There’s a subject that I wanted to speak on that runs a bit deep.  It’s something that I had thought of for years but never bothered to mention except to some close friends.  It has to do with patriotism in competition.

Consider this scenario.  A person, let’s call him John, has a strong passion for competition in his field of choice.  This could be Chess, Melee, The Olympics, it doesn’t matter.  He spends years training in this game and perfecting his skills simply because he thoroughly enjoys both the game and the pursuit of mastery.  Over the years he’s had plenty of successes and failures, and developed an understanding that only a longtime competitor with true passion can.

Due to circumstances he never really had the perfect opportunity to really show to the world what he could do, but one day he gets his big break.  He performs exceptionally well.  Because of this, John continues to get more chances and eventually is recognized as a top competitor by the community at large.

John comes from a place that isn’t commonly represented in his particular game of choice.  His countrymen are ecstatic and celebrate his victories.  Along the way they continue to “support” their countryman in a variety of different ways.  I won’t get into details but this sort of thing is almost guaranteed to happen.  After all, there’s nothing wrong with supporting your heritage, right?

My claim is that there is.  There is plenty wrong with it.  Unlike pride for culture or history, games about head-to-head competition focus entirely on individual accomplishments and progress.  It’s a journey for a sole competitor who stands alone, with nothing but his skills, knowledge, trials, and tribulations to gauge his worth.  These items are built and owned by the sweat of his brow and by no one and nowhere else.  He may have received help along the way by others, but ultimately it was up to him to transcend who he was yesterday.

Patriotism in competition undermines this.  By “supporting” your countrymen you are acknowledging what countries really do: divide humanity.  Countries are fictional divisions assigned by man in order to distinguish differences between humankind rather than similarities.  Countries do not exist in nature, they are constructs.  There are no natural “borders” that provide incentive to hate or tolerate another race, just as there are none that tell you to support those who come from the same geographic location you do.

What you share with your countrymen is culture and the fact that you come from the same geographic location as defined by these manmade divisions.  But the work, effort, and successes that a competitor owns is entirely individualistic.  You should not attempt to share in John’s greatness, as he earned it by the sweat of his brow while you did nothing but try to associate yourself with him based on heritage and place of birth.

You think you’re supporting him when actually you’re doing him a great disservice.  You don’t even come close to understanding what John does or is.  The years of training and hardships he had to endure, the passion for loving his craft more than almost anyone but the handful of kindred spirits that exist.  None of it is yours, so you have no right to associate yourself with it.  You want to be happy for his success?  Go ahead, but don’t do so based on heritage or birthplace.  Do it because you respect and admire John for who he is and what he’s done.  Do it on the individual level, not on a patriotic one.  You should be able to equally do this for anyone from any part of the world.  If you can, then you’ll probably gain a much better understanding of competition and those who compete.  Then you’ll have truly supported them in the most genuine way.