At least in the US (thanks Reagan) college sports scholarships are the only way some families can afford to send their kids to college.
That was what was behind that caveat in the second half of my post.
Sure being a big strong guy (or gal) who can do sports things with a ball, stick or whatever is a insanely profitable career, but what does it actually do? Nothing. If every professional sports person suddenly dropped dead tomorrow the world would still be the same as it was today. Sports do nothing.
I mean I don’t object to contests of skill and physical prowess, but I just find it insane that it’s somehow metastasized into this giant billion dollar industry that produces nothing and consumes everything. Like, imagine if people were getting upset about Trans people competing in… I dunno pogs or something because pog games were a billion dollar industry.
I feel like this idea is a little too reductionist. Like yeah sports are productive. But you know what else isn’t? Movies, books, art majors, history majors, and countless other things that we still need in society.
Sports are entertainment, and that should be a good enough reason for something to exist. You might not like it and that’s fine, and you can argue that athletes are over paid (people doing fencing definitely aren’t) but just reducing them how much productive output they create is just dumb.
Edit: this comment is not discussing trans folks competing in sports. I think it’s a little more complicated than “they should be allowed”, but I also don’t think banning trans folks is the answer either. This comment is purely discussing the concept of sports in society.
That was what was behind that caveat in the second half of my post.
Sure being a big strong guy (or gal) who can do sports things with a ball, stick or whatever is a insanely profitable career, but what does it actually do? Nothing. If every professional sports person suddenly dropped dead tomorrow the world would still be the same as it was today. Sports do nothing.
I mean I don’t object to contests of skill and physical prowess, but I just find it insane that it’s somehow metastasized into this giant billion dollar industry that produces nothing and consumes everything. Like, imagine if people were getting upset about Trans people competing in… I dunno pogs or something because pog games were a billion dollar industry.
I feel like this idea is a little too reductionist. Like yeah sports are productive. But you know what else isn’t? Movies, books, art majors, history majors, and countless other things that we still need in society.
Sports are entertainment, and that should be a good enough reason for something to exist. You might not like it and that’s fine, and you can argue that athletes are over paid (people doing fencing definitely aren’t) but just reducing them how much productive output they create is just dumb.
Edit: this comment is not discussing trans folks competing in sports. I think it’s a little more complicated than “they should be allowed”, but I also don’t think banning trans folks is the answer either. This comment is purely discussing the concept of sports in society.