American culture is awfully similar in several ways to Ancient Grecian culture.
Think about it: how much pressure is put onto children at a young age to never settle for less than excellence? Or to never, ever, ever quit no matter how difficult the circumstances, nor the invincibility of your enemy or nor the impossibility of your situation? The primary arenas of competition that spring to mind are academics and athletics, but as an American matures and grows, the same can be said for nearly any area of life (but remain especially applicable to athletics, in particular).
I was reading a blog on...hmm, what was it...either ESPN or Sports Illustrated....no it was the New York Times. Some person at the Times wrote a blog about how the spread offense style of play in college football will never transition fully to the NFL because of one major reason: the spread offense leaves the quarterback particularly open to defensive attack. In the NFL, quarterbacks are arguably the most influential position on the team, as one person is nearly entirely responsible for driving the offense. In the NFL, quarterbacks are often the highest paid position as well. I'm talking tens of millions of dollars for one man, the right man, to lead that offense. And the spread offensive structure of college football leaves that multi-million dollar investment too open to danger for NFL teams to widely accept.
That's all very interesting, isn't it? Of course, the odds are that if you have a pair of ovaries somewhere inside your person, I lost you at "ESPN." But then again, the likelihood that anyone in possession of a pair of ovaries has come within 100 miles of this blog is remote at best, so I'll keep on going like you (my testicle-brandishing reader) are still interested in what I have to say.
The notion of paying one man upwards of $15 million dollars a season because of his ability to help a sports team win games (games that, in the grand scheme of life, mean less than the earth they are played upon) very loudly proclaims a few things about our culture:
1) Americans have a fascination with competition. We love watching two equally skilled, equally talented forces battle to see who will win. We love it so much, that we schedule our lives around watching these events. Some people love it so much, that they devote their lives to understanding it and participating in it. Some people will travel hundreds of miles, dress themselves up in elaborate colorful costumes and spend thousands of dollars to show support for their chosen competitor. Do you know who also had a fascination with competition? The ancient Greeks. They loved it so much that they created a series of competitions, games if you will, to showcase their physical and mental abilities. The biggest difference between the ancient olympic games and the modern games is that the athletes no longer compete in the nude (thankfully).
2) Americans have a fascination with being the best. The notion of settling, of compromising, of being content with less than the best (not your best, THE best) almost makes you feel like a coward or a traitor. And it's not just for love of the game (whatever the game may be) that people compete; you compete to win - to be better than anyone else; to be the focus of attention and to receive the glory due to the victor. Which person/team feels the worst after a competition? The one who came in second place. The one who had the "best" within their reach but lost it when it mattered most. The desire to claim the "best" is what drives people to compete in the game day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year.
American culture can trace its roots back to Ancient Greece in other ways too. Our form of government, while not a true democracy, prides itself on the foundations of democracy - the political system of ancient Athens. Ancient Athenians are also credited with birthing the modern notion of scientific thought. Athenians were the first to attempt to understand and explain the world as it naturally is. Athenians first delved into the ocean of philosophical understanding, of logic and sound thinking. All these qualities (while still premature and incorrect in some regards) are qualities highly valued and rigorously taught in American education systems.
American attitudes toward the military can, in some ways, find its roots in ancient Sparta. Soldiers were trained nearly all their lives for service in the Spartan army. The Spartan military was known for the high quality of each individual soldier, and much thought and care was invested in battle strategy. If ancient Greeks cared enough about athletic competition, where nothing but pride was at stake, how much more do you think military superiority was a concern, where lives, families, culture, land, food, and shelter were at stake? Again, we see how the importance of military might in America echoes the sentiments of Sparta.
One other very important aspect of Spartan society that is mirrored in American society is the social, economic and political equality of women. Women of Sparta could own land, participate in government activities and were considered on equal social standing with Spartan men. Women in America have (very loudly and sometimes obnoxiously I might add) succeeded in obtaining the same equality in society that Spartan women enjoyed in their time.
But what does all this mean? Surely I'm working towards a point after all this rambling.
You might think so. But like I said at the start of things, this was just a thought that crossed my mind while browsing the pages of ESPN.com.
I never thought of myself as "brandishing" my testicles. I'll have to try that out some time, wielding Oswald and Cobblepot like weapons.
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