A Familiar Refrain

Trey Smith

London resident Zita Holbourne plans to participate in the Friday July 27th Opening Ceremony of the 2012 Olympic Games held at the gleaming new stadium located not far from her community of Newham.

However, Holbourne, a trade union activist and poet, is not participating as one of those lucky enough to have secured an expensive ticket to attend the glitzy Opening Ceremony.

Holbourne’s participating instead in a community forum on the 27th about the legions of unlucky London residents who’ve received no jobs, no contracts no other economic benefits from this multi-billion-dollar premier international sports competition which was originally touted by British politicians and promoters as a vehicle for helping low-income Londoners.

“The Olympics have been a disaster. The Olympics have not created opportunity for black communities,” Holbourne said.

British officials secured the Olympics for London on pledges of providing improvements for low-income and minority residents in England’s capital city. Nearly half of London’s population is non-white.
~ from Games Played on Poor at London 2012 Olympics by Linn Washington, Jr. ~

This happens all over the world. It could be the Olympics or some big development project. Promises are always made that it won't rip off taxpayers or that poverty will be reduced or that the environment won't be compromised or that any number of things will or won't happen. In far too many cases, all of these promises are big fat lies! Government officials and corporate leaders will promise the moon and more simply to convince enough of the people to give them the green light and a big thumbs up.

But once their big plans start to take shape, few of those promises come to fruition. Why? Because those promises are insincere. They are nothing more than words that the big wigs have no intent of backing up with any degree of substantive action.

What I can't figure out is why the masses fall for these lies again, again and again. One would think that, after a while, they'd catch onto the game. It doesn't seem as if most folks are paying attention...or paying attention to the right things!!