Commercialization of Conflict
Conflict is utilized to benefit in sports, war, and ideology
Conflict is often induced for benefit. It may be used to profit, divide, damage, or promote agendas. Many sports commercialize inter-group or individual conflicts. There is much money to be made from conflict sports like UFC or football. Floyd Mayweather earned more than $150 million in his 2015 boxing match against Manny Pacquiao.
The identification with a certain group and tribalistic divide pave way to the commercial exploitation of the emotion of “belonging”. This includes merchandise, expensive tickets, and subtler investments like time and attention.
Demagogues gain power and status by strengthening group identity that is based on perceived superiority against another group. Trump did that through his rhetoric against illegal immigrants and Muslim countries. American Democrats did that by criticizing Trumpists on their racism. This strengthens the ideological divide.
The liberal-conservative dichotomy, somewhat stemming from the sociopolitically dominant bipartisan structure, is exploited by newsmakers to maintain and further the divide, and control how people opine. This can be seen in information bubbles on social media where people within a bubble receive similar, agreeable information from newsmakers.
Our opinions are influenced by the information we receive. This information can occupy space in our heads and can potentially be exploited for capital. This can range from Trump supporters buying MAGA hats and damaging the Capitol to liberals encouraging spending money at Black-owned local businesses in the wake of George Floyd’s murder.
The selection of an outrage is often based on the media and information we’re exposed to. This exposure encourages us to bias towards caring about particular issues, often ones that necessitate conflict. The very nature of outrage invites a target and we’d rather it be “them”. It feels as if much of the news is designed to generate conflict.
It is cohesive for a group to share hatred towards another group. War has been used as a tactic to pander to patriotic taxpayers and comfort them with a cause showing how well-spent their money is. The US justified spending $1.9 trillion on its war with Iraq while collaterally killing 66,000+ Iraqi civilians. The conflict bred vindictive terrorists and exacerbated Islamophobia.
Often, conflict leads to the promotion of ideologies. For example, the vacuum left by religious disillusionment in the early 1900s was filled by Marxism. “Communism begins where atheism begins, ” declared Karl Marx in his manifesto. The conflict between religion and communism was solidified by Lenin’s Soviet Union and Mao’s China implementing state atheism.
The costs and benefits associated with the creation of conflict are worth contemplating.