Those of you that know me, know I am not or never have been a great fan of the Olympics disrupting the greatest city on earth purely for the benefit of the same chosen few that benefit from everything at our expense. However, I did tune in for the opening ceremony on Friday purely because I know I will be mithered with images of it literally until the day I shuffle off this mortal coil, so I might as well be familiar with it from the off.
Now here's a thing, I really really liked it and I thought Danny Boyle did a great job of putting together the greatest variety show on earth. Never mind it was a bit bats, a bit mad and a few Midwesterners from Milwaukie and Mitt Romney had no idea what the hell was going on, but that's what made it great. Credit where credit is due.
Something struck me though yesterday when I was thinking about it, I think we actually have the answer to a lot of our problems staring right in the face in the form of Mr Danny Boyle or at least someone like him. Let me explain. Danny managed to put on a spectacle that is about as far away from the mandarins, men in grey suits, unimaginative, fearful, scary, out of touch people who govern us and administer us.
Somehow Danny managed to escape their influence and even got the Queen in on the act - no mean feat that. Now if this was actually left to the Department of Fun (ahem Sport) to organise, they would still be discussing the terms of reference to the many meetings held to discuss how to hold meetings and the Olympics would have been and gone and on its way to Brazil by now. In fact that's probably what they are still doing not realising the thing is in full swing a mile down the road.
Can you imagine what the man would do if he got his hands on the Treasury, this is a man with a keen sense of what the common person wants, is used to seeing things written down and turning a vision into something tangible and enjoyable that people will pay good money to watch. He is a proven leader, knows what he is doing and is good at it. He has form in managing large scale budgets, employing people, working to deadlines, making pots and pots of money, inspiring, motivating people to get the best out of them . Bearing in mind most of the 'actors' were actually volunteers doing it for free in their own time. He inhabits the real world, knows how to do a real job, and has won a load of awards on the back of it. He also, given his working class background probably knows a thing or two about struggle, hard graft, against a backdrop of lack of opportunity and privilege. I reckon he would give it a right good shot to be honest.
In fact that is partly where a lot of our current problems stem from, we are all at the mercy of people who have no idea of the real problems we are all facing, in terms of financial hardships, lack of opportunity, poor education, being battered from all sides, uncertain futures, unemployment, no hope of ever owning our own homes, fearful about growing old as we cannot afford to be old and infirm given the state of everything. We have crooks 'managing' our money, doing their best to embezzle it out of us, working for money launderers fiddling interest rates and charging us fortunes for being £5 overdrawn, leaders who couldn't care less too busy chatting about hell knows what whilst on European breaks at our expense, literally while Rome, Madrid, Athens, Dublin etc actually burn. None of them have a clue and its frightening, in fact name one that has ever had a job outside of a think tank! Its hard isn't it?
We need leaders like Danny now more than ever before, wouldn't it be brilliant if that is what the Olympics legacy actually became, a lesson in how to create from nothing (ok a right few billions), by sheer doggedness (he actually got the Queen to star in the show!), talent, professionalism, determination, hard work, and creativity.
Wouldn't it be fantastic if that inspires scores of people from all kinds of backgrounds to persevere to be the best they can be for the benefit of all of us, who actually know what they are doing and are sensible in coming up with ways of getting us out of the mess we are in. Hell I think its even got me going. Instead of this thing furthering Sebastian Coe's career, let it further Danny's whose future on the back of Friday night is well assured.
I for one do not begrudge him that.