To My Anarchist Friends: Why do You Hate Sports?

Entertainment in an anarchist world wouldn’t be much different – but it would almost certainly be better.

I see it often and I’m not really sure why it occurs, but there is a very pronounced disgust for sports – and entertainment in general – among many anarchists. It seemingly goes beyond the original understanding of the complaint about “bread and circuses” by the Roman poet, Juvenal. But Juvenal wasn’t decrying entertainment because it gave pleasure to the masses. The criticism was of the apathy towards the state – that the military and the “high civil office[s]” of the Roman Empire were not receiving the proper attention and glory that he felt they deserved; that there was a distinct lack of military and political “heroes” in his declining state.

I have witnessed plenty of arguments about bread and circuses where the arguer sneers at the entertainment industry in general and dismisses it as an arm of the current state. The claim is that society is purposely distracted – by design – from the actions of government so that the latter may freely continue with its nefarious plans. While there is certainly a great deal of lobbying and involvement with the state, some of it is done out of necessity for the entertainment industry. However, that doesn’t mean that the industry is an actual arm of government for the sole purpose of propaganda and diversion.

I understand the distraction argument and I agree that too many people are completely oblivious to the design and the actions of government. I also agree that many of these people are more interested in games than politics. But can you really blame them? Would you be interested in the never-ending corruption and backroom deals, ignorant and juvenile public debates, the plethora of arbitrary laws, eye-glazing political speeches, and the general idiocy that flows from government offices? Would you rather have people more interested in the failing system and participating in the vote-buying and coercion?

I think the bigger picture is being missed.

Competition in Free Market Entertainment

There’s nothing inherently wrong with competition. It’s the fundamental principle of free markets, after all – and sports are no different. Actually, sports are the epitome of competition. The champion is not determined by how much the viewers or consumers of the sport like a particular athlete, team, or the product overall. The champion is the person or team that proved to be the best competitor – and that’s the ultimate goal.

In that regard, sports don’t represent anything that free market anarchists necessarily oppose. If anything, the competitors who become champions have demonstrated their value as participants and have successfully proven to be the best product in their market, free of any coercion. And their popularity in society is almost always a result of their success.

One complaint in particular that I’ve repeatedly seen is the notion of cheering for one specific team over another – usually having a lot to do with hometown allegiance. It’s often equated to rooting for one’s home government with the claims of, “My country is the best!” I actually don’t see a problem with that kind of team support. Cheering for your local team represents more of a feeling of community, and I get that. It’s not like simply cheering for your country’s athletes in the Olympics just because they’re from “your” country – especially from a country the size of the United States, Russia, or China, where an unknown athlete from 3,000 miles away is blindly supported because of the color of their outfit.

If you live in a small town like Green Bay, Wisconsin, then your football team has had a huge impact on the culture there, and likely on you, if you were raised in the town or the surrounding areas. They’re a good franchise that has had a lot of success and involves itself in the community. Enjoying that culture and your love of the community is perfectly acceptable. I understand it and, to me, criticism of that really misses the point of anarchism, which is largely based on commonality and being a part of the community.

On the other hand, there are far too many people who support their hometown teams simply because they’re the hometown team. Some of these teams have been awful for decades and don’t have a rich tradition of community involvement, but they’re still loved and supported, often fanatically. In a world of competition, tons of people support utter and perpetual inferiority. I have more respect for “fair-weather fans” who actually recognize and reward excellence. It makes more sense.

I wouldn’t go to a musician’s concert and buy their albums if their music has been terrible for ten or twenty straight years. I wouldn’t go buy every book from an author that I couldn’t stand reading. I wouldn’t see movies from a bad producer and director and a failing studio that continually pumped out garbage year after year. This type of support would serve almost no purpose for either the entertainer or the consumer. One side is rewarded for mediocrity or outright horridness and the other repeatedly consumes something that they don’t enjoy.

Regardless, in an anarchist society, I believe the sports industry overall would be able to provide an even better experience for consumers and likely at a much lower cost. Imagine how much an athlete’s salary would be if they didn’t have to pay hundreds of thousands or millions of dollars in taxes every year – then multiply that by the number of players and coaches on each team and account for all of the different levels of employees, managers, administrators, and owners that are involved. (Also imagine if the team owners were responsible for purchasing their own property and financing their own stadiums.) With less waste and a more competitive market with fewer barriers to entry, the existing leagues and franchises would need to ensure that their product is in fact superior, or else risk losing a sizeable investment.

In my opinion, renewed innovation and competition – within specific sports and within the general industry – could trigger a sports renaissance. Personally, I would welcome that with open arms.

Leisure Time and the Demand to be Entertained

Some of the anarchist arguments against the entertainment industry in general seem to be a complaint about how other people prefer to spend their leisure time, which sounds quite contradictory to me. It’s their time and it’s their preference. If they choose to be entertained by sports, film, or musicians, rather than politicians, fearmongering, and tax laws, then that’s their choice – and I actually commend them for it. They appear to be living life the right way and I’m a little jealous that I can’t so easily turn a blind eye to state lunacy.

The fact that people are able to devote so much time to sports and other entertainment is a great testament to the efficiency of production in our modern society. The amount of leisure time we have and the options and volume of entertainment choices far surpasses any other time in history. If there wasn’t a state intervening in every conceivable market and hampering production and efficiency (and quality), we would have even more time for leisurely pursuits – which means more time for enjoying our favorite sports, watching ridiculous “reality” shows about pseudo-celebrities, sitting through another Transformers movie, and going to Taylor Swift or Kanye West concerts. I may not like any of these things myself, but there would certainly be a large market for entertainment and these will likely be in demand within that market.

There is a huge demand for entertainment that won’t simply vanish once the coercive state is abolished. It’s naïve to think that people will simply give up sports and other entertainment or that these markets won’t exist and flourish because the state no longer exists. We want to be entertained. We want to listen to good music, watch great films, witness athletic dominance, laugh at jokes, or cry at a play. The existence of the state is wholly unrelated to those desires.

Also, the fact that we demand entertainment in no way translates to not caring about philosophy, government and politics, and the abuses of the coercive state. These are not mutually exclusive interests for an individual to have.

Live and Let Live

I love sports, music, movies, comedy, video games, and reading. I also play the piano and guitar and I love to write. I hate the illegitimate, oppressive state. I can love the former activities and criticize and work to abolish the latter institution without being contradictory – without being a “sheep.” What I do with my leisure time shouldn’t concern others, as long as I’m not harming anyone else. Anarchists, more than any other groups of individuals, should understand this well.

Let’s stop turning every personal preference that we don’t share with others into antagonism.

So, you like the Pittsburgh Steelers? That’s great! Have you heard the good word about Voluntaryism?

*(Sports images are public domain. Piano image is mine. Russell Crowe belongs to nobody!)

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