Society of the Spectacle: Part two
As Russian Revolutionary Vladimir Lenin wrote: “There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen.”
Because we can only now watch history on our computer screens or televisions, time is compressed. And within hours a historical schism can unwind or explode with the decisiveness of public opinion now able to be measured. In hours, we can see a victory for the masses.
The European Super League (ESL) has been the mood music for the sport for years. It’s the apotheosis of ever greater inequality growing in each domestic competition, where the same team can consecutively win nine titles in a row, or re-enter the same four teams into Europe’s top tier competition. Those victories further furnish the finances of the top teams, while the smaller ones get the scraps.
The old adage of the best way to turn a billionaire into a millionaire is to buy a sports team has given way to a new model of ownership that seeks a return on investment or at the very least financial sustainability. Chelsea, Man City and PSG catapulted themselves to the top by spending big and now want long-term viability now that they are in the elite, alongside European aristocracy such as Liverpool, Juventus, Real Madrid, Barcelona and Man Utd.
For others, the US ownership of Man Utd, Liverpool, AC Milan is very much focused on a return. Deeply indebted Man Utd has been funnelling debt-fueled dividends to the Glazer family for 15 years. A total £1bn has been taken out of the club throughout that time, yet the family plow on.
The inequality is glaring and the very stunning effect of the announcement coupled with a instinctive solidarity of football fans across Europe generated a power that the owners were too stupid to see.
The unanimity of resistance across the sport was welcome. And footballers and coaches breaking ranks to signal their dislike was quite a step to take against their own employers and rigid PR regimes. Footballers at Man Utd confronting their owners is an extraordinary event and scalping the hated CEO Ed Woodward there and at Juventus was power in action.
The masses won. The spectacle favours them, because the building of an organised working class can be done within hours across the world without a word being spoken. There was rapid widespread class consciousness. And the bourgeoisie can’t move quick enough to fight back.
That isn’t to say it was purely a working class movement, but for the likes of the players and pundits to make bold statements they needed the backing of the ordinary football fan.
So why does the victory ring somewhat hollow?
The event is akin to the GameStop phenomenon where we all enjoyed the bloody nose given to hedge funds. The helplessness of society was overcome suddenly by anonymous users on Reddit. We cheered as the small guys made money. Over night it was clear the political and financial class was the enemy of working class people.
But it wasn’t a movement and it had no lasting structural changes. In the UK, the party offering the first embers of working class solidarity was smashed at the ballot box. That most football fans cannot translate the greed of football owners to other areas of the economy holds them down. More outrage is directed to the events we watch on TV than the continued decline of our material circumstances.
The ESL backlash is a defensive move. For years, football fans have shown outrage at Middle Eastern dictatorships taking over teams and spending huge sums; that teams have been renamed by a fizzy drinks company; tickets for games are exorbitant and TV packages governed by monopolies; that games are played abroad to cynically build global fan bases and detach teams from their local roots. The basic fairness has been steadily eroded and we learn to adapt each time.
We called in on radio shows and took to Twitter, only to meekly surrender to each regressive step in the game, where business increasingly dictates what happens on the field. The quality of players has never been better, but we have the El-Gassico derby between PSG and Man City in the Champions League semi-finals coming up and it’s now acceptable.
To see the media generate more outrage than what we see and hear in our lived realities epitomises the impossibility of any working class solidarity. There is no opportunity to ever fundamental change power structures to benefit the lower classes. There is power at the bottom, but it’s impossible to tap into and exercise. The mob can claim victories, but only in cases where it doesn’t matter.
While it is funny that billionaire owners can be shamed over night, or that hedge funds can lose billions in hours, it is just that — funny. It’s a giant cartoon where once they see the floor beneath them removed, they fall to the ground, assumed to be dead but only to be revived seconds later. Ha ha ha.
The ESL was badly implemented but the mechanics for it to happen are still there. It’ll come back — the smarter capitalists will address some of the superficial issues about the lack of promotion/relegation and peel off some of the bourgeoisie opponents. The discussion will return to the format, not the economics. The lower orders will either wilt or explode. But it is only on our phones we’re permitted to do so.