How come the majority of people know more about the hundreds of rules about how to run behind a ball than the basic laws and rules of a country?
How the ancient slogan “Bread and games” could become a new hype!
People are in general more into sports than into politics. If you ask someone on the street about a certain rule in Football you would hear the exact recited rule and dozens of examples in previous games to it. If you ask someone about a law that is affecting everyone you might just see a shrug of shoulders.
How come the majority of people know more about the hundreds of rules about how to run behind a ball than the basic laws and rules of a country?
Because politics is not a subject in school, nor is in normalized in mainstream entertainment. You don’t talk about it with friends (except if there is a wing candidate winning in elections). You vote for a candidate, and then you expect that he/she is doing everything like you would do it.
But politicians rise to the occasion, and so the frustration rises while you follow your favorite football team and support it with buying their scarf, lifting their flag and paying the overpriced stadium tickets.
Today’s Football attracts people the same way like ancient romans loved their gladiator fight or Mayas their Mayan Original. The only difference is: It is a peaceful event. Or it should be. The latest terrorist attacks in France and Belgium let the authorities fear that there could be another attack during the European Masterships this June.
But the sold out stadiums are showing that Europe is not change its style because of terrorists in this case. The European Masterships will affect millions of people in a positive way. They will watch the games live, on a public screening or at home in front of their TV. 24 different nations will fight. They fight in peace.
In 2018 it will be the World mastership with many more teams and viewers. It is not only Football. Rugby, Ice hockey, Skiing, Formula 1 races etc. are giving us a common topic: Every sport discipline leads people away from hate to passion. Of cause there are Hooligans as well. But most of the fans are peaceful. And this is a global effect.
Politicians are using sport events since the ancient time to distract from problems that they caused or could not handle. The ancient Olympic games were the first documented exception. If you take aside the religious part these games took place just because of sports.
Politics should be seen and handled like sports. They should include their fans and they should fight for goals. They should celebrate them. But if the opposite team wins a game/topic they should tolerate it. In the end a game is only possible if you play in a team against other teams under a certain rules. One of these rules should be that the main goal is to make life better and to respect each other.