Post by Ballyfireside on Nov 7, 2014 0:07:11 GMT
We all know of many reasons, and probably the main one on the face of it is so that the GAA maintains it's geographic coverage. It faces enough challenges, what with employment driven rural depopulation, etc. What a lot of people don't realise is that 'the dual economy factor' is the root of it all, and which is strongly related to inequality in society. For the avoidance of doubt the latter doesn't mean that we should all earn the same, it means that we should be remunerated fairly. When this is not the case, if some get more than they deserve, then others get less than their just share. Unfortunately that is not all, there are cases where opportunity is closed off and which would have made the cake bigger, so to speak. Anyway I may continue that argument another day, suffice as to say the current inequality is about €15,000+ annually per head of population. You'd be thinking if that was corrected that the GAA would simply be on a different plane, and so it would, and so would a lot of other things, like health, education, law and order, etc. So in summary, if this inequality was corrected, and which incidentally is also an unintended consequence of globalisation, then the amateur status of the GAA wouldn't under threat.
I realise that most of us that have developed an understanding of the subject, are at one on this. Being 'the agricultural yuppie' that I am, some 4 years ago I was reading an article on professional sports in a kinda yuppie magazine. The publication in question, Intelligent Life, is part of The Economist and which covers global current affairs; it is fairly objective and it isn't necessarily as right wing as the title might suggest. On occasion it features 'off the wall' subjects, and low and behold but a headline on the mistakes of sports being overly professional would have startled any GAA person, and probably more so than another race of mankind. What makes it so relevant to us is that the GAA is not even mentioned and so it gives perfect comparisons; with respect I'd bet that the authors wouldn't have even known of the GAA because if they did they would used it to prove certain arguments.
The address of the article is below and it is a fairly extensive analysis. It would be interesting to see what others think of it, moreover given that it's findings are based on sports that have already 'gone over the edge', although those are my words. Anyway I think we could really achieve something serious here and we may be able to add constructively to the national debate.
Of all the postings I have made on here, this one dwarfs them all collectively. As I see it we are not so much going down a road as being forced down it, and as we all know, there may be no coming back. Anyway enjoy the read and I look forward to some serious debate on here. I would appeal to members of make a special effort on this one, although only if it is your thing, it ain't for me to be tellin' others what to be interested in!
moreintelligentlife.com/content/ed-smith/are-we-too-professional
I realise that most of us that have developed an understanding of the subject, are at one on this. Being 'the agricultural yuppie' that I am, some 4 years ago I was reading an article on professional sports in a kinda yuppie magazine. The publication in question, Intelligent Life, is part of The Economist and which covers global current affairs; it is fairly objective and it isn't necessarily as right wing as the title might suggest. On occasion it features 'off the wall' subjects, and low and behold but a headline on the mistakes of sports being overly professional would have startled any GAA person, and probably more so than another race of mankind. What makes it so relevant to us is that the GAA is not even mentioned and so it gives perfect comparisons; with respect I'd bet that the authors wouldn't have even known of the GAA because if they did they would used it to prove certain arguments.
The address of the article is below and it is a fairly extensive analysis. It would be interesting to see what others think of it, moreover given that it's findings are based on sports that have already 'gone over the edge', although those are my words. Anyway I think we could really achieve something serious here and we may be able to add constructively to the national debate.
Of all the postings I have made on here, this one dwarfs them all collectively. As I see it we are not so much going down a road as being forced down it, and as we all know, there may be no coming back. Anyway enjoy the read and I look forward to some serious debate on here. I would appeal to members of make a special effort on this one, although only if it is your thing, it ain't for me to be tellin' others what to be interested in!
moreintelligentlife.com/content/ed-smith/are-we-too-professional
