With the start of the 2014 Winter Olympics set to begin this week here is a fitting article about how much money has gone into the games thus far. Putin, the president of Russia has been critized that he has spent way too much money on these games when there are lots of people in his country starving. Historically speaking the hosting the Olympics has garnered world wide attention bringing in all sorts of revenues. It is a chance to showcase to the world what your country has to offer in hopes of generating trade, tourism, jobs and money. However, Putin may have overdone it on this one. Think about this while reading:
1) Compared to how much other games have cost in past will this be another Olympics where they loose money?
2) What value do the games hold? Are they even necessary?
3) Why would Putin spend so much when his country is in such desperate need for financial help?
4) Will you watch the games? Why or why not?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/the-costly-distraction-that-is-vladimir-putin-s-sochi-olympics-1.2521816
This is my post for the week.
ReplyDeleteConsidering every Olympic games to date has not made a profit for the host country i think it is extremely safe to say Russia will be in a great deal of debt after the reported 50 billion dollar winter Olympic games have concluded. The Olympics is a symbol of universal bonding and co operation, well at least that is what it used to be. It is absolutely outrageous how these Olympics have been in the shadows due to the fact the Russian government did not want to allow homosexuals in to compete or even support. The Olympics should stand for bringing together all sorts of different people however the homophobia completely contradicts that motive. I believe Putin spent that much money on the Olympics for sentimental reasons as well as ego. He has stated sports saved his life so he feels like he needs to give back, he also wants to put on a show for the world to illustrate Russian luxury's. Having said all these negative things about these Olympics i will surly still be watching them, for the sole reason of supporting my country and the love of competition.
Its interesting to see how Vladimir Putin has put so much money into the Olympic games in his home country but the Russian poverty rate is sitting at nearly 16 million people. That would be roughly 50% poverty if that were Canada.. Think that 1 out of every 2 people you saw everyday would be in poverty and probably about 3/4 people would be living in poor conditions. I think that Putin is merely trying to restore Russia back to its former glory but with the use of social media, it is difficult for him to put on this charade in our technology rich societies.
DeleteI personally don't think that Putin is concerned about earning a profit off of the games, I would guess that Putin is wanting more from these games than money. Like you said about Putin illustrating Russian's luxury's, I personally thing that this is much more of an attempt to get some media coverage, creating the appearance that Russia is a very wealthy nation.
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ReplyDeleteI most definitely don't believe that these Olympic Games will make a profit. Russia has spent 51 billion dollars towards making these Olympic Games a reality. That is more than the cost of all other winter games combined to date. Russia is claiming that the 51 billion spent to make these Sochi games happen is not only going towards the games, but towards building a popular and profitable destination city. In the past, cities that have hosted the Olympics have seen their tourism levels rise but in my opinion Sochi will not be one of them. To regain the money spent, the city would have to earn 5 billion a year for the next 10 years and that is virtually impossible. All the Disney theme parks world-wide combined don't make that much. The city is already seeing a lack of tourism compared to what they had anticipated. Few international tourists are showing up for the games and it'll be hard to gain attraction once they're over. It doesn't help that Russia recently had 2 suicide bombings and is receiving threats of terrorism; they recently stopped a hijacked plane that was attempting to bomb Sochi on the opening day. Such things don’t appeal to travelers; therefore they will not gain any tourism. The 51 billion dollars that could’ve helped Putin's country will be wasted.
I am personally not watching these games (but I am still cheering on the athletes). I don’t believe that they are demonstrating what the spirit of the Olympics is all about. The games are a way to unite countries and celebrate athletic talent, yet this year they’ve created restrictions such as not wanting homosexuals to compete in their games. They’ve also banned stickers of Sarah Burke, a Canadian halfpipe skier that died in a training accident in 2012, that the athletes were wearing on their gear in commemoration of her. Sarah Burke is responsible for making halfpipe skiing an Olympic sport and it is making its debut at the Sochi Olympics. It is wrong that they aren't allowing athletes to honour her and it both shocks and saddens me to know that the Olympic committee has put in place and is supporting such an unethical ban.I hope to see the games return to a true celebration of talent and international unity in the next games.
This is a great article that talks about the development of the city and how they plan on turning it into a travel destination. http://www.urbanistdispatch.com/2014/02/creating-a-russian-cannes-out-of-olympic-sochi/
DeleteVery interesting! I don't know if you watched any of the opening ceremony but I found it funny (in a sad way) that in their "History of Russia" video, they didn't include any of the extremely important events that occured in the past 100 years.
DeleteOne thing that really bugs me is how willing Putin is to dismiss the needs of his nation's people. On top of the reckless spending of tax-payers' billions of dollars, officials have forced evictions of many Sochi citizens whose houses were in the way of the construction. Workers involved in constructing the venues were treated horrendously, with little to no pay and obscenely long hours as they struggled to complete building on time. I can only imagine the pressure that Putin has been facing, but seriously man, this is not the way to handle it.
Deletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/sochi-olympics-have-an-ugly-side/2012/08/10/e86770be-e24c-11e1-98e7-89d659f9c106_story.html
Great post. The only silver lining to 50 billion is that the infrastructure will be there for many years to provide income and jobs for people.
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ReplyDeleteI find it completely outrageous that Russia/Putin would spend so much money on the Olympics. I found an interesting article online (Refer to link at the end of this post) that states that the cost of the Sochi winter Olympics is the equivilent to 2.5 percent of Russia's GDP. That means that at least a whole year growth was spent- or rather, wasted- on this winter's Olympic games. Those are tax-payers dollars that could have gone into helping this struggling and improverish nation.
In reality, the Olympic games are a luxery. It would upset alot of people if they were to disband this colossal event and I personally believe that the Olympics are an excellent way to bring people from every different nation together to compete in the sports that they are most passionate about. However, how much of the 51 billion dollars spent went into organizing the actual sporting events? How much of this money was spent on creating an extravagant opening ceremony? Who cares about flashy deocrations and lights if Russia's citizens are suffering? As I stated previously, the Olympic games are a luxery and it's atrocious that Putin prioritized this opulent spectacle over the desperate needs of the people of Russia. I will be watching parts of the Olympics because despite this horrible waste of Russian funds, I do believe that these hard-working athletes deserve recognition. These athletes should be celebrated but to waste 51 billion dollars while your country is struggling is an abuse of tax payers' money. The games are a privledge and Putin should have swallowed his pride and opted for a less expensive ceremony and games.
Below is the article that I mentioned previously discussing the out cry over Sochi 2014:
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/russia-doesnt-seem-to-care-that-it-has-had-to-spend-stupid-money-in-order-to-host-the-winter-olympics-maybe-it-should-9107363.html
I agree with Gabrielle on this one. Although the way the Olympic games played out this year (with the large budget and anti-homosexual stuff) I believe that the spirit of sport still lives within the athletes there as it should. At least it didn't get largely boycotted like the 1980 and 1984 Olympics. I think the Athletes are there to prove to the world their sportsmanship and drive to succeed for their countries and themselves. I am happy to see the games are still on despite the negativity towards them so that all the athletes can live their Olympic dreams.
DeleteI agree Adrian! The athletes deserve a place to showcase their talents and represent their country; expcially in sports that are often unappreciated in their country (ie when is the last time you heard someone watching cross country skiing?). At the same time, as Gabrielle said, the Olympics are a luxury. Personally I think Putin has been spending money on unessasary luxuries that could have been used to help his country.
DeleteGreat post. 51 billion goes a long way. Imagine spending 20 billion on the games (a respectable amount) and 30 billion on your struggling country?
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ReplyDeleteWhen I read the Putin had put forth upwards of 50 billion dollars into this year's Olympics in Sochi, my jaw dropped. In a country such as Russia where the poverty rate is roughly 16-17 billion people, there was most definitely smarter ways that Putin could have spent that money. The Olympics is an event that is cherished around the world. It gives countries a chance to come together, have friendly competition and most importantly show off that talent that resides there. I believe that they are a necessary event to have, because if it weren't for them, such a wide variety of countries would not be able to meet and interact with eachother on such a large scale. Although they are competing against each other, there is no doubt in my mind that the friendly competition strengthens the relationships between countries. Strong relationships between countries is vital in a peaceful world. Vladamir Putin stated that sports had saved his life, so i believe his initial intentions were to give back to sports the best way that he could. And what better way to do it then on the world stage right? It is obvious that Putin had grossly overspent on these winter games, and that there is most definitely smarter ways of spending the country's money (anything that reaches out to people in poverty) but it is my belief that he had good intentions. He wanted to give the rest of the world an Olympic Games that they would never forget, and show them how nice, welcoming and luxurious if you will, his country is. Personally, I always look forward to watching the Olympics on tv not only because it is great competition, but it also gives you a taste of the widespread variety of people and cultures that can be found around the world. I really enjoy the summer Olympics (even though Canada isnt the strongest in summer events) because is has the most variety of countries competing. Not all countries have a winter, but almost all countries have a summer. This allows countries in South America, Africa and the Caribbean (as well as other countries which don't get snow) to showcase their talents as well. I am a strong supporter of the Olympic Games, i will 100% be watching, and cheering on the best country in the world, Canada!
Great post. Where is your backup article? Need more than just opinion but otherwise great post.
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ReplyDeleteWhen Putin, the president of Russia, originally proposed his country for the winter Olympic Games of 2014 he promised an eye-turning 12 billion dollars. Now however, seven years later, Russia is expected to have spent over 50 billion dollars, despite the drop in economic growth since the bid.
This shocking sum has raised questions around the world about the necessity of the cost, comparing it to Vancouver’s 7 billion and Athens’s 14 billion dollars, and the country’s need. Why is the cost so high? Well, in my research I found that there are many reasons. There are higher construction costs than expected, higher security costs plus the rumors of corruption.
Corruption is what I choose to narrow into. Although Putin has not validated the claims rather stating: “We don’t see any large-scale instances of corruption during our preparations…in Sochi. If anyone has any information about corruption in Sochi, please hand it over, we will be glad and grateful.” looking deeper I found that there is a high possibility that the people under him are.
Corruption has been a concern for Russians for years, there are now laws in place but often victims do not come forward. The bigger organizations and contractors have been known to take some off the top of the profits for themselves, pocketing the money. Some sources claim that many of the contractors for the Olympic settings likely over quoted in order to have extra money for their personal gain. Knowing this, the reporter in the video below also explains that even if the government had put the money into public services such as health care the money would have still likely been sifted out. A sad reality suggesting the money might as well have been invested into the games, hoping to bring in some international trade, and more gold metals to increase their civic pride, maybe even change the country for the better.
Knowing all of this I will still be tuning into the Olympic Games as well. It is a game designed to encourage goal setting and personal achievements. Canada has 220 athletes representing us this year, and I am excited to see what we can achieve!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_MBOeqSYVk
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101163701
Great post. Right idea to narrow in on one subject to make it more manageable. Good job.
DeleteThose are good points Ruth. I found the fact that the contractors are pocketing the money fascinating because similar types of bribery are happening in Ukraine. To add to your points, not only is Putin wasting this money on luxuries but he is also kicking his own people out of their homes to provide them. (http://touch.latimes.com/#section/-1/article/p2p-79199430/).
ReplyDeleteHe honestly needs to get his priorities straight and decide wether a nice Olympics is worth his people's suffering.
This is my post for the week !
ReplyDeleteThis article claims that the Vancouver winter Olympics cost seven billion dollars and we are still paying it off today. The assumption is that with the money from the tourism industry that comes to the country holding the event will pay off some if not most of the debt that comes along with hosting an Olympic event. The article below I chose states that the Vancouver Olympics didn't highly raise the level of tourists that came to the area making it nearly impossible to pay it off. Sochi nearly cost seven times more than Vancouver did and I think will have a hard time paying it off, because they already have way more financial problems than Canada has.
I don't think this Olympics has the same value as most other Olympics has had because of Putin's view on issues like homosexuality and the fact a large portion of his people are in poverty and he's spending 50 billion on this event. The Olympics are suppose to be a time where all countries and people unite and celebrate people athletic achievements but Putin's closed mind has made it less of a celebration and more about politics.
As to why Putin would spend so much on the games is questionable to me. The only logical reason I can come up with is to break the Russian stereotype that their still under communist rule and that Russia isn't a cold, scary place and that good things can happen there because you don't really hear good things about Russia in the news very often.
I do plan on watching the games, I'm not really into sports but there is something about the Olympics that make it different from usual sports games and it's always great to see your country be apart of something great.
http://m.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/vancouver-olympics-worth-the-7-billion-price-tag-study-says/article15036916/?service=mobile
Great post. Watching the games is a lot of fun...but 50 billion?
Deletethis is my weekly post.
ReplyDeletei feel that spending 50 million dollars at the Olympics is a little bit ridiculous considering that the last winter Olympics only cost 7 million. as long as there is some sort of entertainment in the opening ans closing ceremonies there will always be viewers for the games. the only way i see it fitting for Russia to spend 50 million dollars on the winter Olympics is if they can somehow make the money back. i think the only reason Putin decided to invest this much money into the olympics was to hope that he would somehow make money back. if they cut there budget back a little bit there would still be just as many viewers which would give them more of a profit because they would have spent less money and sold the same amount of tickets. personnaly i feel spending so much money ohn the olympics was more for publicity and showing that russia has the money to spend on that stuff rather than to make the games any better than they would have been if the only spent like 15 billion. http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/did-the-winter-olympics-in-sochi-really-cost-50-billion-a-closer-look-at-that-figure/2014/02/10/a29e37b4-9260-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html
Good post. 50 Billion goes a long way and how about spending 25 Billion and putting the rest into the economy or education or something?
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