Direct action against olympic sponsor in Bristol

bristol | sport | opinion/analysis Saturday August 25, 2012 07:37 by Team Bristol

LLoyds TSB on Church Road, St. George, Bristol was attacked on the night after the closing ceremony of the olympics.

(Sports commentator) "Well they may not have trained very hard or long for this one, but this team is looking good! They've set their sights on a good result tonight.You can just see the focus and determination in their eyes, even if you won't ever see their faces. They're used to working as a team and doing what has to be done. They know how to relax under pressure and they understand they are part of something much bigger, willing and proud to take up the baton from those who have gone before them. And they're off! The crowds go wild as the anti olympics event hits it's stride here in Bristol. Well, that all happened so quick! And yes, it's a new personal best for this team and it's not just a record that was broken this evening. Olympic sponsor Lloyds TSB on Church Road in St. George had all big windows smashed by the shotput event and the quickest spraypaint on record will certainly leave it's mark! "Going for gold" indeed! See how fast the team pulled away, leaving the pack behind them and positively bolting away! Inspirational! And here's what the team had to say":

With small actions like this we continue a long and proud story of anti olympic struggle. We stand alongside all who have seen through the carefully manufactured image of "the games" and chosen to resist. We took this action the day after the closing ceremony to show that our struggle hasn't finished. We send solidarity to all who are prepared to to go the distance in resistance.

The "greatest show on earth" is everywhere, with surround spin and relentless, multi million media hype designed to make us believe that "the games" really are ours. Millions of people are won over by emotional stories of human triumph and heartwarming success. "Support your team". Get behind the flag. Get with the logo. Stay under control (or else!...). Belong. Believe. And suddenly, as if by magic, "We're all in this together" again as the olympic cooling up of patriotism and government, consumerism and capitalism, does it's trick.
The olympics are not ours. They belong to the capitalist class who really are going for gold. They don't have to dig deep, neither, and the profits are truly staggering. Whether it's sponsorship and brand placement, lucrative contracts and deal sealing opportunities, or real estate "development" and gentrification, mass media and merchandising, the real winners in all of this are the corporations. For them, the olympics are yet another chance for doing big business and expanding their influence and control. They have embedded themselves, parasite style, into the heart of the games. It is these same corporations that loot and suck the life out of our communities and streets and yet now we're somehow supposed to share this one big happy olympic community with them. Sponsors like Lloyds TSB get a good name by funding the torch relay, while in other lands they fund torture.
And of course the olympics is a dream showcase for the security industry and an overwhelming show of strength and exercise in power for the state. While so many of us remain glued to the screens, so euphorically distracted, no one seems to notice the record breaking acceleration of control and surveillance measures all around us. How is that thousands of police, security and miltary personnel on our streets, together with a huge build up of heavy weaponry and a seemingly unstoppable race for all the latest tools and technologies of repression, can be accepted so easily and quickly, without question or comment, let alone opposition? The olympic experiment in expanding and deepening social control and pacification seems to be raising the bar, and the authorities will undoubtedly be happy with the results.

Because if there is anything of these "games" that is truly ours, it will be the "legacy" of total policing, intensification of surveillance and more effective, invasive mechanisms of repression and control. All of this, alongside the gentrification of the affected communities and the confidence boost for cops, capitalists and politicians, will last long after the hype and hysteria of the olympics has passed.