of people look situations like these with dark-coloured glasses on. How can you possibly appreciate the positives if you focus solely on the negatives?
- MaxiMum: No, you don't understand at all. Apologists for greed, wealth and power rarely do.