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The Olympic legacy is that it proved public funding works The Olympic legacy is that it proved public funding works
(2 months later)
Welcome to the Britain that actually learned from the best of the Olympics. You take a day off work to potter around your community allotment, paid for by a national public health fund. Next week you fancy another day off to take an interesting elderly person who attends the same GP surgery as you for tea. They talk in fascinating detail about how grim things were before the NHS. After that, maybe a day building a garden at the local school, or helping to set up a publicly funded community green energy scheme. At the end of the month you'll have a big party with everyone else doing similar things, then start all over again. Better still, your employer cheers you on, the national press treats you like a hero and the prime minister lauds the example you have set.Welcome to the Britain that actually learned from the best of the Olympics. You take a day off work to potter around your community allotment, paid for by a national public health fund. Next week you fancy another day off to take an interesting elderly person who attends the same GP surgery as you for tea. They talk in fascinating detail about how grim things were before the NHS. After that, maybe a day building a garden at the local school, or helping to set up a publicly funded community green energy scheme. At the end of the month you'll have a big party with everyone else doing similar things, then start all over again. Better still, your employer cheers you on, the national press treats you like a hero and the prime minister lauds the example you have set.
You're a Games Maker who never gave up. You're living in a nation that stumbled on an extraordinary idea – that instead of chaining ourselves to desks, working ever longer and throwing ourselves on the mercy of the markets, there is another way. A new book, London 2012: How Was It For Us? argues it could be like this for everyone – a publicly funded good time: working less, getting to know complete strangers, feeling better about life and watching the economic and social benefits flow.You're a Games Maker who never gave up. You're living in a nation that stumbled on an extraordinary idea – that instead of chaining ourselves to desks, working ever longer and throwing ourselves on the mercy of the markets, there is another way. A new book, London 2012: How Was It For Us? argues it could be like this for everyone – a publicly funded good time: working less, getting to know complete strangers, feeling better about life and watching the economic and social benefits flow.
David Cameron and George Osborne would be horrified if the idea crept out because it directly contradicts government moralising on austerity and the primacy of the private sector. Yet it's a lesson we can all draw from, and holds the simple logic of acknowledging the positive impact of the Olympics that the coalition is claiming credit for.David Cameron and George Osborne would be horrified if the idea crept out because it directly contradicts government moralising on austerity and the primacy of the private sector. Yet it's a lesson we can all draw from, and holds the simple logic of acknowledging the positive impact of the Olympics that the coalition is claiming credit for.
Nearly £10bn in trade and investment came our way as a result of hosting the Olympics, they say. Given that the Olympics was over 90% publicly funded, it must be a clear triumph of the stimulus that public spending can generate.Nearly £10bn in trade and investment came our way as a result of hosting the Olympics, they say. Given that the Olympics was over 90% publicly funded, it must be a clear triumph of the stimulus that public spending can generate.
But that's inconvenient, because the government insists the opposite. Cuts to public investment, we're told, are necessary and inevitable. Cameron says that "all available policy levers" should be used to make it easier for the private sector to "create a new economic dynamism".But that's inconvenient, because the government insists the opposite. Cuts to public investment, we're told, are necessary and inevitable. Cameron says that "all available policy levers" should be used to make it easier for the private sector to "create a new economic dynamism".
Meanwhile, Osborne positions the public sector as an enemy that "crowds out" private enterprise. Sebastian Coe even declared himself, in the Guardian, unsure as to whether he believed in the role of government at all – at least until the interviewer pointed out that without the government, London 2012 would never have happened.Meanwhile, Osborne positions the public sector as an enemy that "crowds out" private enterprise. Sebastian Coe even declared himself, in the Guardian, unsure as to whether he believed in the role of government at all – at least until the interviewer pointed out that without the government, London 2012 would never have happened.
Such strangely schizophrenic attitudes could result from common misapprehensions about the financing of the event. Corporate sponsorship grew like ivy over it and special privileges were showered like confetti on to sponsors, so that their role seemed central. But in fact all the heavy lifting was public, in terms of direct funding and volunteer staffing. Only about 6% of funds actually came from corporations.Such strangely schizophrenic attitudes could result from common misapprehensions about the financing of the event. Corporate sponsorship grew like ivy over it and special privileges were showered like confetti on to sponsors, so that their role seemed central. But in fact all the heavy lifting was public, in terms of direct funding and volunteer staffing. Only about 6% of funds actually came from corporations.
There were many things wrong about the event in general. For one thing, it was in the wrong place: other parts of the country needed it far more. And pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline wins a medal for sheer brazenness. Just two weeks after being found guilty of promoting antidepressants for unapproved uses, including treatment of children, they promoted their supplying of anti-doping kits to the Olympics with the slogan, "the crowd is my only drug". Survivors of the Bhopal chemical disaster protested at sponsorship from Dow Chemical, and there was the full-blown irony of fossil fuel giant BP being s sustainability partner for the event.There were many things wrong about the event in general. For one thing, it was in the wrong place: other parts of the country needed it far more. And pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline wins a medal for sheer brazenness. Just two weeks after being found guilty of promoting antidepressants for unapproved uses, including treatment of children, they promoted their supplying of anti-doping kits to the Olympics with the slogan, "the crowd is my only drug". Survivors of the Bhopal chemical disaster protested at sponsorship from Dow Chemical, and there was the full-blown irony of fossil fuel giant BP being s sustainability partner for the event.
But nothing should disguise some vital revelations about ourselves and what a dynamic public sphere, widely defined, can achieve. About how our economic options are much broader than we are led to believe.But nothing should disguise some vital revelations about ourselves and what a dynamic public sphere, widely defined, can achieve. About how our economic options are much broader than we are led to believe.
What did the Games show that is truly great about Britain? Danny Boyle's opening ceremony celebrated campaigns for social justice, the collective provision of society's basic needs, literature, music, comedy and the open domain of the worldwide web. These were triumphs largely of the public sphere and collective endeavour, not of the self-interested market. They demonstrate what a truly big society can do when liberated from a narrow economic doctrine.What did the Games show that is truly great about Britain? Danny Boyle's opening ceremony celebrated campaigns for social justice, the collective provision of society's basic needs, literature, music, comedy and the open domain of the worldwide web. These were triumphs largely of the public sphere and collective endeavour, not of the self-interested market. They demonstrate what a truly big society can do when liberated from a narrow economic doctrine.
Beyond basic needs being met, at the heart of our quality of life are the so-called "five ways to well-being": connecting with people around us, being active, taking notice of the world, continual learning and giving. One explanation for the national high was that the Olympics created ample opportunities for all of these. It also interrupted our routines, reminding us that we are gregarious beings who like to party, something that some other cultures can be better at remembering.Beyond basic needs being met, at the heart of our quality of life are the so-called "five ways to well-being": connecting with people around us, being active, taking notice of the world, continual learning and giving. One explanation for the national high was that the Olympics created ample opportunities for all of these. It also interrupted our routines, reminding us that we are gregarious beings who like to party, something that some other cultures can be better at remembering.
Philosopher Mark Rowlands, author of Running with the Pack, asks whether, if there was a pill that provided for all our needs, we would just take it and sit in a chair, satisfied. He thinks not, and views humanity as a maker and player of games for the sake of it.Philosopher Mark Rowlands, author of Running with the Pack, asks whether, if there was a pill that provided for all our needs, we would just take it and sit in a chair, satisfied. He thinks not, and views humanity as a maker and player of games for the sake of it.
Economics today is preached much like Christianity once was. We're meant to endure and forego in the present for some infinitely deferred later promise. It's an analogy for a mistake that Rowlands sees in attitudes to human development: "We think of childhood as a time of preparation for the important part of life that comes later," he writes. "I suspect this gets things the wrong way around … Children know that what's worth doing in life is worth doing for its own sake. And everything else is merely unfortunate."Economics today is preached much like Christianity once was. We're meant to endure and forego in the present for some infinitely deferred later promise. It's an analogy for a mistake that Rowlands sees in attitudes to human development: "We think of childhood as a time of preparation for the important part of life that comes later," he writes. "I suspect this gets things the wrong way around … Children know that what's worth doing in life is worth doing for its own sake. And everything else is merely unfortunate."
As the politicians polish their reputations with people's memories of London 2012, others might remember clouds of dogma parting briefly to reveal the possibility of a very different, more fortunate Britain. We should take note while the sun shines.As the politicians polish their reputations with people's memories of London 2012, others might remember clouds of dogma parting briefly to reveal the possibility of a very different, more fortunate Britain. We should take note while the sun shines.
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