Like many Americans, I enjoy a good game of football. Every year I'm excited to watch the Super Bowl, and there's nothing wrong with that.
Of course, that's just my opinion. Many would disagree.
Social critics compare modern sports to the ancient roman colosseum, citing the poet Juvenal's quote, "give them bread and circuses and they will never revolt."
Many call popular entertainment, like football, a form of distraction utilized by elitists to keep the public satiated, dulled and blissfully unaware of politics, global news and what's really going on behind the curtain.
It's a fair assessment. Football and other entertainment can certainly be a distraction. If the average person is perpetually fired up about football players and sports rivalries, they're less likely to be engaged in political revolution.
Sports broadcasting is not much different from how the media controls what people see and hear. It can be hypnotic.
Football is an elitist psychological operation designed to keep Americans dumb and ignorant, but it doesn't have to be. It could become the opposite of that.
I am keenly aware that I am distracted whenever I watch a football game. I allow this because I'm choosing to be entertained. I'm in control.
After the excitement of the game winds down, I ask myself, "what took place in the world while I was enjoying this game of football?"
Because football has been historically criticized as an elitist tool of distraction, I am driven to follow up on the period I watched the game with becoming informed. Football provokes me to research global events. If I were doing something else during that time, like running errands, I probably wouldn't feel as compelled.
Football, thus, keeps me more engaged with politics, not less.
If elitists designed popular sports to distract the public from more serious issues, we can make it backfire on them. We can allow football to be like an alarm that reminds us to check in on world events. Enjoy the game, then connect with independent world news outlets.
Governments and global elitists will try to keep you distracted and dimwitted; that is true. But we can employ those distractions to our benefit and make them powerless against us.
We can be well-rounded individuals who enjoy some sport, have fun with our friends and family, and be politically aware and in tune with what's happening in the world.
Touchdown.
If you enjoyed this, you may also like 'The Most Dangerous Virus is The Media'.
