25-10-2018, 20:11
(This post was last modified: 25-10-2018, 20:15 by SaltergateBorn.)
It`s got nothing to do with this country per se, Dev, but everything to do with basic human instinct. Club rivalry that extends to mutual hatred can be just as vicious, if not more so, in other countries as it is here.
The fact is that homo sapiens is basically a tribal animal. Tribalism is hard-wired into our psyche and has been since the day we first climbed down from the trees and found out that it was more efficient to hunt as a group rather than as individuals. Very shortly after that, we discovered that we stood more chance of hanging on to what we`d killed if we stuck together to defend it from another tribe who`d decided that they stood more chance of pinching it off us if they attacked us as a group rather than as individuals.......if that makes any sort of sense. Ever since then, we`ve had an innate need to feel ourselves part of a collective `we`; and for there to be a collective ` we` there has to be a collective `they`. In other words, an enemy.
Football rivalry is just one manifestation of this basic human trait, but there are quite a few others. In fact, to my way of thinking most of the intolerance and bigotry in the world has the same origin. Whether it`s racial, ethnic, religious, sexist, ageist or any other -ist you care to name, they all have the same root. (And it`s also very prevalent and very obvious in some parts of the animal kingdom - particularly the primates that we have so much in common with.) We need there to be an `us` and we need there to be a `them`to fight against and to either attack them or to defend ourselves against them.
Generally, the rivalry between any groups (tribes) is greatest and fiercest when they are competing for the same territory and/or the same resources, which means they come into contact most often. In the context of football that`s why the rivalry is usually fiercest between clubs in the same city or in neighbouring towns. Any football follower feels the basic need to attach his or her self to one of the tribes, which means that the members of the other(s) round about must immediately become their enemies. Even if, in an extreme case, they are related by blood.
All very deep stuff this, I know, and it`s only my opinion. However, I did once read an extract from`The Naked Ape` by Desmond Morris and I seem to remember that he put forward a very similar theory - and he was far more qualified on the subject than I am.
The fact is that homo sapiens is basically a tribal animal. Tribalism is hard-wired into our psyche and has been since the day we first climbed down from the trees and found out that it was more efficient to hunt as a group rather than as individuals. Very shortly after that, we discovered that we stood more chance of hanging on to what we`d killed if we stuck together to defend it from another tribe who`d decided that they stood more chance of pinching it off us if they attacked us as a group rather than as individuals.......if that makes any sort of sense. Ever since then, we`ve had an innate need to feel ourselves part of a collective `we`; and for there to be a collective ` we` there has to be a collective `they`. In other words, an enemy.
Football rivalry is just one manifestation of this basic human trait, but there are quite a few others. In fact, to my way of thinking most of the intolerance and bigotry in the world has the same origin. Whether it`s racial, ethnic, religious, sexist, ageist or any other -ist you care to name, they all have the same root. (And it`s also very prevalent and very obvious in some parts of the animal kingdom - particularly the primates that we have so much in common with.) We need there to be an `us` and we need there to be a `them`to fight against and to either attack them or to defend ourselves against them.
Generally, the rivalry between any groups (tribes) is greatest and fiercest when they are competing for the same territory and/or the same resources, which means they come into contact most often. In the context of football that`s why the rivalry is usually fiercest between clubs in the same city or in neighbouring towns. Any football follower feels the basic need to attach his or her self to one of the tribes, which means that the members of the other(s) round about must immediately become their enemies. Even if, in an extreme case, they are related by blood.
All very deep stuff this, I know, and it`s only my opinion. However, I did once read an extract from`The Naked Ape` by Desmond Morris and I seem to remember that he put forward a very similar theory - and he was far more qualified on the subject than I am.