ATHLETES IN THE AGE OF REACTION.

• Date: 01 August 2022
• Author: Zirin, Dave
• Published date: 01 August 2022
• Author: Zirin, Dave

We are living in a profoundly reactionary time. Unelected Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court have grabbed the country's steering wheel, pulled it hard to the right, and driven us straight off a cliff. The crushing of abortion rights, the curtailing of environmental protections, the deification of guns, the elimination of free and fair elections, and the shattering of the wall between church and state have left the majority of us reeling.

In my neck of the woods--sports--it raises the question: What is the ethical role of athletes at such a time? Answering this question is crucial, because sports will definitely be used to distract people from the harsh reality of a society sliding into autocracy.

Using sports as a diversion has been a feature of autocratic societies since the days of ancient Rome, when the satirical poet Juvenal wrote of a society drunk on panem et circenses, or "bread and circuses." The twentieth century was peppered with...