The big sports news of the week is that the largest youth football organization Pop Warner reported a 10% drop in youth participation in the last two years.
Some 70% of current NFL players participated in Pop Warner football when they were younger.
Forbes magazine's website posted an article entitled: 'Why Is Football Participation Declining? The Answer Isn't Concussions.' [2]
In the article the author argues that there are a three reasons why football is declining in popularity among American youth:
I. Increased Sports Specialization - If Kids arn't exceptional at a sport they move onto the next one until they find one they have a shot at excelling in.
II. No Opportunity in College - Its unlikely a kid will get to become a 'college athlete' in football because the sport is so saturated with talent.
III. The Growth of Lacrosse - Lacrosse has sucked higher income kids away from football, and employers like kids that have played elite 'ivy league' sports.
Although I agree with these three reasons I think the primary reason is more basic: race.
Basketball and boxing were once huge sports in America. However, as African-Americans steadily became majorities in those sports whites simply moved onto other activities.
Within recent memory football was majority white, however, today it is dominated by Blacks. A simple look at the starting lineup of the top teams (Alabama, Ohio State, and Florida State) will reveal that they are almost entirely of African descent.
In addition to this, football has taken on an almost thuggish character. During post-game interviews many of the star players reveal an almost incredible inability to speak proper English. It is hard to imagine that some of them could actually pass college level course work.
Personally, I have heard from Tuscaloosa students that many of the players on Alabama's team are simply illiterate.
It doesn't surprise me.
Most of the quality players are covered by tattoos (and not classy ones either). Think Terrell Pryer.
The attitudes, the showiness, the whole brutish culture that surrounds modern college football players is enough for any parent to say 'I'm not sending my kid into that locker room!'
Stacked on top of it all is the immature NFL players that are always finding new ways to get arrested or look like idiots.
Just as whites fled from Detroit, South Africa, and any other area when Blacks begin to move in so football is experiencing a 'white flight' out of the sport and into more classy suburban middle/upper class safe havens that still retain their values and ethnic culture.
NOTES
[2] http://www.forbes.com/sites/bobcook/2013/11/26/why-is-football-participation-declining-the-answer-isnt-concussions/
Huffpost reported on a poll earlier today that only 1/3rd of Americans trust one another. [1] The article describes how this has contributed to greater deadlock in Washington, and the larger amounts of paperwork attempting to stop lawsuits from getting off the ground.
The article goes on to suggest that Americans should try to get children away from the electronics and back into the activities that supposedly made the older generations more trusting.
However, it occurs to me that the real reason that Americans don't trust one another is because of growing diversity.
As Robert Putnam discusses in his book 'Bowling Alone' as diversity increases social capital decreases.
Social capital is the amount of energy that citizens are willing to invest into their neighborhoods, communities, and government. A community with a high rate of social capital will have good schools, community events, clean neighborhoods, and a friendlier atmosphere over all. As social capital declines so does the quality of a community.
Trust is one of the all important elements in social capital. People don't trust each other if their share nothing in common.
Why would I trust a Muslim teacher to instruct my kid as a Biblical Christian? Why would I trust Mexican immigrants to continue celebrating the heritage of the Pilgrims for the Thanksgiving day festival? Why would I trust that an African-American inner city teenager who listens to violent rap music isnt going to use me as a prop in his latest 'knockout' video for YouTube?
You see, as diversity increases so does confusion. The threat becomes incalculable to the average person because they can't understand all of the factors that go into how each culture, ideology, and ethnic group poses its own threat... so the only logical thing to do is to become defensive towards everyone.
If you grow up in a small town filled with white Christians that you've known since you were a child your going to know precisely who is dangerous, and what situations might lend themselves to explosive dangers.
However, if a Muslim family moves into that town how can you be sure that htye aren'y terrorists? You cant! Until you get to know them the threat level increases. The unknowns multiply.
In most cities around American today the unknowns are piling up fast. Millions of 3rd World immigrants, hordes of cultural cliques, and rising numbers devoted to bizarre religions.
No person could live enough lives to be able to accurately assess the risk each person they see on the street poses.
Solution: always be on one's guard.
Expect the political gridlock in Washington to continue for a LONG time... or until America breaks up into smaller more homogenous trusting groups of people.
If Joe Smith is a devout Christian and wants 'In God We Trust' on his coins, and Bob Jones is an atheist and it 'offends' him, and Hussein Ali is a Muslim and he would prefer 'in Mohammed we trust,' and Betsy Johnson is a lesbian and wants the rainbow flag as the motto how are these four people going to compromise? Compromise is entirely off the table. Only one person can have their way.
In the above scenario, most likely 'compromise' means getting rid of the motto entirely.
Eventually, it also means getting rid of America.
NOTES:
[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/30/poll-americans-trust_n_4363884.html
