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Globalism and Sports

tagsfan

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If you consider "Nationalist" to be a perjorative term, how do you handle events such as the Olympics and the Ryder Cup? Is it logically inconsistent to root for the USA teams (as opposed to individual athletes who just happen to be American)? My suspicion is that most folks can compartmentalize sports from other more pressing global issues.
 
What’s your definition of nationalism? How does it different from patriotism, jingoism, national pride, and citizenship?
 
That is a problem. It is not a term that has anywhere close to a universal definition but gets thrown around a lot. Some people default to thinking about the alt-Right when they hear the word. Others look at it as being confined to having laws that have nothing to do (in some instances) with the world that Thomas Freidman writes about so longingly. Nationalism - we know it when we see it.
 
Globalism tends to be the preferred word of neo-nazis, the alt-right, and other racists. You might be better served talking about globalization if you want folks to engage with your posts.

As a frequent critic of, but staunch believer in the United States, I don’t find it hard to cheer for exceptional athletes in the Olympics, no matter what colors they are wearing.

Does that answer your question? Why exactly are you even asking this question?
 
That is a problem. It is not a term that has anywhere close to a universal definition but gets thrown around a lot. Some people default to thinking about the alt-Right when they hear the word. Others look at it as being confined to having laws that have nothing to do (in some instances) with the world that Thomas Freidman writes about so longingly. Nationalism - we know it when we see it.

All those terms have definitions. Clear definitions. People don't use them and that's one way to normalize nationalism. "I'm not a nationalist, I just love America!" and such.

I'm not sure what connection you're making between nationalism and the Olympics.
 
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My suspicion is that most folks can compartmentalize sports from other more pressing global issues.

Right. It’s fine to want your country to trample everyone else in sports because that’s just for fun. Not fine to trample other countries economically, militarily, etc because that hurts people. Pretty simple.
 
Right. It’s fine to want your country to trample everyone else in sports because that’s just for fun. Not fine to trample other countries economically, militarily, etc because that hurts people. Pretty simple.

This. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic and rooting for your country and at the same time rejecting protectionist nationalists.
 
Globalism tends to be the preferred word of neo-nazis, the alt-right, and other racists. You might be better served talking about globalization if you want folks to engage with your posts.

As a frequent critic of, but staunch believer in the United States, I don’t find it hard to cheer for exceptional athletes in the Olympics, no matter what colors they are wearing.

Does that answer your question? Why exactly are you even asking this question?[/QUOTE]

I was listening to a "decade in review" show yesterday and the segment on the killing of UBL started me thinking about how in my lifetime the USA has really been united on 2 occasions: that killing and the moon landing. The Miracle on Ice was a great story but I think fewer people paid attention to it than is remembered. Sports, to my view, tend to have a limited uniting effect. I'm not a fan of the Olympics, mostly because I could not care less about most of the events. I stopped checking the team standings years ago.
 
I'd add 9/11. Though W squandered that with diverting attention to and invading Iraq.
 
I'd add 9/11. Though W squandered that with diverting attention to and invading Iraq.

IMO, people no longer trust the concept of unity after that one, and our current partisanship runs deeper than Republicans not trusting Democrats and Democrats not trusting Republicans.
 
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