SamuelRSmith on 27 July 2012
I wanted to discuss the Olympics from an angle of people's views on it, outside of the sporting aspect (I didn't want to disrupt the thread in the Sports section).
As many people here would have guessed, there are many angles about the Olympics that I don't like. Now, I've got breakfast coming up, so I'm going to just bullet point some of my views, which range from the Olympics in general, to the specifics of the London Olympics.
- It's turned the competition of the world's best athletes into a nationalistic stomping ground. Achievements are not considered personal, but are attributed to nations, as a whole. As if I've had anything to do with anybody who wins a medal. I haven't, and I don't deserve any credit for it.
- It's become a celebration of pomp-and-circumstance. The over-engineered stadiums, press chambers, opening ceremonies, and the rest of it, really take away from the core of what the Olympics are about. Great athletism. In a way, this is similar to my first point, as much of it comes from hosting countries trying to outdo each other.
- The rights of the locals are usually trampled on. Look at at crackdowns in Beijing and London.
- The massive cost, particularly bad for London considering the debt crisis.
- The fact that our Government will happily supply tens of thousands of troops, at huge expense, armed to the teeth with the weapons to protect a sports arena when the police couldn't even protect our businesses in the London riots.
- The fact that the Olympics are happening in the economic centre of the country. People who are literally creating billions in wealth are going to have to face closed roads, even busier transportation, and the rest. I'm sure the City is going to see much larger-than-average employee absense or lateness during the next one and a half months.
Anyway, there's more, but I gotta go, what are your views?
