After James left Cleveland, fans filled the street, burning jerseys, and an enormous Nike mural featuring James was immediately removed. A search for "Lebron James" on the website of The Plain Dealer (the local daily) yields a surprisingly large number of recent stories about James, even though he's been playing for a different team all season. A Facebook group titled "Fuck You, Lebron James. Sincerely, the state of Ohio" has more than 26,000 members and still gets anti-James comments. Twitterer "CavsforMavs" (a reference to the Heat’s opponents in the finals), gained 6,000 followers in a little over a week with his motto: "Defeat. Pure. Evil."
That such impassioned hatred of James continues to flow from Ohio is perplexing, considering that arguably more-relevant issues—and bigger demons—face the state. Take Gov. John Kasich's recent gift of $7.7 million in state-funded cash incentives (including loans) to help Bob Evans, a corporate restaurant chain worth $1.68 billion, relocate to a rich suburb of Columbus.
Kasich insists the incentives were necessary to keep Bob Evans' headquarters in Ohio. But how good is Bob Evans for the state? A recent study by Policy Matters estimates that Ohio pays $20 million a year in cash assistance to Bob Evans employees due to their low pay and benefits. (Also read how Walmart benefits from the public safety net in Sasha Abramsky's "America on $195 a Week.") The governor's cash incentive came without any labor stipulations. How did the state's strapped residents respond? One protest at a Bob Evans restaurant brought out 35 people.
[Source]
So what am I getting at? People pay so much attention to sports, and entertainment in general and little to no attention to politics. Sports have little to no effect on your life, politics effects every aspect of your life. Lebron wins a championship? Good for him, great for Nike, what does it do for you? Lebron loses (as he did last night)? Is your life any different than it was yesterday morning? They made your favorite comic book character into a shitty movie? Great for DC and Marvel, what does it do for you? NFL may not have a season because they can't decide how to divide billions of dollars? How does that effect you exactly? And yet people will spend ridiculous amounts of energy and time debating these things, paying attention to these things, that effect them, not. one. bit.
On the other hand politics effects every aspect of your existence. Clean drinking water? Politics. The cost of education? Politics. The price of gas? Politics. You're tax rate? Politics. The chemicals they spray on your produce? Politics. Spank your kids? Politics. Get shot by the cops? Politics. Smoke pot? Politics. I'd have a harder time coming up with something politics doesn't effect, than listing things it does. And yet you, yes you, pay little to no attention to it. Who's your assembly person? Who's your Council member? Who represents your district in the House of Representatives? Who are your state Senators? Who are your U.S. Senators? But you know who lead the NFL in passing last season don't you? You know exactly when the new season of True Blood begins don't you? You can name every cast member of your favorite reality tv show can't you?
You want bread and a circus, in the meantime the world is going to hell in a handbag.
No comments:
Post a Comment