by Peter BeresfordI never expected to hear myself say it, but the Beijing Olympics have given me a whole new sense of proportion. Suddenly I feel I have a proper perspective on issues of social care and human needs.
I have to admit that before the opening just a couple of weeks ago, I had personal doubts. The highest rates of execution in the world, routine denial of human rights, an appalling record of pollution. I know that for some of my more liberal friends these did raise issues. But since seeing Team GB's medal results, watching the brilliantly drilled mass ranks of Chinese cadres and observing the complete consensus among the Chinese public, with not one public protest, I have had to rethink some of my old sixties sensibilities. Doesn't our medal tally make you feel proud to be British?
Skulling, surfing and swimming
I would never have thought that me and many thousands more would be sitting glued to the telly learning more than we could ever have expected to know about kayak and BMX racing, the finer points of 10 metre air pistol shooting, quad skulling, windsurfing and open water marathon swimming. And then women's beach volleyball. No wonder so many men seem to have commented on the fitness of our girls. Such exposure can only do women's equality good.
What I can't understand is why there has never been a mass audience for all these sports before. They really did help our tally mount and offer a truer measure of our society perhaps than many sociologists have come up with. A real challenge to those chattering classes who go on about the rising poverty, appalling debt and increasing inequality in good old Blighty.
Showing their mettle
But it's some of our medalling heroes that have had the most impact on me. Christine Ohuruogu, dismissed just three years ago as a drug cheat for missing three tests. Well she's shown her true mettle - and it's gold!! And what about gutsy Shanaze Read, who when she realised she couldn't keep up with the eventual winner, showed she'd rather have no medal at all, than give up trying to take her wheel.
Then what about Paula Radcliffe? She may have come nowhere in the Olympic marathon, but she always seems to be at the front when the real pressure of being paid big bucks is on her and she always has a great story for the press, however mediocre her performance. That's focus.
Virtuous self harm
As a mental health service user, I have also felt a new kinship with some of our most successful athletes. Their endless physical self-harm has been given a new virtuous spin. They repeat motions endlessly and comment on their appalling sense of self-worth if they don't win, in a way that few service users would dare within a kilometre of a psychiatrist. There's guts for you!
I've also been impressed by the more famous figures amongst us who have shown their commitment to the Olympic Spirit and UK PLC by finding time to be at the Birds Nest. If Tony Blair could do it, when he has so much to sort out in the Middle East, what excuse is there for the rest of us? What about Bernie Ecclestone, there in person, however much he may have wanted to support his chum Max Mosley in the midst of all his difficulties from terrible recent invasions of his privacy,
Barometers of what's best
But the real treat to come will be seeing how well all our medal winners do in the next honours list and as telly celebs when they join the ranks of guests on Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Big Brother and all those other key barometers of what's best in our society. They've all certainly got my vote.
Of course there will be people who cavil; who will argue that the black hole of £6 billion that the government has identified in funding for social care could easily be met by the four-fold increase in spend from £2.3 to £9.4 billion for the London 2012 Olympics. But isn't it time they got some sense of proportion? The 'vulnerable' still have the paralympics. They are a wonderful showcase for charity. What more could they want?
I suppose some will say, well how about the basic human and civil rights that a supposedly civilised society should ensure all its citizens, but hey, take a chill pill. Lighten up and enjoy the fun. London 2012 is only four years away. I for one am going to start counting the days as of now. What better way of keeping my mind off recession, inflation, environmental melt-down, food shortages, global warming and rising death tolls internationally from more and more wars?
Skulling, surfing and swimming
I would never have thought that me and many thousands more would be sitting glued to the telly learning more than we could ever have expected to know about kayak and BMX racing, the finer points of 10 metre air pistol shooting, quad skulling, windsurfing and open water marathon swimming. And then women's beach volleyball. No wonder so many men seem to have commented on the fitness of our girls. Such exposure can only do women's equality good.
What I can't understand is why there has never been a mass audience for all these sports before. They really did help our tally mount and offer a truer measure of our society perhaps than many sociologists have come up with. A real challenge to those chattering classes who go on about the rising poverty, appalling debt and increasing inequality in good old Blighty.
Showing their mettle
But it's some of our medalling heroes that have had the most impact on me. Christine Ohuruogu, dismissed just three years ago as a drug cheat for missing three tests. Well she's shown her true mettle - and it's gold!! And what about gutsy Shanaze Read, who when she realised she couldn't keep up with the eventual winner, showed she'd rather have no medal at all, than give up trying to take her wheel.
Then what about Paula Radcliffe? She may have come nowhere in the Olympic marathon, but she always seems to be at the front when the real pressure of being paid big bucks is on her and she always has a great story for the press, however mediocre her performance. That's focus.
Virtuous self harm
As a mental health service user, I have also felt a new kinship with some of our most successful athletes. Their endless physical self-harm has been given a new virtuous spin. They repeat motions endlessly and comment on their appalling sense of self-worth if they don't win, in a way that few service users would dare within a kilometre of a psychiatrist. There's guts for you!
I've also been impressed by the more famous figures amongst us who have shown their commitment to the Olympic Spirit and UK PLC by finding time to be at the Birds Nest. If Tony Blair could do it, when he has so much to sort out in the Middle East, what excuse is there for the rest of us? What about Bernie Ecclestone, there in person, however much he may have wanted to support his chum Max Mosley in the midst of all his difficulties from terrible recent invasions of his privacy,
Barometers of what's best
But the real treat to come will be seeing how well all our medal winners do in the next honours list and as telly celebs when they join the ranks of guests on Strictly Come Dancing, Celebrity Big Brother and all those other key barometers of what's best in our society. They've all certainly got my vote.
Of course there will be people who cavil; who will argue that the black hole of £6 billion that the government has identified in funding for social care could easily be met by the four-fold increase in spend from £2.3 to £9.4 billion for the London 2012 Olympics. But isn't it time they got some sense of proportion? The 'vulnerable' still have the paralympics. They are a wonderful showcase for charity. What more could they want?
I suppose some will say, well how about the basic human and civil rights that a supposedly civilised society should ensure all its citizens, but hey, take a chill pill. Lighten up and enjoy the fun. London 2012 is only four years away. I for one am going to start counting the days as of now. What better way of keeping my mind off recession, inflation, environmental melt-down, food shortages, global warming and rising death tolls internationally from more and more wars?
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