A long march to China Opinion | The Boston Globe | October 02, 2006
http://www.iht.com//articles/2006/10/02/opinion/ednfl.php America's National Football League and the People's Republic of China - can they be compatible partners? The best-marketed sport in the world and the biggest market may not match as precisely as yin and yang. But they have plenty in common. These are two powerful hierarchies that lay claim, each in its own way, to the mandate of Heaven. The NFL has announced that the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will play a preseason game in China next August. The prospect of the first NFL game in China raises a crucial question: Who will exert the greater influence on whom? After all, China's Communist Party has forsaken old-style collectivist equality for an ardent belief in survival of the fittest - or at least of the best connected. China's current bosses are Communist in name only, and the social lessons of America's pigskin parable fit well into a belief system the government would like to impress upon the masses. Mao Zedong's little red book has given way to the cult of competition. And the rituals of that cult are on display - in their purest form - in the Darwinian struggle of an NFL season. Having thrown off all the old revolutionary values, however, China's ruling circles may frown on at least one aspect of professional American football: the NFL's fantastic profits, and even its sustained level of competitiveness, derive from a decidedly non- Darwinian agreement among owners. Each receives an equal share of revenues from the league's contracts with television networks. There is a name for this sort of conniving against free enterprise. The specter of socialism haunting the NFL is a reminder of the past in China, and the plutocrats who run that country are primed to reject it on sight. China's rulers may be delighted to replace the chaos of the Cultural Revolution with the sublimated violence of a football game. But the last thing they want to see is a level playing field. America's National Football League and the People's Republic of China - can they be compatible partners? The best-marketed sport in the world and the biggest market may not match as precisely as yin and yang. But they have plenty in common. These are two powerful hierarchies that lay claim, each in its own way, to the mandate of Heaven. The NFL has announced that the New England Patriots and the Seattle Seahawks will play a preseason game in China next August. The prospect of the first NFL game in China raises a crucial question: Who will exert the greater influence on whom? After all, China's Communist Party has forsaken old-style collectivist equality for an ardent belief in survival of the fittest - or at least of the best connected. China's current bosses are Communist in name only, and the social lessons of America's pigskin parable fit well into a belief system the government would like to impress upon the masses. Mao Zedong's little red book has given way to the cult of competition. And the rituals of that cult are on display - in their purest form - in the Darwinian struggle of an NFL season. Having thrown off all the old revolutionary values, however, China's ruling circles may frown on at least one aspect of professional American football: the NFL's fantastic profits, and even its sustained level of competitiveness, derive from a decidedly non- Darwinian agreement among owners. Each receives an equal share of revenues from the league's contracts with television networks. There is a name for this sort of conniving against free enterprise. The specter of socialism haunting the NFL is a reminder of the past in China, and the plutocrats who run that country are primed to reject it on sight. China's rulers may be delighted to replace the chaos of the Cultural Revolution with the sublimated violence of a football game. But the last thing they want to see is a level playing field. -- This is ZESTGlobal. Post articles on international affairs to [email protected] If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTGlobal by sending a blank mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join/ Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTGlobal/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
