With these Games only half-way over, the writing is already on the wall.

How many countries would have died to host this event during such dire economic times. A waste of money, some say but what real option was there?

To continue to linger in the doldrums of our unemployment lines and dwell in our wintery slumber? No way.

What’s better to raise the spirits during such challenging times than by throwing a big party.

It was as though a flash mob was called to protest it but everyone turned up then turned into believers. Love is in the air here.

Not Vancouver but it just as well could be. Adpulp.com

So what have been the benefits? So far?

If you haven’t noticed already, the Olympics is no longer just about sport. It could be but what a wasted opportunity and totally unfeasible when this big.

Today in Vancouver you will see its more about pride and the exchange of cultures. Not just those of host-city Vancouver or host-nation Canada,

but the sharing of music, arts, foods, history between participant nations. Indeed this is World Expo all over again.

Every Canadian province and major country is represented here in their hastily constructed people-friendly embassies, impressive marquees sprouting from underdeveloped piece of raw land within the city core.

None bigger than the French Quarter representing Quebec planted gracefully on Granville island. But even more, the Olympics is about ideals, about humanity and fostering goodwill between man and nation.

Perhaps not perfect but far better than what most political leaders are able or willing to offer, or dream.

But its more than just a big hoo-ha. Economists describe the need for stimulus packages to shake us out of economic despair: a shot in the arm. A boost. A kick-start. A defibrillation.

They say for it  to work effectively it  needs to be  immediate, short term and temporary through job creation, building infrastructure, encouraging spending & lending.

If so, these Olympics fit the bill. And if our political leaders are to spend our money on chasing prosperity what better place to start?

If the economic market is merely a collective of our emotional states, then Vancouver will be the epicentre of a full recovery.

Read Part 2 here