English patriotism and comercialism.

The second post in such a short time, I'm almost proud of myself.

So the world cup is coming up/started/ has begun the invasion and everyone is making fools of themselves. I'm all for being proud of your country but painting yourself like a flag and singing about a game seems like insanity.  Especially when there will be no official world cup song and even the team are getting sick of all the merchandising. There should be passion and emotion in music and if this game can do this for you then great but no song will make me feel the same way. Sadly if you can't make me of all people share your emotion through song then the purpose of the song is null and void.

I know many people get into football like they do religion, though that begs the question why? Why have these people, however skilled they may be, become idols? They're simply human the same as the rest of us. Why them and not the artists and writers of the past? The musicians? Even actors do not gain such worship. Maybe it's that passing, passive, adrenalin rush that music and art can not deliver to the masses (though if you've ever been to a concert you know that's not necessarily true.) Maybe it's for the sake of gripping onto nostalgia, remembering a time when we were actually good at the sport. Some deep down longing for a world where all nations are equal. After all, we all know of the time where two nations in the grip of a war played football fairly and without prejudice on the battlefield itself. Maybe it's something more shallow like passive fame if England once again world cup winners.

As I am not a football fan I have no idea. And sadly these days I am not an England fan either. When people ask me what I think of when I think of "England" all I can think of is chavs, drinking, unemployment, criminals, delinquency and a nation of kids with very little chance of a successful future. And it's a shame. I want to be able to think of the country I was born in as a place famed for acceptance, equality, a history of great writers and poets but I just can't. I can't see the image of that England.

Now, to the subject of commercialism, a word we would usually associate with America. But I see it every day here. Look out of your window and you'll see brand labels written across peoples backs like billboards. People pay £100's just to advertise these labels so other people will also spend £100's. And these people are kids. We're in a recession and people on benefits are throwing money at these multimillion pound companies. It's insane. Now to link all this to my original point.

Is paying £50 of money that could be saved or spent on keeping your finances afloat on a piece of England merchandise, made by an American company, patriotic?