My Edmonton Oilers have tied the series with the Dallas Stars. Two wins each. The team that wins two more games advances to the Stanley Cup finals. It has been 30 years since a Canadian team won the Stanley Cup.
The year 2004 was my last time that I watched much professional hockey. The Calgary Flames were contenders for the Stanley Cup. I watched every playoff game. They lost Game 7 of the last round. They came so close to bringing honor and glory and happiness to Calgary and Alberta.
I asked a biology-inclined friend why I got so hooked on a recreational activity that I had not spent much time on before.
He said, “Endorphins!”
Basically, when we emotionally attach ourselves to a sports team, we set our body up for all sorts of chemical reactions. We get highs. We get lows. We like the momentary times of happiness.
I live in Brooks, Alberta. Calgary is only 200 km away. It was easy to attach myself to this team in 2004.
I lived 12 years in Edmonton. And it is only 500 km away. Again, it is easy for me to make this attachment in 2024. While the Edmonton Oilers seem to have addicted me to their side, I have noticed my highs and lows are not so high and low as they were 20 years ago. Maybe because I now understand I am using a pseudo-narcotic.
There is an addiction to professional sports. However, most ardent fans would not admit to being an addict. To them, following professional sports is a natural way for citizens to enjoy Western society. It’s the Canadian way. It’s the American way. It’s the German way. Nothing wrong with that. Right?
When I watch the engaged fans in the stadiums, I see 20,000 fans investing about five hours and maybe $300 to be part of the spectacle.
TV ratings say another 2 million Canadians are watching the game on TV. I don’t believe the TV commercials are convincing me to buy anything the advertisers are selling, but we never know for sure. The advertisers wouldn’t be advertising if there wasn’t profit from that advertising. We should assume they must know what they’re doing.
The stadium fans and the TV fans could be doing other things with their time and money.
Like building a new democracy
Critics of my alternative democracy (Tiered Democratic Governance) often say, “Dave, no one has the extra 10 hours a month to give to your idea. There’s no time to read your books.”
I think a few of those 20,000 stadium fans and 2,000,000 TV fans could give up a few hockey games to build that better democracy. It’s pretty obvious that the current democracy is burning up.
Listen closely to the hockey announcers. They are using language that affects our psyche. They have convinced too many of us that the most important thing we could be doing is to watch this hockey game. In other words, we have been conditioned to believe that watching hockey games is a rightful thing to do.
But what is really happening?
With each hockey game, a few million dollars changes hands. But is this business transaction making the world a better place? I can think of better places to put these societal resources. How about school lunches? How about better care in seniors’ homes? How about housing for low-income people? Nope, it seems hockey games are more important.
Edmonton Oilers fans cheer and get their endorphins each time their team scores. When the other team scores, the Oilers fans get a low, which has them craving another high. I can feel this high and low in myself. And I know the game is really not that important.
If the Oilers lose the series to the Stars, the Oilers fans will go back to their regular lives, with all the usual trials and tribulations of life still well in place. But if the Oilers win the Stanley Cup, their fans can truly forget about their daily trials and tribulations…
…for a few days. Somehow those life trials and tribulations seem to come back after our favorite team wins the championship. Whatever joy we experience is short-lived. Very short-lived. Was all the effort expended worth the few days of pleasure? According to the sports announcers, the effort was worth it. We can trust them to know what’s best for us, right?
Having lived in Edmonton during the Wayne Gretzky era, I can confirm Edmontonians did not become better people when the Stanley Cup came to our city several times. Same before; same after.
Yet millions of dollars exchange hands. For sure, hockey players and hockey announcers make a lot more money than most of us who are reading this article. Advertisers must somehow be selling more widgets and websites with the hockey advertising than without.
We see how fans of professional sports have been conditioned to spend time and money on their favorite team. We see how MAGA supporters have been conditioned to follow a certain political leader. We have seen how various consumer industries — like tobacco, sugar, gasoline, tourism — had and still have us as willing consumers of their drug.
Yet most readers of this article see themselves above all this corporate conditioning. My critics disparage me when I state that we have been conditioned in how to participate in democracy.
We, the plebes, have been conditioned in the proper ways to participate in democracy. Yes, we can complain. Yes, we can write Internet articles. Yes, we can protest. Yes, we can vote.
But how has that been working out?
It seems to me that the nefarious forces we complain about are still in charge after we complain, write, protest, and vote. Could it be possible that the THEY have conditioned us to complain, write, protest, and vote — to make us believe that we are making change — while THEY know THEY will still be in charge?
And the nefarious forces are getting bolder, aren’t they? Should I mention that a popular politician recently and overtly asked the petroleum industry for a $1B political donation? And we know most of it is unlikely to find its way into the campaign coffers. This used to be behind-the-scenes politics. Now it is wide open.
And I don’t think the petroleum CEOs have much choice — if their objective is to maximize shareholder return. They don’t want their company to be a punishment target of a future oligarchic administration.
So with all this going on around us, do you still believe that complaining, writing, protesting, and voting is working? Do you still believe you have not been conditioned on how to participate in democracy?
If you don’t think you have been conditioned, then why can’t you take a closer look at my work? What is really stopping you?
Published on Medium 2024
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