All these lovely sentiments just do not apply to the group of people I know. We feel ourselves separate and apart from any sense of fraternity. Others' sense of community and social solidarity somehow doesn't include us. We don't believe this is a reasonably fair society. Sometimes we get genuine sympathy from our fellow citizens but it does not translate into genuine services from our governments. We do not pretend that we are the only group to feel divorced from mainstream Australia - certainly the indigenous and refugees must experience the same - but we have lived for decades with an overwhelming sense of abandonment and exploitation. We are the parents who back in the sixties and seventies had, through no fault of our own, a disabled child. Now we find ourselves in our "retirement" still caring full-time for that adult child because there is no place in this rich and lucky country for our person to go. The services that exist in other comparable countries do not happen here - and we ask why should our country be so far behind in providing such fundamental human rights that would allow middle-aged people to move out of home and care-worn parents to die in peace?

Will Shakespeare got it right about the Olympics--it is tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury and signifying nothing.

Plus it is also a paradox in an of obese couch potatoes.

Another message of the Olympics and our "culture" in general could be that the only some people are capable of great feats and are therefore worthy of adulation.
Meanwhile the rest of us should accept our humble lot and be in awe of the creative activities and accomplishments of the exceptional few---and bathe in the "light" of these stars.

And thereby be consigned to endless rounds of soul-destroying work, eating junk food full of toxic chemicals, and staying tuned to the TV (propaganda central) in the "living" room to be told what product to buy next and the next big thing to be excited about---and which group to hate next.

Circuses for the masses while the "culture" created in the image of the mob TV mind rapidly trashes Civilization (or whats left of it) and the planetary eco-systems.

Speaking of eco-systems has anyone noticed that China IS one vast ecological disaster zone.

To hell with the Olympics. To hell with the waste of money. To hell with China, to hell with its self-righteousness, to hell with its moral hypocrisy, to hell with its collective inferiority complex, to hell with its Fascist oligarchy . . . masquerading as the "heroes of the working class". To hell with all the narcissistic celebrities who really believe they have something useful to say about politics or the human condition.