The 31st Olympic summer games are underway in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and thousands of athletes and spectators from around the world have gathered for the event which will serve as prime time entertainment for the next couple of weeks. Every four years an insane amount of money is dumped into the spectacle as host cities and the Olympic committee construct arenas, stadiums and press quarters, leaving megalithic ruins in their wake.
Most of the news coverage about the events in Rio are centered around the pomp and splendor of athleticism, hoping to portray the affair as an opportunity for the world to feel united in sport, yet the truth is always hidden from the highlights and coverage: the world is suffering from terrible inequality and the fallout of economic tyranny, and the divide between the haves and have-nots is now greater than it has ever been.
Rio de Janeiro is an increasingly troubled city, known for its sprawling favelas, where the poor live in zinc-roofed shacks, rivaled only by the slums of India. Yet some $4.6 billion has spent already in creating the facilities for the 2016 summer olympics, which will be used for just two weeks, then forgotten, and when all other expenses are factored in, some $12 billion dollars will be spent on the show. Meanwhile, the average monthly salary in Brazil is around $778, which explains why so much of Rio is so desperately poverty-stricken. Full story...
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