Tuesday 17 April 2012

Olympic losers

As a citizen of the uk i am meant to be proud that our country is hosting the Olympics, im told i should be it is after all a big event....but im not, the whole debacle is leaving me with a bad taste in my mouth.  ok im not a sports fan but thats not it, its the amount of money that is being poured into it that doesnt sit right with me...not when our country like many others is in a financial crisis..it begs the question who is paying for the olympics and who is most likely to gain.

The cost has so far exceeeded what was intially thought but that was to be expected so we are told, so taxpayers in london have had their council tax increased to 'help' fund what they are told will be benefical to them! really beneficial how?  oh yes of course when the olympics is over there will be a new 500 acre urban park for the community...as my aunt (who lives in London) sarcastically (yes it runs in the family) said she may well end up living in the said park in a tent with her husband and kids because the increases in taxes and the cost of just living are more than what her family can cope with and they were living on the breadline before....and thats just one example im sure there are many, many more.

I concede that no one can predict how much exactly the olympic games will cost to host but if we look at past hosting cities they tend to always run over budget and in many cases make a loss...and whats it all for oh yes the prestige of hosting the olympics im sure thats great comfort to the many that are struggling to put food on the table.

It sickens me that all this money and its billions is being spent on sport, yet schools are sufferring, i go into work yesterday to be told that one of the children whom i work one on one with has had funding withdrawn..the reason? there is no money in the pot to pay for it, so this child who really needs it will now get lost in the system and the probable outcome is they will fall behind and once you start slipping its that much harder to catch back up....and there are going to be further cuts.

So as a uk citizen what exactly have i got to be proud of? that we spend billions on sport but we have thousands millions even of families struggling to keep a roof over their heads, to eat...to live a reasonable life.

The only ones who will truely benefit is those at the top of the food chain, (the very rich folks)...i suppose its always been that way and more than likely always will be...history does have a tendencey to repeat itself.

4 comments:

  1. Doesn't it also give a boost to the area that hosts it? It would seem that hotels wil be booked and might have to hire extra people...Restaurants and points of interest..

    Not to mention all the people who make money making tee shirts and other Olympic related stuff...

    Of course it all also brings a lot of traffic and tourists...

    Hugs,
    mouse

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi mouse

    Yes absolutley the tourism industry should get a huge boost and no doubt there will be plenty of extra jobs.

    what my gripe is that our country is 'apparently' struggling financially, having just had our last yearly budget the cuts that are being made are having a huge impact on the everyday person.

    Our country is in a mess and i struggle to see how the cost of hosting the olympics is justified in the long term...looking at past hosting cities the olympics is the white elephant in the room.

    Watching the news here last night the taxpayers are paying around £250,0000 a day to just protect olympic venues, i think that money could be better spent elsewhere.

    tori x

    ReplyDelete
  3. Oh yeah!! Totally understand. San Francisco has applied for the Olympics, we all said at that time we'd leave town...lol. Thankfully London beat them (haha). Gosh that was talked about before mouse left California.

    Isn't that another issue...they apply and are awarded cities years before...yanno? It must be hard to predict economic downturns. And anyway, the pressure must be really on because Bejing did such an amazing job (of course at the expense of their people).

    Of course mouse wouldn't care if they never held another one...isn't that terrible. Sure mouse will watch the opening ceremonies...but Omega is a total fanatic and watches everything!!

    Really was hoping that we'd be away for it...but as luck would have it...or by design, it begins after we return...

    Hugs,
    mouse

    ReplyDelete
  4. Im not a sports fan either mouse, nor is he well apart from rugby,my son is though so i shall probably sit through the opening ceremony but thats about it...i have never watched one come to that.

    tori x

    ReplyDelete