－Omid-X to Agamem-X (his father) and Esperan-M (his mother)－
My caring lifegivers, I am doing quite well here and thanks to my deal with my landlords－the one that requires me to cook for them 3 nights a week in return for free lodging－I am eating well. So not to worry about my health and well-being.
My lifegivers, we are gradually entering the Fall season here, and with it, start series of sporting competitions and tournaments. In the USA, in particular, the Summer is basically dedicated to a game called Baseball, but as Fall rolls around, Americans get to pick from a number of competitions. Football is one－which uses the feet very little, and is mostly a hand game－but there is also Basketball in which the two opposing teams try to pass a ball through a hole installed on top of a board on a pole. There is also Soccer, which is called Football in the rest of the world and is mostly played with the feet. They are all followed by Hockey, which is played on ice.
My lifegivers, this email, however, is not about the various sports, but its subject is about the fact that most of these games－with the exception of Soccer which has European roots－always require a winner and a loser. Yes, a tie match is not accepted and the rules make sure of it.
I remember in the early days of my encounter with Henry Dimplefink, he told that one of the key American culture and attitude is the notion of competition and that everything is about winning and not losing. He was telling me that in his view, this notion of competition goes back to the very beginning of America’s history, with the step-by-step process of the conquest of land and wrestling it from the local inhabitants, then a part from the Spanish, the Mexicans, even the Japanese－I will tell you later about Hawaii. Consequently, the culture of competition, underpinned by the requirement of a winner and a loser, is ingrained in the psyche of all Americans. And it is natural that the country’s sports reflect that psyche and seeks to promote the ideology of winners and losers in every step, and every game, not to mention the idea of winner takes all.
To finish off his opinion piece, Henry went further and declared that in order to stay united and move forward, America always needs to have an enemy－ideally an external one, but if not, an internal conceptual enemy will do. And if you have an enemy, there is a competition, not to mention some form of war, and America has to win it. Consequently, it is natural that the sport rules in America reflect that. Every competition, be it a mundane match, a league match, or a final, has to have a winner. A tie is ‘unstable’.
I do not yet have enough knowledge of earthlings to validate Henry’s full conclusions, but I must say what I recall from our own history and the evolution of the country that used to be called Groznieland lends some credence to this thought.
From Boston, Massachusetts - 8 September, 2023 (Earth)