As the start date of the 2012 Olympics draws near, I cannot help but look at the money that was spent and is being spent by the government and shudder.
The state of the English economy is appalling. Along with every other country in the world England is struggling to meet it’s financial obligations. Daily we are treated to more ‘knee jerk’ solutions to our financial dilemma.
Pension ages have been raised along with the workers contribution, while the payable pensions are being reduced. Cutbacks, pay freezes, job redundancies, businesses going broke, public sector jobs being farmed out to companies who then hire workers at slave wages. I could go on and on about the financial horrors that the great English public are facing on an daily basis, but I think I’ve made my point.
In eleven days time the 2012 Olympic games will officially commence. The amount of money that the government has spent on this ‘event’ is in the billions. I have no idea how much has been spent on advertising the games or how much has been set aside to ‘fund’ the torch relay that will culminate in the opening of the games. You can bet the bill is massive.
Television advertisements are being shown as often as possible to evoke some sort of national pride in the games. With special emphasis being placed on the Paralympics and local news relaying the relay of the Olympic torch‘s progress. The British public is being inundated with coverage of the games before they’ve even started.
But no one is asking the question, “Can we really afford to be supporting this?” This multi-billion pound ‘business’ venture that may or may not even pay for itself? The organisers can’t even afford to provide adequate security for the Olympic venue. G4S cannot come up with the physical numbers required so it has been decided that the military will have to help.
The same military that, like other ‘governmental employees’, is having it’s numbers cut-back to the bone and is already massively over-tasked.
I feel as though the British government is suffering from a huge amount of tunnel vision concerning the games and their possible net profit benefits to English coffers.
The emphasis on the spectacle of the games has a “whistling through the graveyard” feel to it. Even worse is the knowledge that while the British economy is burning to ash and rubble, the government, just like Nero, are madly playing their fiddles while more jobs, lives, and businesses go up in smoke.
Related articles
- London 2012: Olympic officials to police banned advertising (telegraph.co.uk)
- Local Olympic security snafu downplayed (bazaardaily.com)
- London 2012 Olympics: G4S chief Nick Buckles reveals disaster (telegraph.co.uk)
- Olympic Torch flies to channel islands (itv.com)
- Queen greets Olympic torch at Windsor Castle (utsandiego.com)
- Poll: Will London 2012 Have An Olympic-Sized Impact On Your Business? (techweekeurope.co.uk)
- London’s Olympic security under renewed scrutiny (sfgate.com)
- Olympic shame: Cambodian workers paid just $15 a week to make Adidas’ 2012 Games ‘fanwear’ (investmentwatchblog.com)
- London 2012: Olympic officials to police banned advertising (telegraph.co.uk)
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