Support The Troops

The Super Bowl is upon us. An inoculation against the forthcoming media circus.

At a certain point, we are -- in part -- defined by this tendency. That America endorses the NFL's pain party starts to say something about the country. Such as: American culture is replete with couch-jockeys who feel more masculine for having watched other people destroy themseves. Or: American culture is fine with perpetuating a system of destruction, so long as a few, mostly poor people are involved. In many ways, our attitudes towards fetishized athletes mirror our attitudes towards those glorious troops whom we only support with platitudes. This is not good.

I've heard the counter arguments. Yes, football players choose their lot. Yes, they have agency. But really, what does it say about us -- that this is the lot we most often choose? Are we a nation so insecure, so stupid, as to wholly embrace a sport of gladitorial violence?

(I can already hear friends, calling me a "pussy" for possibly caring.)

Previously.