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I won't argue that they would fit right in with any government Greece has had since Kapodistrias. However there are a lot of good people in Greece right now try

I won't argue that they would fit right in with any government Greece has had since Kapodistrias. However there are a lot of good people in Greece right now trying to turn the situation around, the Olympic games of the past made things even harder for them, I would hate to see it land on their lap again... They seems to bring the worst out in people.

saalweachter 10y ago
It's possible that, even though it'd be nice for historicity / tradition, the Games just aren't a good fit for Greece. But one of the things that turning the Games from a maybe-just-once event for a city/country to a recurring relationship does, is that it changes the nature of the profiteering. A one-time-only event encourages profiteers to cut as deeply as they can can and really screw their customers -- no repeat sales are possible. A recurring event still presents a large profit opportunity, but the recurrence encourages more cooperative profiteering. Contractors who don't come through or who overcharge beyond the pale don't get the repeat business. (Of course, this doesn't always happen, and long-term graft is definitely a thing, but at least there's a possibility things might be different with a permanent venue.)
- StavrosK 10y ago
  Even for tradition, the games in antiquity were much different from today's games. They used to be about the sport, whereas today they're about money (which is hard not to do when they're this popular, granted).
  - afarrell 10y ago
    Who organised the original games and provided the infrastructure for them and how much were they paid vs whipped?
    - cannonpr 10y ago
      Original games were organised by the city states and were primarily a means of showing off their best potential soldiers, though it served several other reasons as well, like most things it got complex. Fun fact, even though there was meant to be an Olympic truce, it was a much favored time to backstab your neighbour since lots of cities didn't expect it and as usual the victors wrote the books.

saalweachter 10y ago

It's possible that, even though it'd be nice for historicity / tradition, the Games just aren't a good fit for Greece. But one of the things that turning the Games from a maybe-just-once event for a city/country to a recurring relationship does, is that it changes the nature of the profiteering. A one-time-only event encourages profiteers to cut as deeply as they can can and really screw their customers -- no repeat sales are possible. A recurring event still presents a large profit opportunity, but the recurrence encourages more cooperative profiteering. Contractors who don't come through or who overcharge beyond the pale don't get the repeat business. (Of course, this doesn't always happen, and long-term graft is definitely a thing, but at least there's a possibility things might be different with a permanent venue.)

StavrosK 10y ago
Even for tradition, the games in antiquity were much different from today's games. They used to be about the sport, whereas today they're about money (which is hard not to do when they're this popular, granted).
- afarrell 10y ago
  Who organised the original games and provided the infrastructure for them and how much were they paid vs whipped?
  - cannonpr 10y ago
    Original games were organised by the city states and were primarily a means of showing off their best potential soldiers, though it served several other reasons as well, like most things it got complex. Fun fact, even though there was meant to be an Olympic truce, it was a much favored time to backstab your neighbour since lots of cities didn't expect it and as usual the victors wrote the books.