The Green Book: Part Three

Chapter Ten

         SPORT, HORSEMANSHIP
             AND SHOWS


  Sport is either private, like the
prayer which man performs alone by
himself even inside a closed room, or
public, practised collectively in open
places, like the prayer which is prac-
tised collectively in places of worship.
The first type of sport concerns the
individual himself, while the second
type is of concern to all people. It must
be practised by all people and should
not be left to anybody to practise on
their behalf. It is unreasonable for
crowds to enter places of worship just

to view a person or a group of people
praying without taking part. It is
equally unreasonable for crowds to
enter playgrounds and arenas to watch
a player or a team without participat-
ing themselves.
  Sport is like praying, eating, and the
feeling of warmth and coolness. It is
stupid for crowds to enter a restaurant
just to look at a person or a group of

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persons eating; it is stupid for people
to let a person or a group of persons get
warmed or enjoy ventilation on their
behalf. It is equally illogical for the
society to allow an individual or a team
to monopolize sports while the people
as a whole pay the costs of such a
monopoly for the benefit of one person
or a team. In the same way people
should not democratically allow an
individual or a group, whether party,
class, sect, tribe or parliament, to
replace them in deciding their destiny
and in defining their needs.
  Private sport is of concern only to
those who practise it on their own and
at their own expense. Public sport is a
public need and the people should not
be represented in its practice either
physically or democratically. Physic-
ally, the representative cannot trans-
mit to others how his body and morale
benefited from sport. Democratically,
no individual or team has the right to
monopolize sport, power, wealth or
arms for themselves. Sporting clubs
are the basic organizational means of
traditional sport in the world today.
They get hold of all expenditures and

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public facilities allocated to sport in
every state. These institutions are only
social monopolistic instruments like
all dictatorial political instruments
which monopolize authority, economic
instruments which monopolize wealth,
and traditional military instruments
which monopolize arms. As the era of
the masses does away with the instru-
ments monopolizing power, wealth and
arms, it will, inevitably, destroy the
monopoly of social activity such as
sports, horsemanship and so forth. The
masses who queue to vote for a candi-
date to represent them in deciding
their destiny act on the impossible
assumption that he will represent them
and embody, on their behalf, their
dignity, sovereignty and point of view.
However those masses, who are rob-
bed of their will and dignity, are re-
duced to mere spectators, watching
another person performing what they

should, naturally, be doing them-
selves.
  The same holds true of the crowds
which fail to practise sport by them-
selves and for themselves because of
their ignorance. They are fooled by

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monopolistic instruments which en-
deavour to stupefy them and divert
them to indulging in laughter and ap-

plause instead. Sport, as a social activ-
ity, must be for the masses, just as
power, wealth and arms should be in
the hands of the people.
  Public sport is for all the masses. It
is a right of all the people for its health
and recreational benefits. It is mere
stupidity to leave its benefits to certain
individuals and teams who monopolize
them while the masses provide the
facilities and pay the expenses for the
establishment of public sports. The
thousands who crowd stadiums to
view, applaud and laugh are those
foolish people who have failed to carry
out the activity themselves. They line
up on the shelves of the sports grounds,
practising lethargy, and applauding
those heroes who wrest from them the
initiative, dominate the field and con-
trol the sport, exploiting the facilities
the masses provide. Originally, the
public grandstands were designed to
demarcate the masses from the play-
ing fields and grounds, i.e. to prevent
the masses from having access to the

                  [56]


playing fields. When the masses march
and play sport in the centre of the
playing fields and the open spaces,
stadiums will be vacated and des-
troyed. That will take place when the
masses become aware of the fact that

sport is a public activity which must be
practised rather than watched. The
opposite, which would be a helpless
apathetic minority that watch, would
be more reasonable.
  The grandstand will disappear when
no one is there to occupy it. Those who
are unable to perform the roles of
heroism in life, who are ignorant of the
events of history, who fall short of
envisaging the future and who are not
serious enough in their lives, are the
trivial persons who fill the seats of the
theatres and cinemas to watch the
events of life and to learn their course.
They are like pupils who occupy school
desks because they are not only unedu-
cated but also illiterate.
  Those who direct the course of life
for themselves do not need to watch it

working through actors on the stage or
in the cinemas. Likewise, horsemen
who hold the reins of their horses have

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no seat in the grandstands at the race
course. If every person has a horse, no
one will be there to watch and applaud.
The sitting spectators are only those
who are too helpless to perform this
kind of activity because they are not
horsemen.
  Equally, the bedouin peoples show
no interest in theatres and shows be-
cause they are very serious and hard
working. As they have created a se-
rious life, they ridicule acting. Bedouin
societies also do not watch performers,
but perform games and take part in
joyful ceremonies because they natu-
rally recognize the need for these acti-
vities and practise them automatic-
ally.
  Different types of boxing and wrest-
ling are evidence that mankind has not
got rid of all savage behaviour. Inevit-
ably they will come to an end when
man ascends the ladder of civilization.
Human sacrifice and pistol duels were
familiar practices in different stages
of human evolution. However, those
savage practices came to an end years
ago. Man now laughs at himself and
regrets such acts. That will be the fate

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of boxing and wrestling after tens or
hundreds of years. However, the more
the people are civilized and sophisti-
cated, the more they are able to ward
off both the performance and the en-
couragement of these practices.

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*** END OF PART THREE OF THE GREEN BOOK ***

Table of Contents of Part Three of the Green Book 

Overview of the Green Book