Bread and circuses
I have had several people come up to me lately asking about whether or not tax payer’s money should go towards the Olympic games (Tom Young actually asked the question on his show today), and whether or not tax payers money should be spent on big concert events.
Concert events, if wisely chosen, like the upcoming Elton John events in the Maritimes are an obvious winner as they generate income, unless of course costs run ahead of revenues, and the entertainer costs too much, etc. Otherwise, why complain if the concert makes money and generates revenue for the downtown businesses? Elton John sold out in minutes and will bring in lots of collateral spending. Good for the Province and Fred MacGillvrey.
People still complain however — and you know who they are: The constant gripers and tax moaners who also don’t bother voting in municipal elections (most don’t anyway) but who have the most to say about what the city is, or isn’t doing.
As far as the Olympics are concerned, does success in Beijing equate to higher profile elsewhere? Does that higher profile translate into tangible economic benefits? Not really. But sports culture is still culture and not every human activity needs to be tied to economics. There are intangible benefits too that can evolve into economic benefits: morale and productivity, national prestige and international investment; the mere fact that there is cultural intercourse with the Olympic Games also improves international understanding (however, the Berlin Olympics did nothing to “bring people together” — it actually did the opposite, promoting Hitler).
Eventually, an overly cost-conscious nation that has disposable wealth ends up impoverished and boring. How can we extend foreign aid to others, and rebuild Afghanistan, and then not support our own athletes?
The classic “bread, not circuses” argument really falls this way: sometimes you need dinner and a show.
August 19th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
The people who think we shouldn’t spend money on Olympic athletes are probably the same who thought cuts to the GST were a good idea.