The horrible possibility of good news
So the London Olympics is to sport a largely privately funded artwork that is in danger of being both interesting, aesthetically pleasing, and fun. The announcement of the Anish Kapoor tower and the revelation that it will be largely paid for by the Indian steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal raises an alarming new question over the 2012 Olympics.
Is there a lurking danger that the Olympics are becoming – perish the thought – a good news story? The unveiling of Kapoor’s intriguing tower coincides with the discovery that businesses across the UK – from a concrete company in Northern Ireland to a stationery company in the Northern England, and a Scottish company handling an aquatic sports contract – are all benefiting nation-wide from the £9bn expenditure of public moneys on the London games.
Throughout the media, the award of the Olympics to London has frequently been regarded as a bad news story. Late, over budget, unnecessary, lacking legacy, and an East London white elephant – are only a few of the London Olympic headlines.
But as the Olympic site continues on budget and on time, providing an increasingly handsome phoenix rising from the blighted wastes of an area Empire deserted decades ago, a slow discovery is dawning. The awful prospect that the games may prove a rip-roaring success is beginning to look a real possibility.
But don’t worry. If the site, the staging, and the long term legacy are beginning to look dangerously close to good news, there is still the chance that we shall be able to speculate that they will prove a UK sporting failure.
What is it about the Brits that we look so hard for bad news? The ‘Britain is bust’; ‘Britain has lost the plot’, school of journalism, delivers a cascade of attitudes which reside in the goods yard of locking people up; banning eerie substances; and condemning every endeavour for public good.
I have long regarded the intrusion into public peoples’ private lives; the hysteria surrounding a tiny handful of notorious crimes; and the wholesale damnation of entire religious belief groups, as part of what lowers Britain’s belief in the decency of the people amongst whom we all live.
It’s well articulated today by the Parole Board Chief David Latham’s statement that we area ‘risk averse society’
The figures for voluntary sector participation; for the reality that UKPLC remains the sixth or seventh biggest manufacturing centre in the world; the fifth or sixth biggest economy in the world; and one of the most globally desired countries in which to live; tell a story.
It’s a story that rarely features in the mass media. So, dare we consider the possibility that the UK might be in the midst of building the best all-round Olympic operation in a generation? Don’t bet on it!
Jon Snow is now on twitter! @jonsnowC4
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There are 25 comments on this post
The media love the Olympics. However, how much better off would the rest of us be if the whole corrupt commercial circus had never come here. I am all for amateur sport, but the Olympic movement has destroyed that principal in its worship of money. Squalid
Brilliant piece jon. As an east London resident I am thoroughly looking forwards to the games.
I am also looking forwards to the day that sensationalism removes itself from journalism and commonsense returns.
It SIMPLES Uncle John, the press & TV Media you will find are the same every where it the G W Bush jr/Fox news format that started its sick intravenous drip drip when he took over the Sun, so it not a natural thing to British, the money given in the Boxing Day Tsunami proves that,
Mind you in saying that the Brit Gove subversively keeps People hankering for The Empire which is deff in the Brit Olympics, World Beware.
Nice mixture of passed and current affairs with London 2012 as its backdrop.
I sincerely hope the british show the world how important we regard an Olympic stage.
Sport is a very important activity for both body and mind, one that we the British don’t do as well in as we should.
Our children need to be taught well from an early age and that will give us, the deserved results.
The profit cashed in at the end(if there will be any) needs to be solely aimed at improving our sports education system.
adzmundo The Venus Project
I don’t want to be a killjoy adz, but there is another side to the coin. Exercise is good in moderation, however many past olympic champions have severe arthritis from an early age and other bony injuries from ‘over doing it ‘
Olympics , footabllers other sportsmen and women suffer because of the so called healthy sport.
Past Russian gymnasts have suffered from their mid twenties of crippling joint destruction, but then the general public only look at the hype and the winning in this Greek olympian Appollonisation.
Sport.. I suppose cricket is fairly safe and they are using pinko balls now, for us all to see in the floodlights.We will be able to see the twists and turns in the last over.
Something upbeat to go with the brilliant blue sky today. Thanks!!!
John I just returned from Vancouver and the place is still buzzing after the recent very successful Winter Olympics. It has lifted spirits right across Canada. I have read all the doom and gloom stories about the London Olympics and I sincerely hope all the doom merchants will be made to look foolish. I have always admired how well the Royal events are managed in London, so why not the same for the Olympics? I may be an expat but I am rooting for the UK.. Never mind the medal count – lets be positive and make it happen..
As an art lover and an Anish Kapoor art lover I love this – a wonderful living, breathing piece that people can be part of and that may be can give interest in art to people who have never had interest in it before. It may even eleviate a little the pain of the immense amount of money that was hijacked from the arts budget for the Olympics. I agree that sports is an important part of a child’s education of body and mind but the Olympics is just a commercial, glamorous money spinner that is at detriment to this. The estimates on how many fewer people will now have access to sport due to the money taken from the grassroots sports budgets is frightening – the very budgets that can provide a sporting legacy. Add to this the Arts Council contributions that were forced to double and I have to ask who infact is the Olympics helping? It is not helping the children developing interests in sports and/or arts in deprived areas of the country who no longer will have the opportunities and chances open to them to develop these because the money has been taken away for nothing more than a glamorous patriotic showcase to try and show prestige and power reminiscent of the old Empire.
I saw a picture of a mock up of the tower – it’s absolutely amazing.
I don’t like the Olympics – money mad egotism, but that’s life!
Of course we could institute an Olympic event for Tower Design which Anish Kapoor could win (I seem to remember reading, Town & Country Planning was a real event in one Olympiad – possibly, Berlin 1936?).
Jon i agree it is excellent news that the Olympics building project not only seem to be on time but also on budget.Of course overseeing it is Mayor Boris Johnson.As for our athletes and competitors not doing well we can lay that at Labours door.They like to bask in the glory of any sportsmen from this country who do well , yet they are anti competitive sports .They believe all the little potential winners are equal to the non winners so at best are only allowed to draw .I am surprised they allow the rough sports like boxing and Judo etc even to be practiced under Elf an Safety rules and Equality and Diversity
It certainly never met the original budget so we must be talking about the doubled revised budget.
mel i mean the budget Boris took over
I am sick of crime stories taking over news reports on telly. I only care if there is a serial killer loose in my neighbourhood. Well I do care, but it is not something to focus so much attention on.
Is this the same Jon who was writing about the ‘scourge of porn’ recently?
I don’t bet, even when it is safe and looking at the atheletes of past years well, we may win a few medals, but remeber UK whilst all the other nations are posturing and tightening and flexing their muscles , we must ‘be umble’
The red twisted tower looks phenomenal, but from the TV pictures could not quite make out the progress from A-B except that experience has taught me towers are for climbing, but I better tread carefully there.
Havn’t done my twenty lengths today.. I ‘ll never be fit … al well nil desperandum.. look forward to 2016
Sport is ok – if u are doing it yourself , which is good for mind and body – as is regular physical excesise – vg for all sorts of reasons . But I have no great time for the Olympics – its just a money mad commercial thing – and Nationalism usually rears its ugly head . Its better to something -, anything than watch someone else do something – and get outrageous money for it – football being a prime example . Working class people paying to see millionaires play . Also – there is the danger that a lot of Illegal chemistry is involved at the Olympics .. So IMO – best go out and DO something – walk – have a hobby or whatever – rather than watch that circus.
Jim , yes it may be a money making venture, but surely we need someone to make money for jobs in the next decade.
There are a lot of spin offs from building an olympic village, employing people, service industries etc and the bad chemical industry is more carefully monitored now than ever before and that in itself creates jobs. The olympics are comparitively benign and we are lucky to have won the rights this time around.
Yes , There may be some benifiets at the moment re building , service industry etc – but I still think that money could have been better spent on facilities for the young – indeed all to keep fit etc – but no everything is privatised – u have 2 pay for gym fees etc – they would / will put a tax on Oxygen as soon as they figure out how .Re Chemical industry – no they are not ” clean ” – as the recent Swine flu Scam illustrated . They[ chemical companies ] took in Billions of our money in virtually every country – for a vacine and a scare that never materailised – indeed was blown out of proportion from day one . Who paid for these vacinenes – we did .Also for the Olympics – it now is nearly a battle of the chemists – who can produce the best enhancers and blockers to detetection – a sort of ”chemical warfare ”than sport. Personally I think the Olympics should be scrapped – and the money saved used to get the communities involved more in their own health and healthy activities – whatever they be – eg exercise and the normal Western diet – which no self respecting farm animal would go near .
What’s the point of trying to shave a millisecond off a “record” – and how many millilitres of chemicals does it take? Why does the BBC always show a medals-total table of countries if the Olympics and Paralympics are truly just about “taking part”? Why should I give a tinker’s about any of it?
In view of the Support from Business leaders. Please explain – is National Insurance Employers not tax deductable?
ben i do not think it is but it is a tax on jobs
The business leaders support it because Sport has become a drug to keep the masses quiet – eg Football, World Cup, Olympics – . Its great -” you won the League or you won the World cup – now work harder – and forget about the 10% pay cut ”- and it works .
Jim could we get all other nations to participate in your ideas and bring wealth.
I have often thought how we may be taxed on the air we breathe but that involves large filtration systems and we have to pay for that somehow! smog days !!!!
At this stage home sports is too reductionary and we havn’t got any overseas investors who would be interested in our home economics.
When the National Lottery started up it funded arts and sporting projects all over the country.
Now it is largely funding one single project (the Olympics) in a single tiny area of the country, mainly to the benefit of some property developers. Where the wealth is being spread more widely, the usual mob of quango-sitters are grapping it. For example, in my town a £10m sports centre has been built partly with ‘Olympic’ lottery money, but not for townspeople but in a very expensive public (ie. private) school with ‘public’ access only through expensive private gym membership.
The Olympics is great news for consultants, property developers, architects, media related companies and all the other hangers on.
This makes the lottery funding of the Olympics a tax on the poorest for the benefit of the rich.
It is less good news for everyone else. That Northern Ireland cement company would sell its cement anyway, but it would be nice if it was going on something useful – like housing- rather than a bunch of useless white elephant public buildings.