"Of Savage Imperialism, Pigskin Monopolists, and Intellectual Emasculation"
"Two things only the people anxiously desire -- bread and circuses."
--Juvenal
Searching for masculine bliss incarnate?
Look no further than NFL football and its myriad machismo delights....
Fierce armor-clad gladiators applying wicked hits, battering each other relentlessly, engaging in bone-jarring collisions, and performing feats of near super-human athleticism....
Provocatively undressed cheerleaders manifesting our culture's ideal of feminine perfection.....
Rivers of ice cold beer gushing forth to satiate our desire to numb the mind and lower inhibitions....
And lest we forget, the NFL provides us with "Man Law" to shield us from our long repressed anima, which is constantly poised to assail our grossly exaggerated masculinity ....
For about six precious months of the year, the National Football League delivers heavy doses of testosterone, blood, adrenaline, and alcohol. Man fuel for its addicted minions. Through the grace of our corporate gods, a host of media innovations (including a network devoted to the NFL and painstakingly detailed year round analyses) have significantly diminished the agony of off-season withdrawal.
What could better reflect the collective psychosis of the American Empire than our mass obsession with the NFL? Born through violent revolution, expanded by genocide, enriched by slavery, and elevated to hegemony through imperialism, militarism, and economic tyranny, the United States, like NFL football, embodies avaricious savagery masked by a fastidiously maintained illusion of benevolent civility.
Arising from the same fetid bogs of spiritual decay that spawned the American Way, the NFL reeks with the stench of corporate tyranny, patriarchy, racism, superficiality, greed, competitiveness, and materialism.
Like the Roman Emperors, our corporate overlords provide their loyal subjects, with panem et circenses. While hundreds of thousands of human beings (including US Americans) are dying to advance United States geopolitical interests in Central Asia and the Middle East, many US Americans are more concerned with Peyton Manning's prowess under center, LaDainian Tomlinson's bushel basketfuls of touchdowns, or T.O.'s latest outrageous escapade.
In a 1992 speaking engagement concerning his book, Manufacturing Consent, Noam Chomsky observed:
"Take, say, sports -- that's another crucial example of the indoctrination system, in my view. For one thing because it -- you know, it offers people something to pay attention to that's of no importance. [audience laughs] That keeps them from worrying about -- [applause] keeps them from worrying about things that matter to their lives that they might have some idea of doing something about. And in fact it's striking to see the intelligence that's used by ordinary people in [discussions of] sports [as opposed to political and social issues]. I mean, you listen to radio stations where people call in -- they have the most exotic information [more laughter] and understanding about all kind of arcane issues. And the press undoubtedly does a lot with this."
It is worth noting that in a few weeks, about 125 million of the Empire's citizens will settle in for a day of hedonistic pleasure. Hallmark Cards calculated that the Super Bowl surpasses New Year's Eve as the biggest party day of the year. US Americans consume more food on "Super Sunday" than any day except Thanksgiving. Super Bowl celebrants will engorge themselves with about 15,000 tons of chips and 4,000 tons of popcorn(1). Meanwhile, 35,000 human beings will die of starvation(2) and our government will continue pouring half of our tax dollars into the murder machine they euphemistically refer to as the Department of "Defense".
Jason Miller is a recovering US American middle class suburbanite who strives to remain intellectually free. He is Cyrano's Journal Online's associate editor (http://www.bestcyrano.org/) and publishes Thomas Paine's Corner within Cyrano's at http://www.bestcyrano.org/THOMASPAINE/.
"What could better reflect the collective psychosis of the American Empire than our mass obsession with the NFL? Born through violent revolution, expanded by genocide, enriched by slavery, and elevated to hegemony through imperialism, militarism, and economic tyranny, the United States, like NFL football, embodies avaricious savagery masked by a fastidiously maintained illusion of benevolent civility."
I'm committing this to memory.
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Mar (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 155 comments)
on Saturday, January 13, 2007 at 4:33:20 PM
