CREATED WITH HELP FROM GEMINI AI
They say travel broadens the mind. It certainly broadened mine. As I toured various European cathedrals, I couldn’t help but be impressed by the artistry and engineering and, quite frankly, thr expense that went into their creation. But I couldn’t ignore the niggling thought that a lot of that expense was paid for by the tithes of poor parishioners in Europe and South America.
It all hit me when I went to the Vatican Museum. I immediately felt affronted at the casual warehousing of hundreds of years’ worth of masterpieces.
Then I turned down an aisle in this jumble sale to see, away at the end, Laocoon and His Sons Fighting the Serpent, a famous statue of the Greek Hellenistic period. Tucked away in a corner, crowded around by less important works, not even labelled. In a real art museum, it would have been a showpiece.
And the casual disregard for the real value of art hit me. According to the church, works built to the glory of a deity by their very nature uplift all humanity. Well, at least the followers of that deity. And of course, the members of the clergy and princes of state and industry who live in the palaces and partake of the glory.
Did the spiritual uplift of the cathedral benefit the poor peasants, or did it just keep them quiet while the payoff was limited to the glory of those further up the food chain? Was the average person better off because of the expense? When we add in the effects of the many religious wars over the years, the answer has to be a resounding “No!”
FIFA Soccer
The bottom line here is that the Vancouver government laid out $700 million to benefit FIFA, who made over $2 billion for the whole series. The estimated number of visitors to the games is very similar to the number of cruise ship customers who visit in a month. I doubt if Vancouver City Council is willing to pay $500 per taxpayer for that industry.
Face it. On a dollars-per-visitor basis, there just aren’t enough customers brought in by the World Cup to justify the expenses.
SpaceX (and perhaps even NASA.)
Should we be spending billions (NASA yearly budget is $24 billion) on getting into space, when so many people live below the poverty line? At least the space programs are looking forward, with the possibility of big paybacks in future.
As I get older and hopefully wiser, I become more and more socialistic. The American Dream is just the latest version of Manifest Destiny. Keep the workers in their rightful place with the promise that if they work really hard and follow the rules, 0.01% of them will join the rich. Meanwhile, let the rich spend your tax dollars to benefit their egos and business enterprises.
The Bottom Line
Taxpayers and voters should always question the tax dollars spent for value received. Was the World Cup sponsorship worth it?
And the question behind that; have we been glamoured into supporting the lifestyles and egos of an increasingly small number of the uber-rich?
For me, it’s not too hard to draw that line. I’m not that enthused about the Olympics, but I do recognize their value, however misplaced, to the grassroots players of the recreational leagues. When my city pays $500 per taxpayer to support an entertainment event that makes $2 billion dollars for a bunch of uber-rich foreign investors, it’s gone too far. We have been victims of the same scam for a couple of thousand years, and it’s time we put an end to it.
PS.
Ironically, one of the main benefits supporters of the series harped on was how much they learned that they can apply when Vancouver hosts the next big event. Very helpful. They learned how to scam us better.