Chomsky has one talent and only one talent - identifying the existence of a problem (although he shares that with countless others and in reality it takes no real talent to do so and maybe his other talent is garnering the support of socialists). His weakness is that on the whole he attributes the problem to free market entrepreneurialism. In this case popular sport is not a means by which people are conditioned to think in a manner which enhances the position of the elites - popular sport is nothing more than the product of a market that is designed to enhance profits. In the same way that falafels, Toyotas and "The Walking Dead" are produced, popular sport is a product sold to consumers in an attempt to meet perceived need and enhance the profit of those who produce it, it is not some subversive subliminal media message. Popular sport is not mandated viewing, we are free to opt-in or opt-out. Clearly, Chomsky has never participated in competitive sport for if he had he would understand that it is just an expression of human achievement, and in the case of the popular sports on TV, one of the greatest of human achievements. Chomsky is as guilty as committing irrational jingoism as those whom he criticises.
. Landing on the moon . Conquering infectious disease . Lowering the infant mortality rate . Popular sports on TV . Rising agricultural yields One of these doesn't belong in the list.
Obviously like Chomsky you have no appreciation for the capacity for the human body to achieve physical feats, sports prowess is no less an achievement than scientific or economic achievements.
I can admire individual physical achievement, but take no pleasure from one tribal group subduing another, backed by the savage screams of their followers.
I don't watch or participate in sports, I think it is just an opportunity for aggressive behaviour in a controlled environment. I think it reinforces the differences between people rather than bringing them together in a shared enjoyment and I think it has been subverted into just another money making racket full of corruption, cheating and "Gamesmanship". Having said that I understand that it provides an enormous amount of stress relief and entertainment for millions of people around the world. It keeps people employed including some people who would otherwise struggle to achieve such a high status in any other field. To compare it to something like landing on the moon is a bit disingenuous, both have their place in society, both improve the quality of life for many people and both are irrelevant to large numbers of other people. The fact that popular sports have managed to infiltrate most peoples lives, generate such a massive amount of income and remain relevant all this time is an achievement in itself, regardless of how pointless I think it is.
There's a nice bit of irony in seeing anti-collectivist individuals engaging in tribalism, whether it's nationalism, or cheering for the athletes wearing the colours of an entertainment company and it's advertisers. Athletic prowess is an achievement, but commercialisation has corrupted it. The noble ideals of the first olympics are lost in the modern age of bribery and use of PEDs. I recon this song sums it up pretty well - [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fraSdN-PG8[/youtube]
People who bag sports generally don't understand how and why they work. Sport is a medium for harnessing (and providing an outlet for) mankinds tribalist human nature. In many cases international sports people are effectively ambassadors and representatives of their country and culture. If they do their job properly they become role models and examples for how to behave and respect different countries and cultures. Unfortunately I don't think a lot of Americans "get it" with respect to that aspect of sport because their sports are very insular. But it works for the rest of the world quite well IMHO. I watch a lot of cricket personally and as a result I've been exposed to a lot of different cultures and ways of life. I've seen matches played between India and Pakistan for instance (2 countries who hate each other) and seen real dialogue and reconciliation occurring on the cricket field and in the crowds. Anyone who watched the world cup and followed the progress of the Afghanistan team will similarly see the power of what sport can do and the triumph of human spirit (many players were in refugee camps only years prior) In my book a true sports lover can appreciate the skills and abilities of players that are NOT from their own tribe. Sure there will always be the violent uneducated minorities who will take the tribalism too far, but that can be contained in a controlled environment (stadium security etc) rather than pop up in random places. Then when true sports fans can transcend the tribalism it can really go a long way to break down the ignorance, intolerance and xenophobia that is (still) prevalent in the modern world.
You forgot freely downloadable, near-unlimited, wide variety, pornography in high definition on demand available from nearly anywhere. Now THAT is an achievement.
