Let Them Eat Sports
via truthdig:
Let Them Eat Sports
Posted on Jul 26, 2012
As public sector jobs, education, health insurance and social welfare programs crumble amid the specter of economic austerity, the British government has spent more than $14 billion on preparations for the 2012 Olympic Gamesfar more than the $4 billion that was estimated a few years ago.
Prime Minister David Cameron claims the games could attract more than $20 billion to the British economy over the next four years. But experts are skeptical.
As Ned Resnikoff explains at MSNBCs Lean Forward blog, theres more to this spending on a one-time sporting event than just where the money goes. Londons workers and the non-locals who have been shipped in to run the gears that keep the games moving are being subjected to miserable working conditions.
Posted by Alexander Reed Kelly. Follow him on Twitter: @areedkelly.
Ned Resnikoff at Lean Forward:
But its not just about where the money isnt going: where it is going is just as bad, if not worse. Earlier this month, the Daily Mail reported the cleaning staff for this years Olympicsconsisting largely of students from other countrieswill be housed in what amounts to a temporary shanty town, with 10 people to a room, 25 people to a toilet, and 75 people to a shower.
Its not just Olympic employees facing shoddy labor conditions; the games have also distorted preexisting London workplace issues. For example, workers at the National Gallery art museum are preparing to strike on the first day of the Olympics, arguing that management hasnt provided them with adequate security for the expected influx of tourists. Cab drivers, too, say that preparations for the games will badly hurt their ability to do their jobs.
http://www.truthdig.com/eartotheground/item/the_cost_of_londons_olympic_games_20120726/