Taking part

Some fascinating little squabbles on Twitter regarding the 2012 Olympics opening ceremony and Danny Boyle's political affiliations and intentions.

Conservative MP Aidan Burley, sparked a wee Twitter row by commenting on the leftie multicultural bias, as he saw it, so plenty of leftie multiculturalists showed their true colours by demanding his execution. Or at the very least, his resignation.  One Tweeter gloated that DB had used a Tory government's money to fund a Socialist statement - except, of course, the government doesn't actually have any money of its own, so that was a moot point. Apart, of course, from the irony that the majority of government spending of your money is wasted on socialist projects seeking to subvert human nature itself.

I hear that the saintly Billy Bragg, whose Twitter profile says "It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice." also got in on the act and showed what a good actor he is by spouting the usual ill-thought-out, inflammatory, class-war statements, in apparent contradiction of his peace-and-love byline. I say I heard about this as I only get to see his Tweets when others re-tweet them - he blocked me ages ago for daring to agree with somebody who disagreed with him. Such a sensitive [arse]soul.

None of any of that matters. The whole spectacle was magnificent and quirky, celebratory and proud and very inclusive. If you choose to see messages - and symbolism was everywhere - then that's fine too. Britain is still [just] a free country and if a movie-maker wants to engage in a bit of politicking, so what?

Nope, there is something quintessentially British about the whole Olympic spectacle; the notion of doing your very best, meeting with triumph and disaster and treating those two impostors just the same. The opening ceremony, far from being divisive, seemed to repeatedly centre on the very, very British characteristic of joining together and becoming more as a result. It's promising to be a fantastic two weeks of sporting mayhem, so let's just get on and play the game, eh?

Vitai Lampada

("They Pass On The Torch of Life")

There's a breathless hush in the Close to-night,

Ten to make and the match to win.

A bumping pitch and a blinding light,

An hour to play and the last man in.

And it's not for the sake of a ribboned coat,

Or the selfish hope of a season's fame.

But his Captain's hand on his shoulder smote -

'Play up! play up! and play the game!'

The sand of the desert is sodden red,

Red with the wreck of a square that broke;

The Gatling's jammed and the Colonel dead,

And the regiment blind with dust and smoke.

The river of death has brimmed his banks,

And England's far, and Honour a name,

But the voice of a schoolboy rallies the ranks -

'Play up! play up! and play the game!'

This is the word that year by year,

While in her place the School is set,

Every one of her sons must hear,

And none that hears it dare forget.

This they all with a joyful mind

Bear through life like a torch in flame,

And falling fling to the host behind -

'Play up! play up! and play the game!'

Sir Henry Newbolt (1862-1938)

Does my country look big in this?

So, I didn’t blog yesterday; I have much ground to cover, hence today’s is a bit of a collective rant.

Over the weekend, @PlasticAussie posted on Twitter, this link about ‘Ping Pong Poms’ in which the narrow-mindedness of Western Australians is criticised. "A cat stuck up a tree or an out-of-control house party is more likely to get a run on the 7pm news than the Syrian uprising or the economic crisis that the rest of the world is facing …" Well, I’m sorry love, but isn't that just an example of a certain sense of proportion?

Australia has never really entertained the notion of itself as a major player on the world stage - maybe it's time we reined in our own ambitions? Big isn’t always beautiful as many large organisations have come to find out. In staging the biggest sporting competition on Earth we are not only thrusting ourselves once more into the international limelight but risking exposing our credibility – or lack of it - to the scrutiny of the whole planet.

G4S is the biggest security company in the world, but as with all large organisations, they have a charge sheet of incompetence that stretches back years. The widely reported G4S Olympic security fiasco is simply the latest in a predictable series of blunders that naturally arise whenever the human numbers get big.

The NHS is another behemoth whose very size mitigates against its competence. Size matters. The more people involved in anything, the greater the odds of catastrophe. And in our current big-state nightmare incompetence is practically a watchword for anything the government – any government – lays its hands on. Such as the utterly inept twenty-four-year accounting cul-de-sac that is the DWP.

The unforgiveable rise in our population during the last government’s tenure is yet another example: The article states one reason as “robust fertility levels” Oh yes, robust amongst whom? Among the hard-working middle classes that carefully cost out their decisions and pay for all the others? I rather think not. Ironically, nowhere is fertility more ‘robust’ than in the sector of the population we fear the most and are most directly responsible for the sheer size of the Olympic security operation in the first place. 

Oh yes, it all fits. In the ridiculous pursuit of universal individual liberty and happiness, we have lost control of our borders, our population and our culture. And with it, our old place in the wider world. We have pandered to the absurd notion that given freedom, humans can be trusted to behave responsibly and make good choices. We have embraced a big is beautiful ethos that finds its absurd apotheosis in this story, which frankly, is a whole load of arse. 

Does my enormous arse look big in this?

See? That's what letting people make decisions leads to. Do we want our country to look like the biggest arse on the globe? It strikes me that striving for a bit less freedom and happiness in the world would go a long way to sorting out the trouble.