A country with roots of imperialism and a past that is linked to 80 colonies is, surprisingly, using migration as the phenomenon accountable for the rising cost of life, their economic situation and their safety. Interestingly, it was the same country claiming that doors were open to athletes and visitors from all over the world to be part of the biggest sports competition that Paris has ever hosted. Isn’t that what playing is about? It’s not about a sports competition taking place in Paris. In fact, that’s nothing but a tactic. Tactics that global players use in a game they gamble in.
Here are the highlights of the real Summer games. In a nutshell:
Opening Ceremony: France vs. Rassemblemenent National
Blowing the initial whistle with France, our first global payer. Inconsistency meets pride. Rassemblement National, the French far-right party, succeeded in creating a public enemy via Tik Tok. Lack of jobs? Unsafe streets? Is the Uber late? Blame it all on the immigrants. The negative connotation between immigration and the reality that a nation goes through hasn’t been so well crafted as in France. The far-right strategists developed a narrative worth a gold medal, but democracy gave them a bronze one back.
Not that I have experience in refereeing, but a yellow card should be given to the campaigners. Was their nationalist manifesto ever going to materialise in a country whose 10% of its population consists of immigrants? If it is not Artificial Intelligence, who will do the jobs that master's degree holders do not bother to consider? I guess we will all have to wait and see when AI will be functional enough to serve French citizens with their favourite Italian pizza, Colombian coffee, Japanese sushi, or American burgers. While that happens, sit tight and relax because France will remain libre, fraternelle and égalitaire during the next four years.
Round of 16: The WWIII same-old threats vs. Putin
16 is the number of the Fighter Jet model that some NATO leaders gave away to Ukraine. This tactic is part of a much bigger picture to gear up an Army that has been trying to resist Putin’s 32nd-month-old invasion into their territory. This is just one of the few WWIII inconsistent headlines in a society that no longer operates around worldwide wars but localised wars.
I wonder how naïve the press believes we are. It's as if for three consecutive years, we didn’t have enough apocalyptic stories about a virus now under control. If you haven’t noticed, from the moment Putin’s obsession with invading Ukraine became obvious to the public, everyday headlines warn us that the world is ending, if not today, the next day. I don’t clearly see what game the headlines play, but they certainly qualify to Déjà vu. The cruelty of reality does need to be told, but without adding fuel to a fire that they can’t afford to extinguish.
Quarter Finals: Stopping Misinformation vs. Stopping the Boats
On the one hand, we see social media channels helping democracy by enabling public debate on the UK General Election campaigns. Most of the online debate was shaped by a Labour plan to “Change Britain” and a Conservative manifesto to “Stop the Boats”. It seemed a fair competition where, for a moment, the public put their phones away to cast their votes and put the Labour Party into Number 10.
Whilst it is unlikely to witness a smooth consensus between the Rwanda Bill aiming to Stop the Boats and the Labour Government focusing on “smashing the gangs”, that’s not the consensus that public opinion is now prioritising - and they have very valid reasons. Those social media channels enabling democracy in the virtual arena are the same that seemed to miss hateful comments and invitations to disinform, create chaos and feed racism after a tragic attack in Southport.
That’s where we are now, not understanding what game social media owners are playing when they claim they have measures in place to avoid the spread of dangerous misinformation. Yet, we see some online invitations materialising into hatred and rioting. Are we, the public, the gold medal that these platform owners want? It is quite understandable that there is a shift to prioritise a consensus on stopping online misinformation first.
Semi-Finals: Trump vs. Swift
I was meant to publish this editorial piece by the end of July, with the title being Trump vs. Biden. I had to postpone it and re-write the title to “Trump vs Harris”. But then I made the mistake of waiting a couple more days to see how the events unfolded after Kamala took over the Democratic campaign and decided to rename the title once again. Here’s why:
My bet is that this game is the game of the year - one in which the actual player is not Taylor’s boyfriend but Taylor. While the artist will likely stay away from politics and might not endorse Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign - it takes just a couple of minutes to check the news and realise how Swifties are mobilising to support Kamala in her lifetime race (for those of my generation: Swifties are what we call fanatics of Taylor Swift).
As much as the news focused on Taylor Swift’s boyfriend winning the 2024 National Football tournament, more than the tournament itself, this year’s US Presidential campaign leaves room to follow a similar pattern. While the presidential debates back in 2020 and 2016 focused on matters related to immigration and war, this one seems to be about very peculiar matters: whatever Swifties think the matter is. That makes the job for Republicans more complex, although their main candidate might not be helping when blaming his actual competitor -not Taylor Swift but his actual competitor- for the economy and the stock market slide.
Final: cease-fire talks vs. chit-chat
It is a historic game taking place in the Middle East where, no matter the outcome, the human losses are already heavier than the political wins. The devastating actions we’ve seen since 7 October 2023 just show a large number of global players fighting in the same game but with different referees. Since the start of the Summer, cease-fire talks have been making noise - and nothing concrete has come out yet.
It is frustrating to watch horrific, violent scenes in Palestine and Israel and see world leaders making announcements that look more like chit-chat: they express how sad it is to see children being killed, and yet they help fund both parties of the conflict to obtain more armament. What about joining efforts to materialise the cease-fire talks instead? As much as my hope is the last thing the war can kill, the world's effort for a cease-fire talk is the last thing we are yet to see.
These are the real Summer games, and they have certainly been wild.
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