London Games 2012. Its almost upons us and the great British public are all behind this Olympics. We shall all be glued to our fabulous new 3D giant screens, bought for the event and waving our little Union Jack flags (pack of ten for a fiver in major supermarkets) with smug patriotic smiles carved into every jolly face. Brittania rules the waves! God bless the Queen guv'nor, we are British innit?
Now call me cynical but
Dai Jakes isn't easily fooled so off I went to collect the thoughts of the public. And because its far too nice weather to go walking the streets with a microphone, annoying shoppers and dodging 11am drunks, I decided to trawl the comments sections of online newspapers and forums. So, is the UK really backing the 2012 games? See for yourself.
"I for one will not be watching
OUR TAX money going up in smoke just for the hoi polloi to enjoy while we are saturated with this debacle most of us did not want or need."
"I'll tell you what's in it for me. A 1 hour traffic jam before 6am becuase some bright spark wants to close roads when no Olympic traffic actually needs them."
"So far out of all the Olympics hype there has been little discussion about the athletes themselves. Is it me or has it all got a bit too commercial and going the same direction as Christmas."
"No wonder the taxman is squeezing us,god knows how much money will go up in smoke that could help the soldier heroes pensions."
"Ive seen part of the opening ceremony. Against the technical brilliance of the Chinese Olympic ceremony Its predictably embarrassing and most of the world outside Britain won't get it. Laser shows are so 80's and mexican waves as cheesy as they come. Farm animals, London buses, a cricket team, lots of fake rain and manufactured music topped off with the usual generic fireworks. So where did £240m go?"
Are we all feeling the love yet? No? Okay continue.
"I predict for most the Olympic legacy will be the £5 ice cream,the £10 pint of beer and the £5 cup of tea,and a hike in their rent if they live in London. In other words nothing but financial woes.
Not all doom and gloom,because those with their noses in the trough, see the games as a wonderful opportunity to do some profiteering."
"Benefit from the games? Maybe if you come from a shite hole in Africa, I can see that my cat's litter box would be a step up. However, for us that see this whole sham as nothing more than a vehicle for the rich and greedy to get even more obscenely richer, you will have to excuse my lack of enthusiasm."
"Well they won't improve my life unless they improve the accessibility of sport to me (which I very much doubt). Having McDonalds as sponsers shows how much the people running the olympics care about other people's health."
"What a load of rubbish this Olympic farce has become. Looking at the London Olympics in 1948 compared to this joke is embarrassing; I dread to think what will be conjured up for the opening ceremony. The sooner this circus is over the better."
"The Olympics are a disgusting sham - a pathetic attempt by the government to get us to ignore the biting social and economic problems in the UK, not to mention a prime opportunity for Tory cronies and mega-corps to rake in obscene profits at the expense of the taxpayer.
Don't forget the rampant drug cheating in practically every Olympic sport and the way ordinary small businesses and local residents have been banned from using specific terms like "London", "Summer" and "2012" in their advertising. Also, we were all English during the World Cup - now suddenly we're all a part of Team GB?"
"The Olympics have already been hijacked, by the IOC & Locog plutocrats, by McDonalds, Coca Cola and other supersizing junk food parasites and by the Westminster autocrats and their stormtroopers in Whitehall.
Londoners and those living in London have been advised to stay at home, not to use public transport or in any way get in the way of the Olympic plutocrats being whisked round the city on public roads closed to the public.
For several weeks the sovereignty of the UK and the freedom of
Londoners has been surrendered to the government securocrats, the Olympic nabobs and to the general circus economics of staging this event. It compromises the ability of people in London to do their job and earn a living,
it tramples on the freedoms of ordinary people, it is accountable
to nobody outside the Olympic plutocracy and gives free reign to the games branding police now roaming our streets and bullying our businesses.
London is now at the mercy of alien commercial interests, kudos for the political classes and the hysterical phony patriotism."
