Greed is good economy

Greed is good economy
Greed is good economy
(Naseer Ahmed)
It is interesting to note the way cricket progressed over the years towards making things easy and convenient for batsmen in the name of a false sense of entertainment. A kind of entertainment that is based upon unfairness and demands more unfairness for more entertainment. Not difficult to see the influence of economy and politics here.
There were these pace batteries on the green pitches in the seventies and eighties and batting was a challenge. There were bouncers which could make batsmen quite careful about attacking the fast and furious bowlers. There were very few all rounders. Most people knew their main job and knew it well.
Hit me a six and I could take your scalp. That is why Viv Richards would always be a legend because he did not feel any need to protect his scalp with helmet .He had a heavy bat and that was enough. He must be laughing at these rich and pampered batsmen of the current century who are protected from bouncers, don’t have to pursue the ball and get extra shots and no bouncers. The contest was lovely and the competition was real. The bowlers these days don’t have to be dangerous, they just need to be clever against the blued eyed batsmen. You don’t face any Andy Roberts keeping you in touch with the quality of medical services outside. There is guard for everything and there are rules made to encourage the batsmen to hit out and a green pitch is a thing of past.
Great money, great fame and great crowds at the expense of standards and quality and fairness. And bowlers are the Christians facing the lions in the arena but the senators, ceasers, patricians, plebs and slaves love this unfair contest. That is why it is tough to move towards fairness because they believe that fairness stagnates.
It is a bit like those dubbed as benefit cheats losing against the offshore companies perpetually with a dream of being the offshore companies themselves. Money, more money, more inequality and more entertainment and the bankers laugh while commentators celebrate this unfairness for more money quite noisily. Even a miss hit is a bit like a deluge. Save, your animals, Noah.
And whenever a real deluge occurs, it brings out the dark side of this cherished unfairness. The blacks loot and the white gather the supplies. That is how we are programmed and any alteration would cause disturbance. Are we?
It was fun to see Clive and his gladiators destroying all kind of myths about programs, designs and structures. Replacing them with high tech robots? oh dear, you have to fake all your orgasms in order to feel good about the toy you have become.
It seems every profession has their blued boys and blue eyed girls. The girl thing is an improvement but if a girl anchor causes the death of a nice and a brave man for some kudos over ugly soundbites one has to think. Is it good? is it emancipation ? is it freedom? I guess it is not. Another nice and brave boy died a month ago over this unfair madness and the girl is still there full of sound and fury. Well, bothers and sisters, the tribe is more important than courage to find out the facts for yourself.
In football, there is a coach who has to play his players as a puppeteer. No voice, no initiative, just implementation of a well thought out strategy and too much corruption which no puppet could challenge. That is my account number and the world cup is yours. Sir, but it is a bit hot there. No worries, one has to graft for his dough. They would put up with it.They put up with anything. They have to.Otherwise, things would stagnate. But the things are standstill sir. Don’t be a child, don’t try to outsmart an emperor. An emperor is always right.
Aunty, aunty, that boy Derek Drew is bouncing at me, please no ball him, take his match fee, suspend him, banish him, lock him in a cupboard or just kill him. Yes, darling, that boy Derek Drew needs a bit sorting out. He is building a criminal record, he would be banished soon.
To please my darling, I could cut his hands. That is too much like the third world, aunty. Well darling, there is no more any first world. It is just my darling and the boy Derek Drew. And my darling, must not suffer the bouncers from that urchin.
But, Aunty, what if they vote for Corbyn? Oh darling, even urchins need some entertainment and nobody likes a bald Samson. This time, they are not going to rise up. What if these bald Samsons manage some hair plantation, somehow? haha, if somebody wants to look like you, he is not going to damage the system of look alike.
And at the heart of this system is a negative view of human nature that creates more inequality and fairness with a false sense of being entertained. The system ultimately leads to pampered and protected blued eyed boys. Therefore, it is easy to hit four or five sixes in a over on the flat pitches without fearing any intimidating approach of a series of the best bowlers around. No Achilles is going to turn up outside the city wall challenging the pampered princes of Troy.At least, for a decade or two, I guess. Even the brave Achaean turns up, the pampered princes of Troy have armies of minions to make sure that the pampered princes don’t have to fight the Achaean. They don’t have to fight the Achaean themselves. They are just good at corroding his bronze. A bit like what happened to the fast bowler who have lost his love for a fair fight while minions keep corroding his bronze.