Another Stupor-Bowl Brought To You By The Pentagon

Let’s start with a part of an article on professional sports by the great George Orwell:

http://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/spirit/english/e_spirit
“Instead of blah-blahing about the clean, healthy rivalry of the football field and the great part played by the Olympic Games in bringing the nations together, it is more useful to inquire how and why this modern cult of sport arose. Most of the games we now play are of ancient origin, but sport does not seem to have been taken very seriously between Roman times and the nineteenth century. Even in the English public schools the games cult did not start till the later part of the last century. Dr Arnold, generally regarded as the founder of the modern public school, looked on games as simply a waste of time. Then, chiefly in England and the United States, games were built up into a heavily-financed activity, capable of attracting vast crowds and rousing savage passions, and the infection spread from country to country. It is the most violently combative sports, football and boxing, that have spread the widest. There cannot be much doubt that the whole thing is bound up with the rise of nationalism — that is, with the lunatic modern habit of identifying oneself with large power units and seeing everything in terms of competitive prestige. Also, organised games are more likely to flourish in urban communities where the average human being lives a sedentary or at least a confined life, and does not get much opportunity for creative labour. In a rustic community a boy or young man works off a good deal of his surplus energy by walking, swimming, snowballing, climbing trees, riding horses, and by various sports involving cruelty to animals, such as fishing, cock-fighting and ferreting for rats. In a big town one must indulge in group activities if one wants an outlet for one’s physical strength or for one’s sadistic impulses. Games are taken seriously in London and New York, and they were taken seriously in Rome and Byzantium: in the Middle Ages they were played, and probably played with much physical brutality, but they were not mixed up with politics nor a cause of group hatreds.”

Here is an article I wrote for the last fucking tribal-militarist propaganda ritual called the “Super Bowl”:

These days it should be painfully obvious that the military treats their veterans like used Kleen-ex. They’re heroes when the corporations trot them off to war, and seem to be disposed of when they return as damaged goods. No amount of “Wounded Warrior” programs run by civilians can keep up with the seemingly endless supply of underemployed young people who are sent to fight useless wars – almost like it was planned that way.
What surprised me was the fact that the Pentagon is actually paying NFL teams to stage huge, nationalistic celebrations of past, present and future carnage. Take a look at this from “Business Insider”:

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-pentagon-pays-the-nfl-millions-to-honor-veterans-at-games-2015-5
The Pentagon paid 14 NFL teams $5.4 million to ‘salute troops’
Natasha Bertrand
May 12, 2015,

The NFL reportedly accepted millions of dollars from the defense department over the course of three years in exchange for honoring troops and veterans before games, the New Jersey Star Ledger reports.
The Pentagon reportedly signed contracts with 14 NFL teams — including the New York Jets, the Indianapolis Colts and the Baltimore Ravens — between 2011-2012 stipulating that teams would be paid sums ranging from $60,000-$1 million each (in federal taxpayer money) to pause before the start of games and salute the city’s “hometown heroes,” according to nj.com.
Agreements also include advertising on stadium screens and sideline ‘Coaches Club’ seats for soldiers.
Congress and the President recently imposed strict caps on military spending as part of an austere new budget.
The military has defended the funding it provides to the NFL, stating that it is an effective recruitment tool for soldiers.
“Promoting and increasing the public’s understanding and appreciation of military service in the New Jersey Army National Guard increases the propensity for service in our ranks,” National Guard spokesman Patrick Daugherty told nj.com, referring to the $377,000 the Jets received from the Jersey Guard between 2011-2014.
Other teams that received taxpayer funds include the Cincinnati Bengals ($138,960) Cleveland Browns ($22,500), the Green Bay Packers ($600,000), Pittsburgh Steelers, ($36,000) Minnesota Vikings ($605,000), Atlanta Falcons ($1,049,500), Buffalo Bills ($679,000), Dallas Cowboys ($62,500), Miami Dolphins ($20,000), and St. Louis Rams ($60,000), according to a nj.com breakdown.
New Jersey senator Joe Pennachhio has since called for the teams to donate the money to charity.
“If these teams want to really honor our veterans and service members they should be making these patriotic overtures out of gratitude for free,” Pennachhio told nj.com. “And the millions of dollars that have already been billed to taxpayers should be donated to veterans’ organizations.”
The payments are being criticized by some who say that the practice is not only unethical, but also hypocritical — citing a renewed focus on integrity and transparency, the NFL fined the New England Patriots $1 million and suspended Patriots quarterback Tom Brady for the team’s alleged role in deflating footballs before games.
Many fans are aware that the NFL is a leading recruitment tool for the military — the National Guard advertisements displayed on stadium screens are clearly sponsored content.
But few fans know that the defense department is funneling taxpayer money into the NFL in exchange for veteran tributes.
“The public believes they’re doing it as a public service or a sense of patriotism,” U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) told the Star Ledger. “It leaves a bad taste in your mouth.”
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I believe a deeper analysis of this would suggest that these sports events in themselves are an example of a type of mass hypno-programming of the population who get sucked into the spectacle. Much like a Nuremburg Rally of the past, Fans (fanatics) in the stadiums and couch potatoes at home sit on the edge of their seats and scream in unison for the team they support. In reality, that team is “Team USA”.
Flyovers of the most destructive machines of war demonstrating the might of The American Empire, a superpower that drops “American Exceptionalism” from 30,000 feet – contrast with some proud but broken soldiers planting the stars and stripes in the freshly vacuumed Astroturf. The lines of distinction begin to blur; the fanatic viewers model themselves as the actual athletes in vicarious confusion. At the same time, the athlete is melded into the military soldier, hence the fanatic viewers themselves are transformed into the warrior.
Targeting the hive-mind of millions of viewers is textbook in effectiveness. Already in a heightened state of agitation and anxiety for “the team”, the fanatic viewer is subjected to predictive programming tricks that steer emotions. Forced submission to the authority of the military display, to the military structure of the team, to the actual “combat” on the field and finally to the subliminal advertising through music, Mom and apple pie. The fanatic viewer is a hero, the society at large can kick anybody’s ass, and the State is all-powerful.
Got a shitty job? Unhappy in life? Well Bud Light and cheerleaders will sweep you away – as you consider just how much girls love a guy in camouflage. You’re on the team now, dude.

Tags: Tribal militarism of professional football

This entry was posted on February 5, 2018 at 3:43 am and is filed under Tell the truth and run !. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.