2010 Games and its Protesters

[Cdn_Brdr]

Check out my new blog post...

The 2010 Olympics and its Protesters CanadianBoarder's Blog

I'm trying to get a decent blog/following going so check it out.
Feel free to leave your comments too. I'm definitely up for the debate!

[NinjaBoy]

I interviewed protesters at the unveiling of the Olympic clock a while back.

I'd say 95% of the people I talked to were protesting simply to protest. They had no clear goals, no alternative ideas. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

During the speech one of them managed to get the mic. He screamed "Fuck the Olympics!" but I guess the police took some time to get there. He had about 30 seconds as the cops slowly walked towards the stage, using this time he gave us a rousing speech that reached out to everyone.

"The olympics fucking suck!"

When talking to them, that's basically what I got. Or the over simplified "feed the poor!". When I asked them about their thoughts on the infrastructure being set up and possible benefits to the city, the response I got was "It's bullshit, feed the poor!" Keep in mind I was someone from the media, with a mic recording them. A few had good ideas, and clear solutions they wanted done, but they were generally the people off the the side politely protesting. The loud annoying 20 somethings were pretty much useless.

While not every aspect of the games is great, and the spending and organization needs help, yelling "feed the poor" and screaming jibberish isn't the best option.

As a side note, the APC is pretty much the most useless group in Vancouver, and pretty much only exists so their members can be jerks and get in the newspaper. Seriously, has anyone gone to their web page? There isn't a single thing there about benefiting people. 5 of their posts are about "fucking shit up" (Direct quote), and the rest are about parties.

They have one fundraiser, an art show, where all proceeds go to the artist. It's the smallest post on their web page.

I agree with your blog 110%

[ebbomega]

While I agree with a fair amount of the point of your post, I also see the protester's side of it. Mainly that there has been drastic cuts in certain social programs to accomodate for the olympics. All the buildings they were hoping to use for cheap housing in the downtown core have been upgraded in a hope to make the DTES more palatable to the oncoming hordes. But what's happened is honestly quite the opposite. Hastings Street has moved from being a street with seedy hotels and junkies in the corners, to businessfronts that are littered with bazaar-like merchants - mostly dealing in dumpster-diving relics and hot wares. Gastown's streets are getting more and more filled with junkies and homeless people, and the only fix we're hearing from the local government is to ship them off to Mission to hide them from the cameras.

The government should have seen these problems coming years ago, and done something to prevent it from being as large a scale problem as it has been. Now, as a direct result, you're going to be seeing a fair amount of civil disobedience in retaliation. And the taxpayers have to foot the bill - security costs have gone up nearly 10 times as high as initially projected. And if they want to crack down on protests, well good luck. Vancouver doesn't exactly have a history of reacting well whilst trying to be silenced (See: APEC @ UBC)

While my sympathy for the protesters is limited, I personally think the VANOC is every bit as much to blame for them.

[miss.myra]

oh boy, I'm not exactly unbiased or neutral on this issue..so I'll leave it at this: one thing protesters can agree on is that they are NOT against sport which is the ENTIRE point of the olympic games. They need to focus their energy and passion in the right places. They need to hold the politicans accountable for the decisions they make in terms of where they allocate their budgets. Politicians are elected officials (meaning HIRED by the people) and are responsible for the decisions of where the money goes, NOT athletes.

Also, I remember not too long ago Vancouver had a reputation as a 'no fun city'..and now that this high profile event is gracing our town with TONS of perks for locals like free entertainment (concerts with actual decent artists), 24 hour transit, grouse open 24 hours, etc. it sounds like Vancouver will actually be a pretty fun place to be...but all some people can do in spite of all of that is complain. I realize commuting and other things can be a bit inconvenient for two weeks, but this is the sort of thing that will leave its mark on the city for a long long time.

The sad part is, Sean isn't the only one noticing this trend...here's a Sports Illustrated story that talks about the dreary attitudes of Vancouverites approaching the games:

As Olympics near, people in Vancouver are dreading Games - Dave Zirin - SI.com

[Cdn_Brdr]

I agree with you 100% Dave. My real point here is that the avenue with which these protesters approach their issues is the wrong one. Forget about the punk kids causing trouble at protests and let's focus on the educated protester. They should know that ruining an event like this is not going to garner them anything but negativity. In the long run it would seem like they're doing their issue a disservice.

In my eyes if they focused their attention in a more appropriate direction they might actually get a little bit more back up from the general public.

Like Myra said... hold our elected officials accountable for their actions (or in-actions as it might be) but don't hold it over everyone else. Take your doom and gloom cloud and rain on somebody else's parade thanks.

[shogun rua]

You'd think with all the money spent on infrastructure and pagentry and all that other bullshit they could at least build an electric fence to keep the homeless people out of downtown during the games.

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by Cdn_Brdr

Forget about the punk kids causing trouble at protests and let's focus on the educated protester.

I think my point is that the vast majority of the people involved in these protests are the punk kids causing trouble.

[dj_soo]

Originally Posted by Cdn_Brdr

I agree with you 100% Dave. My real point here is that the avenue with which these protesters approach their issues is the wrong one. Forget about the punk kids causing trouble at protests and let's focus on the educated protester. They should know that ruining an event like this is not going to garner them anything but negativity. In the long run it would seem like they're doing their issue a disservice.

In my eyes if they focused their attention in a more appropriate direction they might actually get a little bit more back up from the general public.

Like Myra said... hold our elected officials accountable for their actions (or in-actions as it might be) but don't hold it over everyone else. Take your doom and gloom cloud and rain on somebody else's parade thanks.

i'm curious to see what you think "appropriate direction" is actually supposed to be? Sure the punk kids are doing everyone a disservice, but the educated protesters are not vandalizing property or causing a ruckus. They are exercising their right to protest and attempting to highlight some of the many, many, problems that result from the olympics and are also attempting to highlight some of the many problems that are already existing in the city prior to blowing a few billion dollars on a 2 week party.

add to that the simple fact that everything is costing far more than everyone was promised (although why that's a surprise to anyone is beyond me), it leads to an air of dissatisfaction that, although Vanoc would love to simply sweep it under the rug, people have the right to voice that dissatisfaction publicly.

I wonder if the homeless will be sent to kelowna for 2 weeks or simply thrown in jail for being poor. I believe that's what they did in Georgia...

[ebbomega]

It's not so much that the overruns are a surprise, but more that the overruns are somewhere around 10+ times as much as they had originally impressed. It's like, okay, if it were over budget that'd be one thing, but this is turning out to be something we outright can't afford, and we should never have pretended we could in the first place.

[stephen_c]

10x ???

[ebbomega]

Eh, can't find the article I was reading, so I may have been off. 5x is more realistic.

[ebbomega]

Actually, according to the Guardian, 10x sounds about right

Originally $660m budget, now looking to be $6bil.

[stephen_c]

found the sun article

Olympics bill tops $6 billion ? so far

... had no idea it's that much.





they have the same problem in london.

with 2 yrs to go, it's now ballooned to £12 billion (21 billion cad)

[fritz]

hopefully the closing ceremony involves some combination of a) the olympic torch and b) 5.5 billion in loose bills

Last I checked it was 6 billion, however the city does predict that 1 billion should be made back... so more like burning 5 billion. At least were burning it on sport and not military :D

[kir mokum]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoy

I'd say 95% of the people I talked to were protesting simply to protest. They had no clear goals, no alternative ideas. It just seemed like the right thing to do.

you pretty much described every grouping of people ever in the history of people grouping themselves together. at least they're bringing attention to the bullshit that is the olympics (not just the vancouver games). the whole thing is clearly a scam and i think the olympics here is going to bring a lot more awareness to that and diminish it's value to it's sponsors and to the bidding cities from now on.


cnd brdr:

i've noticed that people in vancouver have a tendency of protesting against protests, rebelling against rebellions, being counter to counterculture and a lot of the time it seems to me to be the same as you've just described. basically being done for the sake of being different. while i think its beneficial to critique the protesters, taking a side because you don't like it's perceived opposite isn't particularly well thought out. nor is lumping people who oppose the games under the derisive title of "hippy-dippy". to me your blog reads like you don't like the aesthetics of the protesters while at the same time trying to justify to yourself your want to enjoy the games even though it also seems like you understand how bullshit they are. sure there are "fun" things going on, but does the cost both financial and social justify it?

to be honest, i think you're an "average" canadian (although statistically you probably fall closer to the category of "privileged") who doesn't want to either accept or think about how your role as such can come to the detriment of others.

As it stands I am your average Canadian in almost every way. I go to work, I pay my taxes, I take care of my 2.3 kids and 1.4 dogs while paying the mortgage on my not-quite-yet white picket fence home. The Canadian dream right? SURE. This ‘dream’ as it is put requires a lot of work and not a lot of room for play at times.

it's YOUR choice to not leave a lot of room for fun which you're obviously OK with (and i think that's totally understandable) but you ARE reaping the benefits of your luck and abilities which not everyone is privy to and i think it's unfair and intellectually irresponsible to use this as justification for something you seem to know is detrimental for at least some of the people who live in your community. there are a lot of people who don't share your luck or abilities and their lives are being made even more difficult because of the games and not just for 2 weeks.

Why do I, as a hard working and responsible Canadian taxpayer, have to feel bad about being able to enjoy these games?

the only person who can make you feel bad about it is you. you know the games have made the stupid rich stupiderly richer, that they're not going to benefit the city much if at all, and they're going cost the needy access to things you take for granted. if you didn't know those things you wouldn't feel bad. but not going to the free shows isn't going to give money to the needy either. you've got to make up your own mind about how you want to play a role in it but i would suggest not being reactionary about it.

They need to find a better venue other than staging sit-ins, protests and disrupting what should be an amazing celebration of world unity and competition.

they "should be" an amazing celebration of world unity and competition but they're not and the protesters have no impact on that.

protesters have always made me uneasy because of how inarticulate or unfocused they are but at least they're doing something,and something is better than nothing.

Originally Posted by R Wellbelove

Last I checked it was 6 billion, however the city does predict that 1 billion should be made back.

that's 9 billion less than predicted.

[kir mokum]

Originally Posted by Cdn_Brdr

Take your doom and gloom cloud and rain on somebody else's parade thanks.

but this is the parade that has brought the doom and gloom cloud. i think it's more than deserving to get shit on.

[NinjaBoy]

Originally Posted by kir mokum

you pretty much described every grouping of people ever in the history of people grouping themselves together. at least they're bringing attention to the bullshit that is the olympics (not just the vancouver games). the whole thing is clearly a scam and i think the olympics here is going to bring a lot more awareness to that and diminish it's value to it's sponsors and to the bidding cities from now on.

Grabbing a mic and screaming "Fuck the olympics" does not bring change. It does not help your cause, and it just makes your cause look like it's a bunch of ignorant 16 year olds.

It does not diminish value to the sponsors at all (Sponsorship contracts have gone for more then they ever have). It does not effect future cities (as you can already see from the bidding process).

A truly effective protest, has to be a voice of the people, not a small minority without clear goals. Did the protesters try and target people during civic elections or provincial elections? No. Did they even try putting in members they believe in to city council and try moving their voter base? No. And in the Vancouver civic election most council members got in with votes below ten thousand. Geez, I could only imagine how strong the anti olympic movement would be with a member of city council backing them.

But alas they didn't. No rallies during the elections, no flyers clearly telling the voters what they wanted, no attempts at politics. Instead their big victory was grabbing a mic from an old lady during a speech and screaming "fuck the olympics". You can't create change by only working with people who agree with you.

That is hardly how I would describe "every group".

It should also be pointed out that people wanted the olympics. It was decided in a vote that we all had the chance to participate in, and I'm relatively sure that a lot of these protesters did not (about 90 000 people voted)

[ebbomega]

Your concept of the purpose of protests disturbs me.

Protests are not about expressing the desire of the majority. They're about making the majority aware of the plight of the minority. The desire of the majority is decided by voting, not protests. Protests are about swaying public opinion, not expressing it.

As for your rallies during the elections, you undercut that entire argument with this sentence: "It was decided in a vote that we all had the chance to participate in, and I'm relatively sure that a lot of these protesters did not (about 90 000 people voted)"

Regardless of who they put into power, because of the referendum there was no way in hell that this was going to be stopped. What the protestors are most pissed off about is that the costs are way over (and by "way" I mean "unreasonably") what they projected when the referendum came to, and the likely revenue we're going to see is way under what they project. And in both directions it's by a magnitude of 10.

Don't get me wrong, I'm looking forward to the Olympics, and I'm going to enjoy going to the shows and viewing the art pieces and all the cool cultural stuff that's going to be happening around town. But to say that the arguments of the protesters are somehow invalid strikes me as either naive or dare I say spoiled. I'd wish it's the former but fear it's the latter.

Have your fun with the Olympics by all means, but don't go around saying the protesters shouldn't be protesting, because they have every a) reason and b) right to.

['Los]

Originally Posted by ebbomega

Actually, according to the Guardian, 10x sounds about right

Originally $660m budget, now looking to be $6bil.

Of all the things people could have protested about, now is quickly falling between the cracks. Vancouver is pretty much in a police state, and all fingers point to VANOC and their blood thirsty brokers. It's actually kind of creepy how major corporations can put a submission hold on a cities infrastructure and how its used.

VANOC also blames local protesters for the increase of security and its costs, which is such bullshit, since these protesters from such a minority, they could be hardly considered a threat. Also keeping in mind that protesters have threatened to disrupt the games in some shape or form, but I can see a terrorist attack being a bigger threat given the amount of police and military presence that's going to be felt throughout the games. All costs that will clearly affect education in BC in a huge way. (as stated in the articles both ebbo and myra posted)

That being said, you can expect to see a lot of people thrown in jail for voicing their disdain to mild opinions about the games. You can also expect the strip between Carral St (Pigeon Park) and Main St to be blitzed with po-po to clean it up in fascist frenzy.

Just the other night, taking the bus from work there was a string of cop cars making junkies and homeless people sweep their garbage off the side-walk, on said city strip. This is just them being conditioned for the next thing to come, and that's complete eviction from that strip.

We(VANCOUVER)are basically owned by NBC/GE now... Hence Robson square being renamed GE ICE PLAZA... That has OWNED written all over it. Wake the fuck up people. Not you guys, you're all pretty switched on.

[dj_soo]

i'll just say the olympics are going to be good for me and directly effects my earnings.

but that doesn't mean the whole thing isn't complete bullshit that we'll be paying for for decades to come while the rich laugh up the profits at our expense.

[kir mokum]

Originally Posted by NinjaBoy

That is hardly how I would describe "every group".

maybe you missed the part were you said "95% of the people I talked to were [verbing] simply to [verb]. They had no clear goals, no alternative ideas. It just seemed like the right thing to do."

[mapleleaf4ever]

So we're having the Olympic discussion on another message board that I'm on in Toronto and this gem appeared in the thread.

Originally Posted by .....
Who cares what people from vancouver want? People from toronto through ottawa make the decisions in this country. If you don't like it, move.

[kir mokum]

.wow.

[ebbomega]

Originally Posted by mapleleaf4ever

So we're having the Olympic discussion on another message board that I'm on in Toronto and this gem appeared in the thread.

Just bitter cuz their hockey team sucks.