Hear me out-America hating athletes are good for America
I know it’s irritating to see someone who has done really well in America take a dump on America. I know it’s irritating to point out to them that America’s done pretty well by them just to hear them take the circular and awfully convenient route of saying “I’m speaking for oppressed and suffering persons of my identity group who don’t have a voice”. And of course their identity groups are formulated from all sorts of trifling and superficial contrivances, like skin color, the way their genitals point, the particular gender that sends a little bit of blood to their genitals, the surgical blender they’ve put their genitals through, the particular sexual fetish that makes their genitals vigorously announce their presence to the room, their supposed inability to achieve and earn in a capitalist hell-scape, whatever it may be. And yes, it’s irritating that all these contrivances tend to have hatred for straight white men as their manufacturer setting. It’s totally fine. I’m a straight white man, have never victimized anyone, don’t want to be a victim, and don’t see the allure of being a victim, but that’s a topic for another rant. And I’ll admit my title is clickbait. I don’t accept it as a foregone conclusion that they hate America. I think they want to remake it in their image, but won’t make a categorical statement about all of them hating all of America, all the time.
I know it’s irritating for people to not understand just how great America has been and continues to be, in spite of the atrocities and injustices we had to get right and have yet to get right (cough, cough, abortion, cough). But one of the foundational traits that made and keeps America great is seared into our DNA with the 1st Amendment protection of free speech. Yes, the speech of misguided fools looking for social media clout is irritating. I know this. But it’s as close to necessary as an unnecessary thing can be. Foolish and reckless speech is good because it’s so easily recognized, rejected, and refuted by people of intelligence and reason. I think we are becoming addicted to backlash in the social media age. We feel the need to get offended and argue everything. I wish we were addicted to reasoned, well-thought out, and eloquent responses (though they tend not to sell on social media like a middle finger and a “Fornicate YOU!”) because I wouldn’t have to constantly complain about our devolving language skills and people who have a soft answer ready can refute without escalating. But I dream.
I don’t root against the American women’s soccer team. I wanted them to win, being from and representing my country. You’re free to disagree with me on that, and that’s part of what’s so awesome about living here. When they engage in free speech—even foolish and uninformed speech—they are representing America. I don’t trust a Russian athlete with nothing bad to say about Russia because their president hasn’t been constrained by term limits, is a former KGB spook, and controls the media. That means the national message flows through him, he has a modicum of centralized power, his elections are just for show, and he controls the aspects of the populace by extension. Maybe not to the extent that Stalin did, but power is a spectrum, not an on/off switch. I don’t trust a Chinese athlete with nothing bad to say about China for the same reasons, only to a much larger degree. Canada, the UK, and parts of Europe are practicing Diet Free Speech. Just one calorie of free speech isn’t enough to satisfy me. Don’t get me started on Muslim theocracies because then we’ll be able to truthfully discuss gender group oppression and constraints on personal liberties.
I don’t care to cancel, shut down, limit, or even debate (sometimes) anti-American celebrities in their misguided state, because reality enters the room and won’t be denied. People from the countries that are portrayed as so much more awesome than America spend their lives scraping and clawing to come and settle here. When they do, they tend to be on the conservative side of the argument; the one that says that it’s pretty sweet living here. Same goes for the athletes who represent the JV squad of countries at the Olympics. They wear their country’s gang colors but come here in the interim to train and get lucrative endorsement deals because, well, America.
The solution to foolish free speech is more free speech, not less of it or boundaries on it. And that free speech that answers the foolish free speech is free to be foolish in its own turn. And the original fool that spoke can answer the fool that answered and they can maybe at some point arrive at wisdom once they’ve worked it out logically, or at least be at peace with each other.
I don’t trust the speech of someone who has to toe the company line for fear of losing their toes in some torture chamber under some backwater government black site, the existence of which is only known this side of the Atlantic by CIA dragoons. I don’t trust that they are at peace with their country, or even their countrymen. You read stories about snitches in East Germany turning in people who presumed to criticize and you understand that your fellow countryman is not your friend in a place where you’re not free to say stupid things. Obscenely wealthy celebrities who are unafraid, emboldened, and encouraged to engage in foolish free speech are—pay attention—part of what makes this country great. Would they be so rich and free to stay dumb things in most of the rest of the world? Nope. If you’re still mad at them for saying dumb things, take satisfaction in the fact that if you work honestly and diligently in almost any industry, you’ve done more for bettering the world than they have in their day job.
And think about what they’ve accomplished. Can they bring down America and its systems? Not if half of the country has something to say about it; said half being the one that fervently believes the 2nd Amendment is here to protect the 1st. Liberals and leftists control most of the media, grade schools, the entertainment industry, and universities. Conservatives STILL win elections. They’ve handed elections to conservative politicians because the checks and balances so masterfully written into the programming code of this nation makes sure the pendulum keeps swinging, and conservative ideas are just better. Better ideas can stand the test of time when the mainstream message has been exposed as a bill of sale.
I once saw some liberal on Twitter say “You’re not entitled to your opinion. You’re only entitled to a well-informed opinion.” They were probably referring to COVID and the vaccine because we seemingly need to argue about COVID like we need to breathe air and drink water. I didn’t answer said liberal. I don’t remember their name, nor would I say it here if I did. I don’t believe in Twitter or blogging feuds. I’ve said some silly things about a lot of celebrities, but were one of them to get offended and dox me, I’d implore them to talk to me in private, away from the internet. If they refuse, I’d brush it off my shoulder like the dandruff on my neighbor’s collar in a Head & Shoulders commercial. I moved on with my life. Remember what I said about only sometimes not feeling like debating people who disagree? This was one of those times. Besides, I’m sure they had debate aplenty on the replies and in their DM’s. Their free speech didn’t hurt me. It didn’t even really offend me, despite my disagreement. I know they are wrong in the fact that my free speech isn’t contingent on my intelligence level or the amount of research I’ve done, just like their foolish Tweet isn’t only okay based on how smart or read up they are. Furthermore—thank the Lord—neither of our free speech exercises are filtered through and okayed by a government bureaucrat.
It’s all good in my hood, baby. Now go out there and stop being so mad all the time. Chill out and take a beat. Be like The Dude from The Big Lebowski and have a White Russian. And let that Russian say what it wants to say before, during, and after you’ve drunk it.
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Image taken from:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/sports/soccer/us-soccer-anthem-uswnt.html
