Why so much hate? Why so much despair?

Then there is the disdain poured upon the England team – which is predictable but still odd.  I think we were all shocked at the EU election result, but surely everyone knew that England as a football team would cock it up totally at the Euros.  (My view was that if you put five players from a team that had a total disaster of previously unseen proportions on the last day of the season, and make them the key to the England team in their next competitive match together, you are likely to have a problem – but that’s a logical observation, not hatred.)

And anyway we knew something would go wrong because it always happens, and nothing has changed.  The FA continues its ludicrous view that if only we had fewer foreigners playing football in England everything would be all right.  (At least two newspapers have now accepted Untold’s analysis revealing that the real problem is the number of qualified coaches – and since that is a matter for the FA, the FA is the problem not the solution).

As the Guardian article yesterday pointed out, we have lost all sense of perspective in the UK.  The notion that the EU would be begging us to stay in after a referendum, and so give us a great deal is just daft.  In fact they are telling us to get on with it and bugger off.   The notion that all the world is watching in hope and expectation that the England team would do well… Oh really!!!

Here’s a bit of the Guardian piece…

One of the best bits of being out of England when England go out is the clear evidence that in the wider world no one really cares. No tournament hopes are ever seriously built around expectations of a thrilling England team, no other nation’s enjoyment notably diminished by their departure.

We’re not the good guys. We’re not the main characters. We’re not even the main villains. We’re disposable patsies, third bad guy from the left…

 In at least one Parisian bar people were openly laughing during the Iceland game at every misplaced pass and wild shot, genuinely enjoying the spectacle.

However Ronay does have good points to make.  The language deserves to be called out. Lavish … flash … blinged-up … bragging … crystal-encrusted … brother … baby … the lights and shit … the big daddy Rangey … send him home … rename the national team. You could jump to some conclusions here couldn’t you? I’ve no doubt this isn’t intended as “racist”. It isn’t that extreme. But if I feel a little creeped out by its tone and texture there’s no doubt others must, too. Football at its best brings people together, dissolves division, suggests a kind of ideal meritocracy. This is not football at its best.

Now I have stayed with Mr Ronay’s article, because of that point above, which I think is immensely valid.  And this one…

England players, he says, “don’t travel much. They don’t speak languages or study. In fact they’re not middle class enough. Like that small section of England’s fans, wherever they go it’s always a corner of England, flag wrapped around the cafe tables, unable to toast the bread, unable to understand the PA, frightened, sullen.”

Of course there is more to it than this, but that is a good place to start.  We don’t need England players playing in the Premier League.  We need them playing overseas.  

The abject refusal to take on the FA with its lunatic policies, its flagrant misuse of public money, and its unremitting support for Fifa and Uefa; this is all part of the problem.  Plus the FAs pro-Brexit, “this will make us stronger as a footballing nation” approach.   And their utter failure to build pitches that youngsters and enthusiastic amateurs can play on.  Mr Ronay might be right to say that the football journalists are not writing the material he mentions above, but it is football journalists that utterly fail to hold the FA to account.

But back to the headline.  Why so much hate?  Why does that entity known as P. Morgan pour so much scorn on Ramsey?  (Quite probably he didn’t actually see the last Wales game).  Why does it go on and on?

Come to that why is no newspaper celebrating the brilliant performances of Alexis, Granit, Ospina and Ramsey, instead of, to quote the Metro “Arsenal fans went into meltdown as Mesut Ozil missed a penalty for Germany…”   Granit missed a penalty too.  I can remember Liam Brady missing a penalty.  Does that destroy his reputation?  Does that make him rubbish?

Speaking for myself, melting is not happening here.

I can also honestly say that the news that Claudio Callegari of Arsenal Fans TV went missing last week, and as far as I know hasn’t been found, doesn’t make me happy, but only worried and sad in case something awful has happened to a fellow human.

Claude and his chums can do their thing each match, and that’s up to them.  I don’t want to watch what they do, but I don’t want to stop them, or call them names, and I certainly don’t feel good at the thought that any harm might have come to him.  But I don’t agree with the Telegraph when it said that Arsenal Fans TV was the lifeblood of football.  Conflict isn’t the lifeblood of anything, and it is an absolute tragedy that the Telegraph reporters believe it is.  And that “lifeblood” comment Mr Ronay, was a comment made by a football journalist.

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24 Replies to “Why so much hate? Why so much despair?”

  1. About the phrase that there is no more perspective I like to point out that some 6 years ago (I think) I wrote an article published at Untold saying that in football these days it is all black and white. And that in fact it is more grey than anything else. Win the last match and all is white. Lose the last match and all is suddenly black for ever and ever.
    And a win or a loss is sometimes down to a lucky ball that bounces in from 3 deflections and might be really unlucky for the losing team. No reason to go all black then.

    I remember getting some stick for that article at the time from the aaa visitors send over to us on that day 😉 No it was all black they said… 🙂

  2. The “good” thing about hate is that it is balanced by love, and the pendulum will have to swing back sooner or later. Hate is not bad in itself, just like love is not. However going to the extreme of either, causes serious problems.

    //
    If anyone watches TV and reads the “trash” without being stable in themselves and aware of the “brainwashing”, they do get manipulated by the constant divisive movies, docus and articles, which as i see are all fine tuned and written for maximum effect. These are written for the greater masses, who are meant to be kept as “dumb cannon fodder” in case of war. The art of subtle manipulation has become an Art and is usually not visible to the casual observer, but to the subconscious. No wonder then that many, especially young find themselves doing, saying and thinking things that they normally would not have even dreamed of. But they constantly heard it from the media, so it’s all right and correct.

    Anyway, tomorrow there will be a brand new old story.
    //
    Even though i am not really an international football fan, i felt sorry for the England team and the supporters(after a teenie-weenie bit of glee of course).

  3. PS
    Forgiveness without any repentance whatsoever is stupidity, at least in my book. And you know real repentance when you encounter it.

  4. WISE WORDS FROM A GREAT THINKER AND OBSERVER!!

    Buffalos kill 7 people every year.
    Lions kill 500 people every year.
    Hippos kill 800 people every year.
    Spiders kill 5000 people every year.
    Scorpions kill 7000 people every year.
    Snakes kill 10000 people every year.

    And then, surprisingly, Mosquitoes kill 2.7 million people every year. Yes, the smallest are the deadliest!

    Small ‘sins’, hardly noticed by many, are the most deadly to your spiritual life.

    Avoid excuses for not praying and allotting few moments of your day to your Creator.

    Sins of omission are just as deadly as sins of commission.

    Gossiping and small lies, are committed more frequently and are deadly.

    Mind those little compromises that you do daily. They are the ones that will bring your downfall.

    Successful people have two things on their lips, “Smile and silence”.

    Smile can solve problems, while Silence can avoid problems.*

    Sugar and salt may be mixed together, but ants reject the salt and carry away only the sugar.

    Select the right people in life and make your life better and sweeter.

    If you failed to achieve your dreams, change your ways not your Creator.

    Remember, trees change their leaves, not their roots.

    You will never reach your destination if you stop and throw stones at every dog that barks.

    Haters will see you walking on water and say it’s because you can’t swim.

    Even if you dance on water, Your enemies will accuse you of raising dust.

    Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your own hands.

    Remember Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

    BE WISE!

  5. ‘ Do the right thing , even when no one is looking . Its called integrity .’

  6. Sadly, England is a bit white at the moment., and not just the football team….and it has been coming a long time.

  7. White……meant to write shite…….but I am sure there are those who wish it was more white

  8. There is a lot here and difficult for me to respond to without quoting from it.

    I quote:

    “Last week Blacksheep wrote an excellent piece about there being no need, no benefit and absolutely nothing positive out of hating Tottenham, or singing about it.”

    I couldn’t agree more with this. Laugh at the misfortune/s of the club but not the supporter. Congratulate the supporter when his/her team do well.

    I quote:

    “In at least one Parisian bar people were openly laughing during the Iceland game at every misplaced pass and wild shot, genuinely enjoying the spectacle.”

    The game was shown live here and I watched with horror at the inability of the English team to play skillful football.

    It is not just the result that brought shame to English football but the evident lack of skill.

    The game was played on Monday night. On Tuesday nights I play bridge at a local club. I didn’t go last Tuesday not because of the result but because of how we played I couldn’t face it.

    I quote:

    “We’re not the good guys. We’re not the main characters. We’re not even the main villains. We’re disposable patsies, third bad guy from the left…”

    That is true. As is this:

    “One of the best bits of being out of England when England go out is the clear evidence that in the wider world no one really cares. No tournament hopes are ever seriously built around expectations of a thrilling England team, no other nation’s enjoyment notably diminished by their departure.”

    And this:

    “The notion that all the world is watching in hope and expectation that the England team would do well… Oh really!!!”

    I can not speak for the world outside the little world I live in but here it was expected England would fail.

    As for the political Europe I am surprised you quoted this.

    “As the Guardian article yesterday pointed out, we have lost all sense of perspective in the UK. The notion that the EU would be begging us to stay in after a referendum, and so give us a great deal is just daft. In fact they are telling us to get on with it and bugger off.”

    Where is the evidence knee jerk thinking – reacting? I thought knee jerk thinking wasn’t wanted here.

    It is far too early to say what the Euro Community think about the outcome of the referendum.

    Everyone is still spitting words as to whether they think it is good or bad. A big problem or a little problem and it is political and not football so not for here. I would have thought.

  9. “Come to that why is no newspaper celebrating the brilliant performances of Alexis, Granit, Ospina and Ramsey”

    Ramsey the outstanding midfielder of the tournament to date, the best performance by a British footballer at an international tournament since? Full some praise for the player from his national manager since the eve of the tournament (supporting your best players? Eh?), and the petty plundits are silence.

    However the lovers of football, Hartson, Coleman, even the likes of Robbie Fowler, they appear to have been appreciating the Football.

    When the petty plunditocracy praise players like Rose as better footballers then the likes of Taylor or Davies I think we all know where we can bin the rest of their gibberish. Always an advantage for the glorious Arsenal when Rose starts ahead of Davies for the tiny neighbours. Rosicky knew (to target that LB, on more then one occasion…my favourite being the thunderbolt that started the demolition works at WHL).

  10. Worrying news about Claude (one of our more outspoken fans). Apparently he’s a depressive and Arsenal is one of the constants in his life. I’m not bothered that he uses ArsenalTV as an outlet for his frustrations and hope he’s well and not lying ill or worse somewhere.

  11. I surprises me very much that you categorize the interventions made on this site yesterday re: footballing
    issues as “hateful”. All there was was a willingness to engage in a critical discussion. to hold propositions up
    for analytical examination.

    Otherwise, completely agree that our species is many respects too undeveloped in terms of morality
    and decency.

  12. Our hopes are the kidnapper or kidnappers of Arsenal Fan TV broadcaster –
    Glaudro Gallegari, will eventually release him in a hearty and healthy state..

    I believe the belief behind the opening up of the English football League divisions to allow the non UK origins to play in them is to raise the standard of the game of the English players playing in all the English divisions. More so in the Premier League, so that the English players who are playing there and are mostly selected for the England national team who are playing along sides their non UK counterparts can improve on their standard of playing.

    And in actual sense, the English players will looked to have improved on the quality of their games initially when they first play 1-3 games for England. But thereafter, they’ll change and be gradually declining in the top form which they’ve initially shown for England. Watching the performance of Raheem Sterling for England in the Euro’16 games, one can see that the Sterling’s top form:for England we saw in last 2 years back is no longer the top form Raheem Sterling for England we’ve seen in France. His running pace and ability to dribble past his markers have looked to have deserted him.

    Are the English players over paid, most especially those of them playing in the Premier League? I should think so. I think the big money they are earning there has spoilt them and made them to become complacent whenever they are playing for England in regional and global tournaments.

  13. Colario, re my phrase

    The notion that the EU would be begging us to stay in after a referendum, and so give us a great deal is just daft. In fact they are telling us to get on with it and bugger off.”

    It was daft, because the UK is the first country to leave the EU, and so the EU would have been seen as horribly weak had it deferred in any way to the UK. Even if it were in the best interests of the EU to do everything possible to keep the UK in, in some form or other, it would not have done, because it would have encouraged others to leave.

    It is simply the sociology of the group, the committee, the gang, the society. That’s how it works – the group invariably turns to protect itself from the former member and his/her/its influence.

    And for my evidence, any sociology book on groups and organisations. I only did sociology for a year as a minor subject, but I do remember that bit.

  14. On the subject of haters, wonder if Mr G Neville will from now on be more measured in his criticism of Arsene Wenger and his team after his recent, hopefully chastening experiences in management/coaching.

  15. Brickfields – ‘And then, surprisingly, Mosquitoes kill 2.7 million people every year. Yes, the smallest are the deadliest! Not forgetting the bacteria.

    The most glaring miss is the Human being. More are killed by humans than by any other creature.

  16. Lots of numbers flying around here, so I went looking. These are all relatively recent numbers, but not necessarily in the same year.

    2012 WHO Statistics
    56 million died.
    68% (38 million) from non-communicable diseases (up rom 60% in 2000): cardiovascular disease (17.5 million of which 7.4 millon were ischaemic), cancer, diabetes, chronic lung disease.
    Communicable, maternal, neonatal and nutrition accounted for 23% (12.9 million)
    Injuries 9%

    I would guess that death by violence is classified as an injury by WHO. So, roughly 5 million a year die every year due to injuries.

    3/4 of NCD deaths come form middle and low income countries
    Tobacco is responsible for 10% of deaths (falls into multiple categories).

    Rough guess that about 450 people killed annually in USA by police.
    Deaths by shark, approximately 5 per year.
    Deaths by coconut thought to be more than 5, less than 150.
    Several eucalyptus trees will spontaneously drop (big) branches, earning them a nickname of widowmaker.

    32,568 killed by terrorists in 2014 (Daily Mail)
    13286 killed by guns in USA in a recent year (of course, it wasn’t the gun that did the killing, accoring to the NRA).

  17. Hatred, comes from fear, which comes from thinking we are X or Y, but are neither ,but are both,at the same time. Thinking we are X or Y leads us to to an identity and from there we develop desire and the idea that we are “needing” something to be, not getting “our” desire leads to despair or hatred through fear as a root cause.Even getting our desire leads to hatred and despair. And of course other emotions on top.
    Also identifying with false identities,but by not deconstructing ourselves and understanding there is no central identity to find,leaving that place of Nihilism and then reconstructing ourselves as compassionate beings free of the traps of desire and that understand that all life is suffering,leads only to more suffering.As long as we believe there is something to achieve then we will suffer.Most of what we identify as “bad” we agree is “bad” but “good” is just as equally “bad”,as the two are equally rising at any moment, and the Egos are never satisfied.As long as we believe there isn’t anything to achieve we shall suffer.
    Humans mostly don’t not know who they are,why they are here(if we are here to learn,then what for and why?),where they have come from, and especially where they are going to. And even most of the ideas around this have lead more to suffering from fear.

    On top of this is Time, which doesn’t exist but does exist where there is movement. More suffering arises with the passing of Time as we fear death,because we don’t see it as change.We see it as an ending.But where can we find ending or beginning-(Im not saying that they don’t exist, but as an ordinary being I cant see or know them, I am part of stream)?
    We look to memory for comfort, but it is a false picture because that can never be “what happened”,how can it? But feeling inadequate from the “fictitious”past we project our fears into the “fictitious”future.Instead of “not-knowing” as a relief, we perceive it as something to suffer over.

    Then we have social conditioning.More suffering from yesterdays psychological hang-overs(though not always).Wanting to be a part of things and not wanting to be a part of things again all wrapped up in flux.Also social conditioning brings up conflicting ideas of what’s “good” and “bad”,and are of course subject to revisionism at any moment as epochs come and go.Again with suffering and fear through not knowing. Even though we do.

    Then people are bombarded with Capitalism like never before,goods and lifestyle that will never satisfy.And that much of what they see in the media is a competition,driven by fear.

    The conglomerate of human Egos are all fear based systems,driving the mind to ever analyze and objectify (is that truly possible?)and fear the “other”, having the fear of “being ourselves” and “not being ourselves”. These are false premises as its difficult to find anything thats objective in subjectivity(relativity).But we judge all as “other” and therefore dangerous,if not now then maybe later. For some this is a loud set of psychological patterns and others less loud, but all have it.Unless they have claimed to have escaped from duality,which isnt possible, but have therefore changed their understanding and relationship to duality.This is the key.

    Then its all very well to speak of compassion (leading to loving kindness), but Flux might just be the humans biggest problem, in that despite learning what a system might be, it is ever morphing and even that which seems to be a stasis is on the move,and changing.That includes scientific analysis.
    So we can invent as series of systems that can guide us(or stop or limit suffering), but each moment changes,leaving us open to hypocrisy and a change of view and scrambling for theory to help. Which means to practice every moment, to be vigilant. Even this practice will initially lead to much suffering.But now we see the need to quieten the mind.
    Of course the more we are attached the our emotions(through the conglomerate of Egos)and unaware of processing them, the more prone we are to only think in fear and have what people condemn as a “knee jerk reaction”. Our reactions to reactions are lightening quick,and if we are impassioned we are no longer in control, but are being used by fear. Fear can drive us that which we perceive as “good” or “bad”.But its still fear. And all reactions will have further reactions and consequences.

    Footballs the biggest problem of all, as its a system that’s its almost impossible to not be free of duality within the game (even if its a draw), as in the end there must be a “winner” and that is the point,at its most basic(it isnt) but it is major driver .But all winners know this is a false position as without the other participants (“losers”) they too would be a loser-or worse non- existent (another major fear of humanity). All teams(etc) need a significant other to energize and quantify their existence-otherwise they would turn in on themselves and divide.The only way to not suffer in football is to just enjoy the athleticism without judgment or expectation,to not support anyone but to watch all,and to have no expectations of what is “good” or “bad” in terms of play or result but to just watch. Apply this to life and you will also not suffer. And not create more suffering (hatred/despair etc).
    Any notion of football being unifying is flawed,it might be to some groups(even these are divided) by its nature as mentioned before it is dividing.Although again, Football itself doesn’t exist, but only the machination of mind, in form,and not in form.
    Despair is just a lack of hope, but this only because the Egos ask the impossible, to see the unseen and impossible now. For the Ego systems there is no hope, no safety,no tolerance and no compassion, and when these systems don’t get what they want they create despair and another set of emotions,in fact behind despair is fear again.
    Of course its even more complex than this and we can cover many more subtle areas, but that might be the basics. I haven’t written about love but that can be included in “desires”(at least in some senses) etc. Nationalism is lumped in with identity etc.

  18. I was beginning to think the Guardian had been paid to not mention Mesut’s name in the game today. That’s one way to force them to mention you, score.

  19. Barney Ronay of the Guardian says the problem with football supporters is that they’re not middle class enough. How rude to the working class. I suppose he’s pandering to his readers.

  20. Correction – he was talking about football players. Same points apply. What does this mean – is the middle class morally superior to the working class? All it has is a better education, which does not necessarily mean it has greater wisdom, and which is only a result of the unfairness of the society we live in. Is Cameron superior to my neighbour?

  21. @ Kenneth Widmerpool – July 2, 2016 at 9:11 pm – Great post . A very big LIKE from me .

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