Via Matt Yglesias, I think this post from Gary Schmitt on yesterday's U.S. soccer team upsetting No. 1 Spain (HELL YEAH!) accurately, if accidentally explains modern American conservatism:
As someone who didn't play soccer growing up, but had a dad who did and whose own kids played as well, I can say unquestionably that it is the sport in which the team that dominates loses more often than any other major sport I know of. Or, to put it more bluntly, the team that deserves to win doesn't. For some soccer-loving friends, this is perfectly okay. Indeed, they will argue that it's a healthy, conservative reminder of how justice does not always prevail in life.
[...]
For sure, there may be a number of reasons that is the case but my suspicion is that the so-called “beautiful game” is not so beautiful to American sensibilities. We like, as good small “d” democrats, our underdogs for sure but we also still expect folks in the end to get their just desert. And, in sports, that means excellence should prevail. Of course, the fact that is often not the case when it comes to soccer may be precisely the reason the sport is so popular in the countries of Latin America and Europe.
Schmitt doesn't really believe "excellence" should prevail, or he wouldn't be lamenting that the team that played better won the game. What he laments is that the team that was supposed to play better lost--in other words, it bothers him that it's even possible for someone with a distinct, inherent advantage to fail. This isn't support for "good "small "d" democracy", this is romanticizing oligarchy. It's the pathetic lament of someone who is disappointed that structural inequalities don't always produce a positive result for the advantaged. Schmitt is, in effect, arguing that nothing should have to be earned--you earn it depending entirely on who you are. He doesn't believe in competition that allows, well, competition. Aside from being really weird, this attitude basically defeats the point of watching competitive sports.
It is however, the kind of philosophy that explains conservative hostility to everything from the progessive tax system and universal health care coverage to Sonia Sotomayor being nominated to the Supreme Court. Everyone, especially those at the bottom, are meant to stay in their place.
-- A. Serwer
