While economists are saying the host cities for the World Cup might have a shortfall, I think what we’ve received in the last two weeks has been priceless.
People from other countries are excited to be in America and Americans are actually excited to have them. Most of the host cities are the blue cities with liberal/left leaning governments.
But also I think the players are seeing local news that might not appear on the international news outlets in their respective countries. Many have come out and posted online they were wrong about America as a whole.
I just hope they’re talking of the MAGA stereotypes that have ruined this country for over a decade. It wasn’t bad that the George W. Bush administration had us on shaky ground at the beginning of the 21st Century but the current administration’s chest thumping has been more of a black eye or a dark stain like the one the President leaves everywhere he sits.
And watching our disdain for him and his administration after the UFC White House event and the foolishness over the Lincoln Monument Reflecting Pool is a sign that not all Americans are MAGA. We enjoy a wide variety of literature, music and movies that don’t star Rob Schneider getting hit in the balls.
Over 20 years ago, The Village and Crash came out within a year’s time. Both movies focused on how prejudiced and biased views are based on ignorance and an unwillingness to trust people who are just a different skin color. Even worse, the views and ideas aren’t first hand experience as people are constantly told how to think. Most of what people have been told of others are what other people told them.
In the post-WWII era, a lot of white people moved from the more metropolitan areas to the suburbs where they hid in bigger homes from their neighbors. People went from passing by their neighbors to get to their apartments on a regular daily basis to rarely seeing their neighbors except when cutting the grass or checking the mail. We don’t even bother to even know our neighbor’s names now.
And as segregation ended (at least on paper), a lot of people probably didn’t want to integrate. Redlining kept neighborhoods and schools mostly segregated. Lack of diversity (except in a negative light) in entertainment led to continued biased views. Even blaxploitation movies seem to perpetuate the same stereotypes white filmmakers had put on film.
I think people have been tolerable of their own prejudices and racist ideas just as long as they’re not associated with the Aryan Nation or the Ku Klux Klan. They don’t scream at black kids going to school or pour hot coffee on them at the diners. Yet they’re still quick to call 911 when they see some black person walking through the neighborhood.
As for white people, music and movies came from other cultures and styles. Even the cowboy motif is based on vaqueros from old Mexico. The Bible is set in the Middle East but Jesus is always an Anglo-Saxon in movies.
“America First” is a biased political talking point to make people think they’re more important yet politicians don’t care. Money is what really matters to them. Taking pride in your country is one thing. Watching it collapse because you don’t want to see someone else succeed is vanity.
We have to be more of a global community to get along but we’ve allowed corporations to outsource jobs and hire undocumented workers because it’s cheaper. At the same time, the powers that be have told us only to be mad at someone who is hired because they can work for less.
As a former journalist, business people always wanted a “shop local” mentality but people aren’t going to shop locally when you don’t meet their needs. Tourism dollars are great but if you shun your tourists, you don’t get as much money.
And it still surprises me how many people still want to extend the height of the fence to keep those they don’t want out yet claim they are the victims.
I remember one person online noted a few years ago that the reason people thought the 2020 election was “stolen” is because they refused to move out of their comfort zones. Summer is officially here and Panama City Beach is nice but there’s a reason it’s referred to as the “Redneck Riviera.”
Last year this time I went to Miami. Despite the criticism I’ve headd, it’s not a bad city. Yes there’s traffic. Yes there’s crime. But you know what I saw – people who weren’t like myself. That’s what scares some people.
I went to a Twin Peaks restaurant and soccer (or futbol) was on the TVs. And I was one of the few gringos who was a patron.
The people were going nuts watching the games. It didn’t bother me and the people there didn’t bother me. They’re watching sports on a Sunday afternoon surrounded by friends and family.
Not everyone is going to be about you.
And I think that’s what scares the older people and MAGA in general. They’ve been told over and over they’re the most important people in the world. But they’re not. No one really is. Humility and empathy should be virtues we inspire in our youth rather than blasting them for feeling that way.
I don’t want to be the top dog in the room all the time. I don’t know if I want to be the top dog anytime at all. Japanese fans have been seen cleaning up the stadiums because it’s in their custom to tidy up and be respectful guests. Yet in this country, people complain about not getting a discount for using self-checkout and don’t even return the shopping carts to the designated areas, even if it’s just 10 feet from their car.
It’s a shame that as this country is a few weeks away from its 250th anniversary, we have a supposed world leader making it all about himself.
Hopefully they can see we don’t like him as they don’t either. And we don’t know why the fuck he was elected again.
Yet we’re going to do everything possible not to allow someone like him elected again.
It’s a new world and we don’t need any old timers stuck in the past.
What do you think? Please comment.
Zane Says 