Rules - written or unwritten - govern almost every facet of our lives. They govern what we say, how we act, what we can do, and how we should do those things. They permeate every facet of our lives. Break from these rules, and the consequences are painful. You’ll be jailed; cast out of society; discriminated against. These rules set the baseline for what we refer to as ‘normal.’ But here’s the thing about normal. It encourages sameness. Examine every group of people, and you’ll find that there’s a similarity in all of them. It can be in how they speak or how they dress. And not all people care for normalcy. There’s always a group of people who will not fit into the system. Not all people fit into the system. People drawn to chaos. There’s always a black swan. Even as we strive towards order, there’s a part of us that is drawn towards a certain level of chaos. And we need to feed this part of ourselves, lest we go mad. And the best way to achieve this is to watch people with the courage/ability/freedom to engage in chaos. To identify with them, and by doing so, to get out of normalcy once in a while.
Wallstreetbets
Wallstreetbets started as a community of people doing what could only be described as dumb stuff. My guess is that, at the start, this community was made up of people disillusioned to the unfairness of the systems we have built over the years - systems that were supposed to ensure the prosperity of all people. These we people stuck in jobs - or situations - they hated. People who just wanted a way out. And their solution was to risk it all, sometimes in one bet, even if it meant that they end up in complete ruin. It was niche. It was weird. And a select few loved it exactly for those reasons. And this community grew, until a critical point where they were big enough to cause trouble - to enter the mainstream.
At this point, they gained attention from the general population. And a group of people started entered the fringes of the community - people who just wanted to watch. People who don’t have the courage to make such shots - maybe people with enough sense not to? If the subreddit was a sport, the first group - the risk takers - are what I describe as the players. The second group, are what I would call the spectators. People with ordinary lives, looking soA small sport of options trading - pretty niche - now has a community of 13 million people. They have entered finance conversations everywhere - even had one of its members appear before the congress. They are now mainstream.
The World Cup
Football started as a working man’s sport. The first football teams were formed out of workers of industrial plants. Thing is, in every community, there’s a small group of people who come together to form teams where they can just meet after work and play their stresses away. Where people can get the adrenaline rush, banter away, and go back home to normalcy. And in the 19th century - a period of extreme labour requirements - maybe these groups of people wanted to have something to call their own. Something they enjoyed. And my guess is that it was a weird sport to many back then. And with no standard rules to follow, you could just create your own. It was niche. It was weird. And a select few loved it exactly for those reasons. Contrast that too the multi-billion dollar sport it is today.
This year’s world cup was something else. The main thread permeating the world cup commentary was ‘it is written in the stars.’ Argentina’s journey to a world cup title was a dopamine hit many people hadn’t experienced before. And that final! But also interesting was watching people around the world, cheer (vehemently) for teams they would have previously had no affiliation for. It was watching men cry over people they had never met. It was watching people who previously had no nationalistic leanings turn into ardent supporters. I myself wanted Morocco in the final. Why? Because they are an African team. I had never thought about Morocco in this way. Ever. Until the world cup. Why wouldn’t I want an African team in the finals. So why did so many of us identify with people we know so little about? With people we could barely care about otherwise? Perhaps because its a novelty that I wouldn’t experience otherwise?
Formula 1
F1 has been a relatively niche sport. Not a lot of people cared for the sport that much. Including myself. Only a select few - mostly rich white people - cared for F1. In their world, where everyone could have everything and anything they wanted, how was anyone supposed to stand out? Competition and pride, that’s how. And so the sport was exclusive - for the most part - to either rich people or people of a certain background. It was always on the periphery. We’d hear names like Michael Schumacher, but only in passing. That was until the 2010’s, when a certain name started popping up. Lewis Hamilton. A black kid had made it in a white man’s sport, against all adversity. That was enough to get an entire group of people interested in the sport. And that, is the beginning of F1 going mainstream.
I remember being transfixed by that final qualifying lap by Max in the 2021 season. The guy gave it his all. Even thousands of kilometers away, I could feel him throwing in everything he had - including his safety - to get that pole position. Its how close he was getting to the wall. There was no margin of safety for that lap. It was all or nothing. That was the most beautiful thing I’d seen in a long time - a man willing to risk his life for a glimpse of greatness. And I loved every second of it. And given how the sport exploded during that season, I’m guessing a lot of people around the world felt the same feeling. It reminded me of Ayrton Senna. Not a lot of people - even those familiar with the sport - recognize that name. It is with good reason.
We’re all fucked
I recently came across a video with an interesting title - Fighting in the Age of Loneliness. While it was about a sport that I didn’t pay too much attention to - MMA - it was a beautiful exploration to why the sport - and other sports too - have such an appeal to specific groups of people. Its funny how we are the most connected generation in the history of mankind, yet the most lonely. How we have most of our needs are met - less people dying of diseases, hunger, etc. - yet are the most unhappy people to ever exist. We live in a world where standards of behaviour - and existence as a whole - are being set without our contribution or consent. Where corporations dictate what we can’t and can’t say. Where society has become unforgiving of mistakes. And in such a controlling society, who wouldn’t want to sit back on the weekend, and watch a group of men bash each other’s brains out. But the video ends with the most poignant closing statement I’ve heard in a while. Going mainstream will happen to everything you love. Nothing you like will go untouched, and it will be monetized into meaninglessness. This isn’t limited to the examples above. You’re fucked too.