[RhetoricThug]

Racism is bad, physical assault is questionable, depending on your subculture.

May it be, Fantasy football is so big that it has developed its own moral? Will this morality impact the next national election? I will not be answering those questions, but it is something for you to think about.

After observing the Donald Sterling fiasco under the NBA and seeing all the reactionary outcry in the United States (especially from sport fans), I wondered why one rich supercilious racist would be gobbled up so quickly by American Media. I mean, was anyone actually surprised by his racist remarks? I found the coverage to be hyperbolic, and nauseating. Now, with contrast, we observe little reactionary outcry over an athlete physically assaulting his girlfriend. Then, again, we see little reactionary outrage when an athlete assaults his kid. Was anyone actually surprised by their actions? So why is the rich racist under more scrutiny than the rich athlete?

Explanation: Members of any subculture always hold their group's super ego ahead of their individual ego. One's ID (Id, ego and super-ego, The super-ego can stop one from doing certain things that one's ID may want to do) can be nonplussed very easily by group-think. This is why sport society can demonize Donald Sterling, whilst keeping tight lips concerning idols they hold dear.

But what can I expect from an audience suffering from permanent adolescence. Watching grown men dress up in stage attire and play children's games, over organizing the primitive spectacle, taking their entertainment too seriously and in large doses. Contrived sportsmanship essentially replaced statesmanship. Which is a good thing, because we wouldn't want children running our government, right? Dealing with cultural subversion in the real world, sport fans make up for it by forming abstract communities based on trivial pursuit and amusement. All perception and activity within the sport subculture is reinforced by socioeconomic principle. The business side of sport subculture profits off the conformity of each sport fan. The sport fan profits off conformity by gaining a sense of comfort in communal identity, knowing he has a place and is not alone.

Beyond the institutionalized competitive behavior taught by public educators who indoctrinate developing minds so they can participate fluidly as adults in our competitive economic system; sport ties productivity(status), distraction(entertainment), and social conformity(super ego) together. Intellectualism and study is left for thinkers who will bond together through one distinctly different field of competitiveness. Athletic complex is mainly genetic disposition. So in order to attract a sexual partner, men and women use their mind or their body, sometimes both. Notice, misogynistic tendencies, as some social scientists would say, when observing several beautiful women on the sideline of a sporting event being held for all male athletes. Although one can clearly understand maleness and its dominance over females in Western culture, the cheerleader is on the sidelines for two reasons. One, she is using her body as a productive, distracting, social confirmation. Two, genetic disposition. The former being something she learns from culture (family, information media, institutions, etc), the latter being inborn.

As professor Henry Jules once wrote: "What is important in attempting to grasp American social character, however, is that the athletic complex is a great machine for generating communal self-hood. The teams are great hearts pumping Self-substance into the anemic Self of the community. When the team wins the communal Self is replenished. The reason athletics have such high status is that the teams generate Self-substance to some degree for almost everyone, not just for athletes. The status of the Self with reference to a team of which one is not a member is peculiar, for though a team rooter experiences a transient enhancement of his Self if the team wins, some depression if it loses, its failure does not touch him at his core. The rooter is in the unique position of being able to vibrate during the game as if he were a true Self, and to accept team success while insulating himself against the effects of failure. It is true, of course, that the "fan" becomes quite sad when his team is in a losing streak, but his depression is mild compared to that of members of the team. On the other hand, he can feel exalted when the team wins. Teams are externalizations of the communal Self-system, that permits it to expand when the game is won, but do not cause it to collapse when the game is lost. Hence their importance in American life."


The best part is, Donald Sterling made money off his racist remarks by selling his team to some other aristocrat, Steve Ballmer. Ray Rice's future wife and AP's kid will have to deal with physical abuse, I guess. It does make sense, not wanting to prosecute one of your own, right?


-RT