27/07/2024
As I caught a few moments of the Olympics last night, I remind myself how grateful I am to the folks at No Boston Olympics ... described by then Mayor Marty Walsh as "10 people on Twitter", who displayed the power of activism, by ending the prospect of a 2024 Boston Olympics.
The Olympic Games have devolved into a display of taxpayer financed crass consumerism, masking a deep level of corporate welfare, often acting as display of nationalism ... funded by the citizens of broken economies ... whose government masters seek to promote for their own craven interests.
Billions are spent, for facilities that will have little impact on the lives of ordinary folks. The Games themselves are often preceded by a suspension of civil liberties, forced resettlement of marginalized populations, and large-scale disruption to small businesses.
Those same "ordinary folks" will, in actuality, have little contact with the Games themselves ... instead force fed the jingoistic fueled athletics via the television ... all the while subjected to endless advertising backed by 'Murican Flags ... patriotic chants ... and pleas to buy the latest Value Meal.
as Rudy Cheeks might say, Sleep tite, 'Murica.
The collapse of Boston's Olympic effort highlights fundamental problems in the bidding process that could continue to plague cities that want to host.