Fanboys Punk Out, Players Play

“Americans want to talk about killing and watch violent movies and play violent video games, and watch fighting sports. But it’s all about simulacra. Hence the popularity of things like the UFC gym franchise where you can “train like a UFC fighter,” without actually sparring. Which is sort of like spending all your time doing tennis drills and conditioning but never actually playing a game of tennis. And for all the fetishization of the military and the years of fear mongering by the commentariat, I have seen zero, ZERO interest in reviving the draft. … Americans at all levels of our society refuse to look at hard facts and make decisions accordingly; people prefer fandom instead of participation. Vast numbers of Americans look on the military, as fans. Fans don’t get on the field and play– the[y] stand on the sidelines and only participate in the narrative as the cheering crowd. And unfortunately, now that I think about it, vast numbers of Americans also look at politics as fandom as well. They don’t really want to participate in the civic life of our country, they just want to stand on the sidelines and scream for their team. The only good part about this, though is that fanboys generally crumble in the face of actual competence. Or to put it in the sports analogy: fanboys punk out, and players play.”

Commenter on Metafilter, What is the meaning of the assassination of OBL?

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