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What a glorious Guardian piece

It\’s not an unusual trope, for people to say that boxing is a working class thing. It\’s certainly been used as an argument to explain the preponderance of black boxers (especially in the US) since the 50s.

Only those suffering at the bottom of the economic pile are willing to risk having their brains bashed out  for the chance (however slight) of fame and fortune.

But I must admit, I\’ve never seen this argument made:

However, in the case of Kuwait and the UAE, the failure of their national teams to match past glories highlights some insidious societal ills off the pitch.

Across the Gulf region, the bloated oil resources at the disposal of the various ruling families have allowed the creation of gold-plated cradle-to-grave welfare states, where the locals want for little. Even a normal middle-class family may have up to four Asian house servants, indulging and catering to a child\’s every whim. This frenzy of fawning affection has left in its wake a generation of pampered youth with little inclination for hard work.

That people can be too rich, fat and happy, to play soccer.

Plus there\’s the joy of seeing the Guardian describe \”gold-plated cradle-to-grave welfare states\” as \”insidious social ills\”.

2 thoughts on “What a glorious Guardian piece”

  1. >Plus there’s the joy of seeing the Guardian
    >describe “gold-plated cradle-to-grave welfare
    >states” as “insidious social ills”.

    I suppose this is possible, because it is a Different welfare state. The ubiquitous welfare is funded by oil money the state gets. This is a kind of bad money. If a state funds its “welfare” machinery by collecting money from those who work, particularly in high-value-added jobs, then it is not going to be possible that the welfare state would be a social ill.

  2. Come on there are plenty who volunteer to engage in boxing.
    You didn’t mention the jolly effect of a hard inflted soccer ball on the skull of another willing recipient.

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