Posted by Survival of the fittest. It is an intrinsic component of nature’s wilds and an essential building block of just about every aspect of modern human civilization. The strong rise to the top and the weak fall off. Or so we believe.
From sports teams to multinational corporations, our societies reward those who go after what they want, regardless of the cost to their individual or our collective soul. A few years ago, I wrote a post wherein I made the classical economic point that morality is irrelevant in corporate governance. The market would correct those companies that got out of line (at the time, my example was Enron) and so the middle-ground would be re-established. It is the essential point made by free-marketers the world over and certainly by those who want to keep the Amrikan gum’mint out of the financial sector today.
In the handling of the Ben Roethlisberger case, we see a correction of sorts by the NFL. Roethlisberger will be punished, he will be reviled for a time and then we will all go about our merry ways. But the ultimate ethic of the sports fan isn’t to overlook a man’s failings or even to condemn them. It is avoidance; time and distance will do more to heal the wounds of faux-raged fans than a 4-6 game suspension. Those predisposed to disliking Roethlisberger will continue to dislike him and those predisposed to liking Roethlisberger will continue to like him. Many of us will make weak jokes for years afterward (as we do with Ray Ray Lewis or Kobe Bean Bryant) because in truth, we don’t want to confront the ugly implications for much longer than half a season.
A wise man once said, “I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight.” But societies are not built upon compassion or mercy. They are organized so that the few powerful will dominate the many powerless. Until the guillotine starts to swing again and the new members of the few powerful trickssess the many powerless again.
The biological imperative of survival of the fittest ultimately leads to a society built upon the libertarian ethic. Leave me the frak alone to do what I want to do… even if it is to stab you in the back. Because if you were weak enough to turn your back to me, then I can’t be blamed for taking advantage of the opportunity.
This worldview will give rise to a powerful and elite class of men. And in the cases of such powerful men gone astray (Roethlisberger, Woods, LT, Edwards, Lay, Madoff), we see the rotted underpinnings of this philosophy exposed. Ultimately, any form of power (political, celebrity or otherwise) corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Make a correction for that, if you can.
about every aspect of modern human civilization. The strong rise to the top and the weak fall off. Or so we
believe.
From sports teams to multi-national corporations, our societies reward those who go after what they want,
regardless of the cost to their individual or our collective soul. A few years ago, I wrote a post wherein I made
the classical economic point that morality is irrelevant in corporate governance. The market would correct those
companies that got out of line (at the time, my example was Enron) and so the middle-ground would be re-
established. It is the essential point made by free-marketers the world over and certainly by those who want to
keep the Amrikan gum’mint out of the financial sector today.
In the handling of the Ben Roethlisberger case, we see a correction of sorts by the NFL. Roethlisberger will be
punished, he will be reviled for a time and then we will all go about our merry ways. But the ultimate ethic of the
sports fan isn’t to overlook a man’s failings or even to condemn them. It is time and distance that will do more to
heal the wounds of faux-raged fans, not a 4-6 game suspension. Those predisposed to disliking Roethlisberger will
continue to dislike him and those predisposed to liking Roethlisberger will continue to like him. Many of us will
make weak jokes for years afterwards (as we do with Ray Ray Lewis or Kobe Bean Bryant) but in truth, we don’t want
to confront the ugly implications for much longer than half a season.
A wise man once said, “I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people and then penalize
them for not being able to stand up under the weight.” But societies are not built upon compassion or mercy. They
are organized so that the few powerful will dominate the many powerless. Until the guilottine starts to swing again
and the new members of the few powerful trickssses the many powerless again. Sports leagues are built upon the same
foundation.
The biological imperative of survival of the fittest ultimately leads to a society built upon the libertarian
ethic. Leave me the frak alone to do what I want to do… even if it is to stab you in the back. Because if you
were weak enough to turn your back to me, then I can’t be blamed for taking advantage of the opportunity.
In the cases of powerful men gone astray (Roethlisberger, Woods, LT, Edwards, Lay, Madoff, Taylor, etc), we see the
rotted underpinnings of this philosophy exposed. Ultimately, any form of power (political, sports/celebrity or
otherwise) corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Make a correction for that, if you can.
