[Marxism] World Cup Patriotism

["Nestor Gorojovsky" <nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Respuesta a:"Marxism Digest, Vol 32, Issue 43"
Enviado por:marxism-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Con fecha:16 Jun 2006, a las 11:59

> we have
> to endure a wave of patriotism here. When I am looking out of my
> office window I can see three German flags (not from official
> buildings, but ordinary homes). No good time for Anti-Deutsche

I live in a semicolonial country, thus waves of patriotism are not 
always exactly something to be "endured".   They may end up with 
seizing the sugar cane centrals, as in Cuba, or the oil, as in 
Bolivia, etc.

But we are also having a disgusting and sickening wave of imperialist-
driven mock patriotism here.  All the sponsors of the Arg team in the 
Cup but for one (the Banco de la Nación Argentina, still the largest 
single bank in Arg, and which  is state-owned) are foreign, 
imperialist companies.  Almost every TV, CATV, important newspaper, 
and media outfit in general are foreign owned or owned by sepoys.  

And all of them have become, suddenly, "sky-blue-and-white" 
companies.

People _do_ tell the difference.  They could tell the difference even 
in 1978, when (as I commented sometime on this list) there was a 
silent battle against the oligarchic-imperialist military regime 
which ended up with a new national custom when a team appeared on the 
field:  throwing massive amounts of paper slips.  

The regime wanted us to show how "clean" and "neat" people we were.  
In the end, they had to bend to this silent protest of millions, who 
littered every corner of each town where the Arg national team was to 
play.

So that people tell the difference now, too.  Nobody swallows the 
stupid PR pill by which Repsol is now "Argentinean" because it has 
painted itself with the colors of the flag, for example.  The guys at 
those offices insult our intelligence, and they know it.  

But anyway it is quite disgusting.

Anyway, the Arg team has demonstrated today that it is a serious 
candidate for a good performance this year.  A pity that most, if not 
all, the players are invisible for Argentineans unless we can watch 
them, from time to time, on the transmissions of the Euro Cups.  

The fact that we ran over Srbija & Crna Gora has added, in my case, a 
little drop of bitterness, because this 6-0 over that team (former 
Yugoslavia was a power in the football world) reminded me of the 1958 
defeat of Arg by 6-1 in Sweden.  By that time we also were a country 
under a pro-imperialist plot after a recent coup (which had destroyed 
in a couple of years most of the excellent sports network that 
Peronism had organized, there is an extraordinary Historia Política 
del Deporte Argentino which shows it to the most minute detail).

Este correo lo ha enviado
Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky
nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[No necesariamente es su autor]
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 
"La patria tiene que ser la dignidad arriba y el regocijo abajo".
Aparicio Saravia
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 



________________________________________________
YOU MUST clip all extraneous text before replying to a message.
Send list submissions to: Marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Set your options at: http://lists.econ.utah.edu/mailman/listinfo/marxism