Topic: Ignorance
Sports: The Opiate of the Masses
Karl Marx's dictum, that religion is the opiate of the masses, does not hold true in America. Rather, professional sports have become the opiate of the masses, distracting them from far more important things.
by Alexander Massa
(libertarian)
Thursday, December 24, 2009
It seems that in modern day America, Marx's dictum, that religion was the opiate of the masses, does not hold true. Rather, it seems that professional sports have become the opiate of the masses; an escape from reality, if you will. Many people think that sports are merely a harmless form of entertainment. However, that assertion could not be further from the truth. Far from being harmless entertaiment, sports, in addition to a myriad of other things, are being used to lull and keep the public asleep, so that they do not take notice of the monumental changes taking place in America and around the world.
The world is collapsing around us, and yet 90% of the adult male population either couldn't care less or aren't even aware of what is going on. They seem to believe that the result of a football or baseball game is more important than the outcome of a national election. There is truly something wrong with the citizenry if they think that entertainment is the most important thing in the world. Entertainment, such as sports, were originally supposed to be treats meant to be partaken in sparingly. Now, however, people do nothing but entertain themselves. People spend countless hours of their lives watching television or playing video games when they could be doing more meaningful things, such as reading a book, taking a walk outside, or playing with their children.
Of all the entertainment forms, sports seems to hypnotize people like nothing else. People postpone or put off more important things just so they can sit down and watch the "game" and cheer for their "team"; as if the multi-million dollar sports players even care about the teams, or the fans, for that matter. People seem to think that their very existences hinge on whether or not a team win a meaningless game. It is truly sad to see grown men crying over a lost football game, but it just goes to show how brainwashed and dumbed-down our population has become.
Furthermore, it becomes extremely disturbing and frightening to see people resort to violence to deal with their anger revolving around a sporting event. It happens all the time; people rioting in the streets, flipping cars, and torching buildings to protest (or even celebrate, stunningly) the outcome of a sporting event. Yet, these are the same people who would not lift a finger, never mind a firearm, to protect and defend their very liberties against those among us who seek to confiscate them and reduce us to serfdom.
It is very disappointing to see people get angry over a sports game and then not get angry over an election or the sorry state of our country. The world is crumbling around us, yet it apparently is far less important than a Red Sox - Yankees game. These fake rivalries have become more divise than partisan politics or religion. There are actually people who genuinely hate others simply because they support a certain sports team. That is not only stupid, it is dangerous. Our country is already divided; do we really need more divisiveness now, especially when it is concerning something so unimportant as sports? To think that there have actually been deaths and mortal wounds inflicted on people because of sports rivalries is something that I cannot (no will I ever be able to be) comprehend. There have actually been cases where people have murdered each other because they support a certain sports team. What does that say about our country? Furthermore, what does that say about our priorities? We'll kill for the Red Sox or the Yankees, or the Jets or the Patriots, but we wouldn't kill to defend liberty and ward off tyranny? We'll foster hatred in our hearts for our fellow Americans because they like a certain team, but we refuse to hate those who hate liberty?
I find it rather humorous that people view sports with a tribal mentality. They seem to believe that just because they sit on their couch with a foam finger that they somehow are a part of the team, when they, in fact, are not. Also, when said team wins or loses, sports fans have the audacity to say "we won" or "we lost". We won. Really? You won? Were you out there on the field playing the game? No, of course not. It is just that these wayward lost souls want to feel as though they are a part of something marginally important, so they pretend that they are an integral part of a team that a) doesn't personally even know they exist and b) couldn't care less about them even if they did know the person in question. Sports is all about money, not loyalty to some stupid "team" that has turned into some modern-day tribe. After all, if it were about loyalty, teams wouldn't so cavalierly trade players like they so often do.
It is very frustrating to try to explain this to someone who themselves are brainwashed. People refuse to believe something so "innocuous" as sports could pose such a deadly threat to the Republic. But people do not recognize that sports themselves aren't the problem; the people who have a slavish devotion towards them are. People who are so obsessed with sports that they neglect other, much more important, parts of their lives are the problem and they are a serious one at that.
Americans need to turn off, tune out, and drop in. We need to wake up and come to the aid of our dying Republic in these fateful days. May God Bless America and wake up her citizens, before it is too late. For we WILL regret it if we do not preserve our Republic. Sadly, it may already be too late to combat the forces of tyranny at work in America. We can only hope that it is not too late...
http://www.nolanchart.com/article7178.html
