Patriotism and the Left

My post on the London 2012 Olympics started a debate within Haringey Greens about patriotism in Britain and whether this is positive thing, or rather a reactionary, undesirable, and even dangerous concept. So, I’m expanding my thoughts here, and hope that my colleagues will post their opinions, either in a separate post, or via the comments section for this post.

I must say at the outset, that I’m not one for waving the Union Jack and like most people on the Left, patriotic behaviour makes me feel a bit uncomfortable. I think this stems from patriotism’s association with Britain’s imperialist history and the propensity of the Right (especially the far Right) to wrap themselves in the flag and the xenophobic and racist outlook that inexorably seems to flow from this position.

The other troubling kind of patriotism, perhaps more accurately described as jingoism, is when it is related to war. I can still remember my horror during the Falklands war against Argentina in the early 1980’s when a kind of collective madness swept the country, and every young man it seemed, became an armchair general and weapons expert, egged on by the ‘red top’ press and the BBC. The term ‘Argie’ was coined to describe the Argentinians and I learnt never to trust the BBC’s reporting when the country’s armed forces are in action.

I have always separated sport from this kind of patriotism though, and tended to support Britons in sporting contests. Even then, although I have always loved football, it was mainly of the club variety, and my club, Manchester United in particular. United have always had something of the ‘Celtic fringe’ about them, and even before globalisation, were an internationalist club. At one time, I supported Scotland in the football against England, because there were quite a few United players in the Scotland team, and none in the England team.

Gradually, over the years, I have changed my mind on the England football team. With large screens in pubs these days to watch international football, I like the community feel of these events (always a disappointing sporting result), and the ensuing camaraderie of watching the game in communal surroundings such as this affords.

I’ve been lucky enough to be working in the Olympic park over the course of the London Games, and anyone who has been there cannot fail to have noticed the great atmosphere, with the flags of many nations displayed. There was a joyous, excited spirit amongst the volunteers and spectators and not even a hint of aggression, but instead a friendly and respectful ambience that was tremendous to experience. Coupled with the multi-cultural make-up of the British team, I think this was a positive type of patriotism.

The Observer newspaper published an opinion poll this week that finds that 75% of respondents believe that the Olympics showed Britain to be ‘a confident multi-ethnic country’. The same proportion of people said they supported all Team GB athletes equally regardless of where they were born. The same newspaper has a piece by Tim Soutphommasane, The Australian is a political philosopher and author of the book, The Virtuous Citizen: Patriotism in a Multi-cultural Society, who is advising the Labour party leader, Ed Miliband, on such matters. It is well worth a read.

Drawing on experience mainly from Australia, he says multi-culturalism has been about securing civic equality. A demand for inclusion and respect, not separation and privileged treatment, which has been undermined to some extent, by the emphasis on a ‘community of communities’. As though there could be no common ground, but only difference. He concludes that after the success of the London Olympics, many countries are looking to Britain as an example of a dynamic multi-cultural society united by a generous patriotism.

The political Left cannot afford to leave the monopoly of the concept of patriotism to the political Right, because it is a deeply embedded cultural phenomenon, and we should have the confidence not to cede this ground to their ugly, separatist type of patriotism. The London Olympics have showed us the way to celebrate our positive patriotism, multi-cultural, inclusive and respectful of our country and of other countries cultures and people. We can use this positive force to grab the flag back from those who would use it to divide us, at home and internationally.          

     

London 2012 Olympics – A Worker’s and Volunteer’s Games

Concerns about the corporate nature of the London Olympics have been reported on this blog here and here. Indeed, for the paltry sum of £700 million, out of a total cost of £9 billion, the corporate sponsors were always in your face, but they did not manage to define these Games in the popular imagination.

Rather, these Games will be remembered for the fantastic performances of the athletes (and especially the British athletes who galvanised the public mood in the host nation) who exemplified the Olympic ethos of sporting excellence and international spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play. Who can forget that magical Saturday night on 4^th August when three British athletes struck gold in one heady hour on the athletics track in the Olympic Stadium?

I was lucky enough to be able to witness this exciting session on television, because I wasn’t working a shift that night, a shift on the Olympics themselves. I was employed on the Games, working on transport at the stadium, as one of the thousands of ‘Games Maker’s’. Although many of the ‘Games Maker’s’ were volunteers some of us have been fortunate enough to be paid for our services, and paid quite well.

Aside from the sport itself, the ‘volunteers’ have been the biggest hit of London 2012, with their good humoured and enthusiastic efforts to welcome visitors and to ensure that the Games went as smoothly as possible. On my team, we had Games Maker’s from all over the country, and one from Germany, all staying with friends and relatives for the duration, and helping to make these Games an unforgettable experience.

On my way to and from work, people would uncharacteristically smile at me in my uniform and often strike up a conversation on the tube, about what my role was, would we win any medals today etc. I popped into one of my local shops on the way home from my shift one day, and was there for about 20 minutes, as everyone in the shop, staff and customers alike, wanted to talk to me. I must admit to feeling a bit of a fraud because I was being paid, when everyone assumed I was an unpaid volunteer. It was noticeable that the loudest cheer at the closing ceremony was for the volunteers.

London’s diverse nature was well reflected in the nationality and race of the Games Maker’s, with all parts of the world represented, symbolising contemporary London and the country at large. One night on my way home from my shift, a group of a dozen or so Games Maker’s in the Olympic Park, completely impromptu, were performing an African chanting and dancing routine to entertain the leaving throngs; and they were surrounded by a large crowd of watching, enchanted visitors. It kind of made me feel proud to be British.

Much talk is now of the legacy of these Games, and there is surely an opportunity now to encourage more people, particularly the young, to engage in sport at all levels. Women’s sport has benefited hugely from getting almost as much attention as the men, and women’s football, watched at times (even when Team GB weren’t playing) by crowds of 60, 70 and 80 thousand spectators, should able to build on this popularity.

But at the end of the day, for me, the legacy will be that over these past couple of weeks, Britain has re-defined itself at last. From the opening ceremony’s celebration of trade unions, the NHS, and the ‘Windrush’ generation, to the multi-cultural make-up of the Games Makers and the athletes, we have displayed our modern Britishness to the world, and indeed to ourselves.    

London Olympics 2012 - A Rogues' Gallery of Sponsors

We were promised the greenest most ethical Olympics ever. A look at the list of international sponsors showed that this would be an impossible dream. And despite all the belief in the great god of "the market" they still get exclusive rights in an area where we have also been responsible for part of the funding through our Council tax. Then Dow "Bhopal" Chemicals and Lloyds Bank, a suspect in the Libor rate fixing scam were added as local sponsors.

It was promised that jobs on the site would be given to local people. The Olympic Delivery Authority has argued that as this promise was made by the bidding group, which is an entirely separate organisation, they were not bound by it.

It was argued that it will increase participation in sport yet they concreted over a large part of the greatest area of public football pitches in the world. They say they will restore it afterwards but will the funding to do this be available and you can safely bet some developer has his eye on it.

There are still displaced small businesses that are waiting for their compensation but that pot of money has been completely used up.

However, Olympic lanes or no Olympic lanes, next Friday is the last Friday on the month and Critical Mass is still going ahead - after all it has been happening on the last Friday of the month since long before Britain decided to bid for the games.

On Saturday there is a demonstration against the corporate Olympics assembling in Mile end Park at 12 noon, marching to Victoria Park where there will be "People's games for all".   http://www.counterolympicsnetwork.wordpress.com/. The news is that Tower Hamlets council has withdrawn permission for this demo but it is still going ahead.

Written by Peter Budge, Haringey Green Green Party

Greenwash Olympics in London

Human rights and environmental pressure groups have joined forces to campaign against three sponsors of the London Olympics.

The protest campaign - called Greenwash Gold 2012 - has targeted Dow Chemical Company, BP and Rio Tinto.

The group has made three animated films about the firms and members of the public will be invited to vote online for the "worst corporate sponsor".

All three companies have defended their ethical record.

The films include footage of:

A survivor of the Bhopal gas leak disaster in 1984. Dow agreed to purchase the Union Carbide Corporation - whose subsidiary Union Carbide India ran the Bhopal pesticide plant - in 1999. The purchase was completed in 2001.
A representative from the Gulf Coast where communities have been dealing with the environmental impact of BP's oil spill in April 2010
A woman from Utah who claims she is fighting against "life-threatening" air pollution levels caused by one of the mines from which Rio Tinto is providing the metal for the Olympic metals.

'Money talks'

Meredith Alexander, who quit as a commissioner of the 2012's sustainability watchdog in protest over the link between the Bhopal disaster and Dow Chemical Company's involvement in the Games, chaired the campaign launch.

"The Olympic values are all about celebrating our common humanity. But the Olympics is also big business," she said.

"There is an expensive machine behind the Games that is funded by corporate sponsors. Sadly when these sponsors are selected, money talks much more loudly than values."

Dow has always denied any liability for the chemical gas leak and maintains the £288m ($470m) settlement for those affected is fair and final.

BP refused to comment on Greenwash Gold 2012, but in June 2010, the oil firm's regional vice president Peter Mather defended the company's actions.

"Our focus as a company is 100% on the Gulf of Mexico, doing the right thing - doing the right thing on the seabed and our focus is also on the shore," he said.

A Rio Tinto spokesman, defended the company's actions saying: "We operate within the parameters of our air permits and are consistently in compliance with US Environmental Protection Agency and Utah Division of Air Quality regulations, which are based on strict standards for protecting human health."

London 2012 is yet to comment on the campaign launch.

First published by the BBC here

The campaign group for a cleaner Olympics are the Counter Olympics Network