Don't get me wrong, I really loved watching a great deal of the Olympic and Paralympic coverage. Like so many I prized my elderly frame from its familiar haunt, camped in front of the TV, and added my own particular decibels to the final moments of Mo Farah's incredible 10,000m triumph, at the end of a memorable night for British athletics. And then, only the blink of an eye later, seemingly during the very same uninterrupted broadcast, I marvelled to watch Johnny Peacock complete the 100m in a time that most fully-able-bodied athletes could only dream of. Amazing!
In the light of Andy Murray's even more recent achievements in the US of A, one can also assume that some of these sporting feats are already beginning to inspire higher things. "Inspire a generation," isn't that what they said?
Obviously we will want to celebrate the incredible successes of our athletes, to applaud the almost superhuman feats that have kept us enthralled for the whole summer- not forgetting the thousands of helpers who gave their time for free- and to prepare ourselves for whatever comes next.
So, ever one to appease the popular vote, let's allow that warn glow of satisfaction to nestle in the pit of our stomach for a moment, rub the glittery sleep from our eyes and, once more, awake!
Because it's also important to place such brilliance into some sort of context, and I'm not referring to "The Legacy" that's even now gearing-up in the wings, to wave its distracting arms in the air and prolong the dream; I'm referring to that other world, the one that never really went away, as much as we would have loved it so to do. Party-pooper, I may well be, but I'm writing about the bigger, realer world, the one beyond the entertaining world of sport, the one of bankers' bonuses, MPs' expenses, tabloid phone-hacking. Remember?
To take a less nationalistic view, a more cynical view if you like- something to which I have become surprisingly adept- one might even be forgiven for thinking that there are some individuals out there who have seen these sporting events as something of a convenient smokescreen, and not just a sporting spectacle. So allow me, if you will, to just wave this tea-towel about a bit, to see if we can't waft some of that smoke towards a conveniently-left-ajar window, and afford ourselves a less smoky view of the world.
It was with just such a clearer vision that I recently sought to avail myself of some of that 'Inspiration', that of which we've heard so much of late. A lifelong cricket fan, I thought I'd give the home test series against South Africa a go. Home series, please note! But, alas, no 'Inspiration' to be had there; the whole series had been packed off to Sky TV, for subscription viewing only- the kind of 'Inspiration' for which one has to pay through the nose, obviously.
Cricket's absolutely my thing, but I'll give all manner of other sports a go (football and motor'sport' obviously excluded), so why not watch 'our' number one tennis player battle his way, hopefully, towards his first Open Title; I'll settle for some of that, I consoled myself. I realise, of course, that so many of you are already well ahead here, but for those that aren't I should point out that The US Masters tennis tournament was also found to be entirely the preserve of Sky TV. Where to look for that "Inspiration" with which to motivate" a Generation", I mused.
Maybe, if you're mind-numbingly naive, you're thinking, "But, surely these deals had already been agreed and signed." If you believe this to be so- but it really isn't the case- keep your eye firmly upon next summer's cricket schedule; let's see if the much heralded 'Inspiration' outweighs the corporate interests, shall we? It was 'your' Government who chose, and chose again, not to ring-fence these 'Inspirational' sports.
Oh, and are we still selling off school playing fields to the highest commercial interests, Mr Gove? Just a passing thought.
And, should you lull yourself into thinking, "Well, I suppose, when all is said and done, it's only a few sports," you'd be oh so alarmingly wrong. Permit me please, to draw your attention away from the now pending Olympic Legacy, and back towards the rather more pressing concerns of 'our' NHS. Let's just take a quick glance at what's been happening there, whilst we've been asleep, shall we?
Should you be a tad less healthy, a tad less privately-health-covered than so many of 'our' athletes, you might just have wondered exactly when it was that your GP 'seamlessly' slipped into the accountant's chair. You might have wondered, or worried passionately, about your GP's or Consultant's growing concern for the cost of your much-needed medicine or operation, the alarming drift towards the, "Let's just keep an eye on things for a while, shall we?" approach. Is your GP, like mine, tending to adopt a somewhat more cost-conscious attitude towards your ailments? Ever wondered who your GP is ultimately far more answerable to, than his or her patients?
Purely in the interests of retaining an even-handed approach to this crisis, it would be grossly unfair to brand all doctors as having slipped easily, and without protest, into this role. I can't even offer any support for the sort of contention that most have. I'm sure, as with many of 'our' deteriorating 'services' that there are many, within the NHS, fighting the valiant fight, either covertly or, more brazenly, really sticking their necks out for a cause that is right and just. But, on the other hand, experience and circumstance has certainly introduced me to more than a smattering of those who aren't.
Thanks to Misters Blair, Brown, Major and Cameron and their respective bods, quite regardless of who might have been pulling the strings, 'our' NHS is now over £300,000,000,000 in debt to private interests, through that 'wonderful' scheme, the Private Finance Initiative, whereby disingenuous private companies heavily invest in the NHS, in order to recoup a life-long profit from the British taxpayer. Never has the short hop from scheme to scheming been made more simple. Let's not forget that Blair is now one of the world's richest individuals and that Brown, Major (this is where it all started, back in 1992) and Cameron are all unlikely to ever become paupers. I think it would be more than safe to assume that they all recognise(d) that private companies were always going to place profits and shareholders before other considerations. And that is, effectively, what you, dear reader, have become, 'an other consideration'. Naturally, in this instance, there's been a great deal less emphasis upon the actual consideration.
So, 'While You Were Sleeping' Private Finance Initiatives have stealthily, and with the aid of consecutive UK PMs, managed to almost completely hijack 'our' NHS. And, if you, for one more sleepy moment, might have thought that this is where the damage might stop, just take a peek at who's now been entrusted with the NHS. If you somehow managed to conspire to miss the end of the BSkyB-Leveson enquiry, you're almost certainly wondering why JC isn't currently serving some sort of prison sentence, instead of being 'entrusted' with having a bit of a play with 'our' NHS.
There are currently 118 PFI-National Health Service 'contracts' crippling what remains of 'our' NHS. If your NHS 'Trust', being one such victim, finally collapses under the huge burden of debt that PFI has thrust upon it, you'll find it very little consolation to know that it won't have been the first. And should your MP choose to deflect your just indignation with disingenuous claims of "unprecedented or unforeseen circumstances" you might wonder why the lying so-and-so never saw fit to more publicly question the liberal cloaking of all of these deals, behind 'commercial confidentiality' clauses.
Seeking to 'save' 'your' NHS with 'much-needed' private funds, but always behind permanently closed and locked doors; all in 'your' interests, you understand. Somewhere in that contract, that 'commercially confidential' contract, you can assure yourself that the private investor will have been safeguarded. Phew, so at least the private investors and their shareholders won't be losing out, care of you, the taxpayer.
And finally, the absolute highlight of either Olympic spectacle? For me, it simply had to be when George Osborne was booed at the Paralympics Medal Ceremony. It wasn't disrespectful to the athletes or the organisers, as some public spin-doctor wrote; it was far more the slightly reassuring sign that, despite all of those locked doors, all of that dizzying spin, all of those mirrors, all of that smoke, there were still many in the crowds who still saw Osborne for what he will forever remain.
Common decency prevents me from further elaboration.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment