Re: [Marxism] England Football Supporters

["Ian Pace" <ian@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

From: <Jscotlive@xxxxxxx>
> Reply:
>
> Yes, they are oppressed economically in their own nation. However, they
> do
> derive a sense of national pride in the fact they come from a nation
> steeped
> in a history of war and the national prestige to be had from Empire. Of
> course, it is a false consciousness, but no less a powerful motive force
> for all
> that. It is this false consciousness, heightened through the medium of
> sporting
> events like the World Cup, which distracts them from their oppression.
>
> As I said in a previous post, English fans are I think unique in the way
> they support their team by invoking the Second World War and even the
> Battle of
> Trafalgar in the form of Nelson's message ' England Expects' to his fleet
> before  going into battle.
>
> Finally, I wasn't holding my hands up in despair. I was making an
> observation. I take the view that we should be orientating towards the
> progressive
> forces among the working class, not pandering to the backward  sections
> such as
> those you may typically find on football terraces who chant  racist and
> nationalist songs. They should be challenged, not pandered to.
OK - but in England at least those 'progressive forces' (in the sense of
those who have no truck with nationalism) are *very* much the minority. Go
to any working-class housing estate and you'll see England flags plastered
all over the place. I'm looking for thoughts on how it's possible to combat
the greater pull that nationalism rather than international socialism has
for a large number of the white working classes here (and increasingly
you'll find England flags sported by black and Asian people as well).

Solidarity,
Ian



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