Noam Chomsky: Sports is a capitalist conspiracy

[The Don]

I agree.

Chomsky may be correct (debatable) that sports does provide training in irrational jingoism, group cohesion behind leadership elements and irrational attitudes of submission to authority, but his mistake is in assuming that just because something happens that it was planned by someone. Who? When? If these questions can't be answered with evidence, then it's just a conspiracy theory.

My highlighting. If he thinks this then he hasn't seen Premiership football. If you look at the attitude of the players and managers towards the match officials you might conclude that they are actually railing against authority.

 

[arthwollipot]

Let's face it, an obscene amount of money is poured into novels...

Novels??? Really? Movies I'll give you, but novels?

 

[Travis]

If only we lived in a completely logical society where all resources are used only for the basics of survival. Why we'd have a society not worth living in.

I mean how can anyone justify art in such a society?

 

[LSSBB]

My highlighting. If he thinks this then he hasn't seen Premiership football. If you look at the attitude of the players and managers towards the match officials you might conclude that they are actually railing against authority.

The NBA also.

 

[The Don]

The NBA also.

If Tommy Lasorda was anything to go by MLB was, and may still be...

 

[Checkmite]

Heck; even interplanetary and deep space astronomy might be considered frivolous in some respects since they cost lots of money that could be spent on the poor (et al) in return for mere scientific knowledge that is of little practical value outside of the field of astronomy; and amateur astronomers with their extremely expensive equipment definitely count. The same obscene amounts of misspent money, time, and resources are spent on aquatic and aviation pastimes. Hiking, backpacking, and related outdoor activities must be the worst in Chomsky's world, considering the disproportionately large time/money/energy commitment and practical lack of any substantial societal benefit.

 

[bobwtfomg]

I'm not very interested in sports myself, but come on! This is ridiculous!

So sports is a great capitalist conspiracy to keep people distracted from politics and make them jingoistic. One wonders what kind of entertainment there will be in Chomsky's ideal society. Will we all sit and discuss politics all day?

This is a strawman, Chomsky is saying that sports tend to "keep people distracted from politics and make them jingoistic" which is "why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on." He also says at the beginning of the paragraph before the ones quoted in the OP "This is an over simplification", which it certainly is, I would also say he's overstating the case especially in his use of the word indoctrination.

I agree.

Chomsky may be correct (debatable) that sports does provide training in irrational jingoism, group cohesion behind leadership elements and irrational attitudes of submission to authority, but his mistake is in assuming that just because something happens that it was planned by someone. Who? When? If these questions can't be answered with evidence, then it's just a conspiracy theory.

Do you have any evidence that he actually assumes this?

My highlighting. If he thinks this then he hasn't seen Premiership football. If you look at the attitude of the players and managers towards the match officials you might conclude that they are actually railing against authority.

Is this the authority he's referring to though ?, I thought he was talking more about the authority of the team captain, coach and manager

What do infantile insults like these add to the disscussion?

this just in: Chomsky was the geek who showed up in gym class in 7th grade wearing. Black socks with his white low tops.

Chomsky is a toolbag.

The whole world will take part in a massive sporting contest in which he will be picked first for every event and he will gleefully cackle as the entire planet is picked last and he isn't. Also occasionally cry.

 

[Joey McGee]

So stupid, it makes me want to puke.

I really hope that very little of society follows this man into the black hole of intellectual cancer he glorifies.

 

[McHrozni]

I'm not very interested in sports myself, but come on! This is ridiculous!

So sports is a great capitalist conspiracy to keep people distracted from politics and make them jingoistic. One wonders what kind of entertainment there will be in Chomsky's ideal society. Will we all sit and discuss politics all day?

History lesson: Some sort of sports/competitive games has been practiced in pretty much every culture on Earth. The Greeks may be the most well-known, but Germanic, Celtic, Eurasian steppe nomads, etc all had some sort of competitive games. A few months ago I read that Afghanistan had started practice its national sport that was prohibited during the Taliban era. I don't remember the name of the game, but they rode on horses while fighting for a dead goat, and was brought to the area by the Mongols during the Middle Ages. Evil Western capitalists trying to distract the Afghans by letting them do sports.

Sports and religion are historically among the first entertainment distractions. You need some in your life. If Chomsky fails to realize that he's out of touch far more than anyone probably ever realized.

McHrozni

 

[Corsair 115]

Let's face it, an obscene amount of money is poured into sports that otherwise could feed the poor, wipe out the national debt - of several countries - ensure every child got a good education and develop clean renewable power for the world, and still have change for lunch.

Except, of course, the same could be said for many other activities. Why single out sports for this criticism?

 

[Travis]

This is a strawman, Chomsky is saying that sports tend to "keep people distracted from politics and make them jingoistic" which is "why energy is devoted to supporting them and creating a basis for them and advertisers are willing to pay for them and so on." He also says at the beginning of the paragraph before the ones quoted in the OP "This is an over simplification", which it certainly is, I would also say he's overstating the case especially in his use of the word indoctrination.

Why is being distracted from politics a bad thing?

Seems to me politics gets mucked up by people taking it too seriously.

There is a reason talking politics is forbidden in most sports forums and isn't because powerful people want it that way. It is because people tend to really lose their minds and get irritating when politics comes into the picture.

 

[Polaris]

Agreed. Not that there is no value in sports, but that the price we pay (monetarily and otherwise) isn't commiserate with the value outside of the distraction. It's a distraction we (as societies) seem to value highly.

But I play video games and go to anime conventions which are pretty much the same thing with different levels of plusses and minuses (less competition for one).

At least one difference is if a video game designer or anime creator rapes a girl or two, or gets caught with a few bricks of Colombian candy cane, he will likely see the inside of a prison for more than a few weeks.

Sports and religion are historically among the first entertainment distractions. You need some in your life. If Chomsky fails to realize that he's out of touch far more than anyone probably ever realized.

McHrozni

I do perfectly well without either.

 

[Morrigan]

Is the OP a dishonest strawman? Where has Chomsky claimed that sports are created by someone as a conspiracy (instead of being part of society and perhaps being exploited by some)? Hell, the original article doesn't even have the world "capitalism" in it. WTF is with the thread title?

This is clearly going to be an unpopular view, but for the most part I agree with Chomsky. Except that sport isn't created in order to distract the masses, it's a natural part of society that is used to distract the masses. Panem et circenses, as it were.
[...]
Instead, we're treated at massive cost to this ridiculous weekly ritual where people in colourful costumes parade about kicking balls, or whacking them with sticks, or whatever. Just so one group of people can be declared better at an arbitrary and otherwise useless skill than another group of people.

Now, if you don't mind, I need to go find my asbestos underwear for the inevitable response.

Nah, you're pretty much spot-on. I don't like Chomsky much but he's right on this. Not that he's saying anything profound. I don't even know why it'd be a controversial statement.

 

[carlitos]

Novels??? Really? Movies I'll give you, but novels?

More than $25 Billion is spent on books in the USA each year. Trade books (which includes fiction) is about half of that, and fiction specifically is over $4 Billion.

 

[Checkmite]

Do you have any evidence that he actually assumes this?

The word that he uses to describe enjoyment of sports as a popular diversion is training. His use in context implies the existence of someone conducting the training.

Besides, Chomsky's entire worldview is based on the notion that an elite few are manipulating all the American masses. Is there any reason to believe he doesn't believe sports-fandom-as-training to be an example of that system?

Is this the authority he's referring to though ?, I thought he was talking more about the authority of the team captain, coach and manager

Fans don't interact with any of these people; so I don't understand how it is they're supposedly being trained to respect these folks' authority. Sports spectators are rather famous for not being afraid of vocally disapproving of team leadership or regulatory figures.

What do infantile insults like these add to the disscussion?

They're just opinions; like that sports enthusiasts are submissive, complacent jingoists.

 

[Caustic Logic]

Chomsky: sports is a capitalist conspiracy, the war on Syria is humanitarian and anti-Imperialist one against "almost the dictator [the israelis] want." http://sonsofmalcolm.blogspot.com/2013/06/chomsky-comes-out-on-side-with.html
Seems his better faculties have retired ahead of his mouth.

 

[bobwtfomg]

Why is being distracted from politics a bad thing?
snip

I didn't say it was, I quite like distractions myself

but noting that sport is a distraction, or suggesting that sport gets the high amount of media attention that it does, at least partially, because it is a distraction, or even by implying, as Chomsky does, that distractions are inherenty bad is not the same as saying that sport is a capitalist conspiracy.

 

[bobwtfomg]

Chomsky: sports is a capitalist conspiracy, the war on Syria is humanitarian and anti-Imperialist one against "almost the dictator [the israelis] want." http://sonsofmalcolm.blogspot.com/2013/06/chomsky-comes-out-on-side-with.html
Seems his better faculties have retired ahead of his mouth.

ok well that settles it, if some pro-Assad islamists think that Chomsky's a closet zionist then.......???? what exactly?

 

[Caustic Logic]

I don't know if Sukhat Chandan wrote that, but he's their main mouth and he's not even Muslim. But the quotes suggest Chomsky has opted to join the gatekeepers, and not just now, the writer says. I haven't kept up on what he's been saying, but sounds to me like he's missing a lot, for whatever reason.

 

[squealpiggy]

Novels??? Really? Movies I'll give you, but novels?

Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code sold over 4 million copies. Now that's obscene!

What do infantile insults like these add to the disscussion?

Sly humour.