Me, World Cup, & USofA
"But while violence can destroy power, it can never become a substitute for it. From this results the by no means infrequent political combination of force and powerlessness, an array of impotent forces that spend themselves, often spectacularly and vehemently but in utter futility, leaving behind neither monuments nor stories, hardly enough memory to enter into history at all. In historical experience and traditional theory, this combination, even if it is not recognized as such, is known as tyranny, and the time-honored fear of this form of government is not exclusively inspired by its cruelty, which—as the long series of benevolent tyrants and enlightened despots attests—is not among its inevitable features, but by the impotence and futility to which it condemns the rulers as well as the ruled." – Hannah Arendt, The Human Condition, 1958
Stomping the Swedes, the Frenches were intimidating. But for a couple inches and a bad offside call, Mbappe woulda scored four goals, not just two. Another impressive member of France's imperial past team, Michael Olise says, “I actually come from four countries: France, Algeria, Nigeria and England. I consider myself very lucky to possess these four parts, which all enrich me.”
What better concise expression of the best esprit de corps of this world tournament?
From a young age as a world cup fan in the US, I gratefully noticed US nationalism was absent from this international tournament. The US dismissed soccer, the team was never good, and the tournament ignored. So, the tournament could be simply appreciated from the perspective of a beautiful game, with the best of the world playing, and a whole lot of the world watching.
The thing is, and I don’t have an answer for this, from a young age, I never much liked the American empire and completely despised the way American nationalism was constantly twisted (all nationalism is twisted) and manipulated to support the never ending bloody idiocies of the national security state – the empire’s military arm. As far as, call it patriotism, I had the deepest respect for and participated in – much, much more so than the vast majority of my fellow citizens – this republic, now marking two and half centuries. For fifty years, in real time, I watched and opposed ever greater imperial pressures crushing this republic just as two thousand years ago the empire they created imploded the Roman republic.
If the Frenches win in New Jersey a couple weeks from now, that'd be great historical symmetry. After all, in one of history’s sweet ironies, these United States would never been birthed without the midwifery of France’s Louis XVI. He sent money, guns, and Lafayette, we gave back tyrannicide perpetrator Jefferson.