"My dear colleagues and guests, this morning we are going to study human games and how, throughout their history, their games have both brought them together, and caused some of them to tear their own cities apart." -- DaniAndShali
It is often said that many Human games are war by more civilised means. After all, people follow the rules when they're playing a game. The fans of the game are the most dangerous. Their tribal identity lies in the team they support. Their faith stands with that team.
At this point that it must be noted, there is little difference in behaviour when a Human sports team wins... [Image of a group of humans in the same colours overturning parked cars and setting things on fire]... or when they lose. [Image of a different group of humans in the same colours overturning parked cars and setting things on fire.
One of these is an image of Humans celebrating their team's victory, the other is them protesting their team's loss. I challenge you to spot the differences in behaviour.
Tragically, some matches between teams in games have resulted in domestic violence and deaths. This is a relic of the past, since toxic gender roles are almost extinct[1]. Now that all gender identities are taught healthy ways of venting their stresses, the Alliance is a much safer place.
How this degree of escalation occurred is an intense study amongst many Historians analysing Terran history. How the fandoms of anything went from friendly rivalry to a dangerous force.
Some theories indicate that team rivalry assisted in fueling other team-associated disputes. [Image of rioters storming an apparently important building, flying flags associated with their affiliation] That theory is still under significant debate.
Terran Games are generally war by other means. Even some humans have divided their games into, Kill the guy with the ball, [Images of rugby and gridiron], Kill the ball, [Images of tennis, badminton, and ping-pong], and Kill a thing with the ball, [Images of golf, basketball, and hockey].
Some of these games have rules and procedures to prevent the players from hurting each other. [A moving image of a fight breaking out in a hockey match, and the other players pairing up to embrace each other so the fight failed to escalate] However, there are no such rules and procedures for the fans. [Images of riots breaking out amongst the spectators of a sport.]
They once went home singing. Arm in arm, regardless of their colours. They used to be able to safely bring their children to the matches, unafraid of their fellow fans. They used to have friendly wagers, with nothing more expensive than a round inebriants on the line.
But in the space of one lifetime, it went from that, to riot police at the arenas. They were there to prevent fights breaking out... and they failed.
So... many times... they failed.
In a culture where strength was measured in the ability to hurt, where weakness was measured in blood shed, it was no surprise that aggression became the norm.
Those in love with aggression protested every measure to keep it at bay. Given the overall sociopolitical atmosphere at the time, it was the only way to appear strong. The trick of redefining 'strength' was something the Human species still has trouble with to this day.
For your assignment, select five Human Games still played to public arenas. Sort them into which 'kill' classification they belong to, and explain your reasoning. We will meet again this time next week.
[1] There's always another Greater Deregulation. Or another colonial world where the toxic patriarchy decided on the rules.
[Image (c) Can Stock Photo / get4net]
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