Good riddance.

The Dakar Rally was cancelled in 2008 by the race directors, citing political unrest and terrorist threats against the race. Good riddance I say.

In a world that is facing the threat of climate change, I can hardly see the sense in racing a truck through the desert. Well, not just trucks but cars, quads and motorcycles too. In a world of gps, airplanes and instant communication, do we really need to still prove that we can drive over the last little bits of wilderness left in the world in rather outmoded forms of transport? In the TV advert, showing various vehicles doing the best to destroy the desert and other competitors, the last shot is of someone saying sarcastically "oh yeah, lets do the Dakar". I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of the entries start like that, late night down the pub - admittedly at a rather high end pub - this is not the sport of the masses. In a rush to create heroes, I'm sure the competitors (which from the organisers website, it looks like are all male) would complain about the gruelling steering wheel turning and gear changing, and the advertisers would flock to this camel man adventure.

There must be a better way to compete. Not only to show off physical and mental ability of the competitors, but maybe to do something for the planet (hell, even for other people!). This isn't a call for more of the bleeding heart side show, yes I know they donate to SOS Sahel. Stop here for a moment, go to the organisations website, see the 14 white staff (out of a staff of... 15) and get into a discussion about European solutions for Africa. I am not talking about donating a percentage of the takings to a (very worthy, I'm sure) cause. I mean make it the central part of the competition.

Competition seems to have done so well at ripping apart the fabric of our planet, her ecosystems and our societies. In the end of the day though, competition is not inherently bad or good. Nor are we, and just as we can fail to set any positive goal for competition we can consciously decide to make competition a catalyst for change. With all the creativity we have, is there no one who could create a reality TV show for good, that would still manage to sell prime time TV commercials?

I'm sure there is, but in the mean time, I'm just overjoyed that all those litres of fuel aren't going to be burnt this year, getting people somewhere they don't really need to be and probably wouldn't want to be after the champagne stopped flowing. Now, who's got some good ideas for stopping F1?


Thanks to my dad for reminding me I have a blog...