Almost summer
Half of 2021 is almost in the books and normality is returning - that may not be a good thing...
The Arc
Every news story has an arc - a beginning, a middle and an end. Some are over before they even begin. Some last for years or decades.
Some weave in and out of other stories, or are subsets of a greater narrative (I wrote last year about an alpaca named Tyson whose antibodies revealed things about the coronavirus that helped scientists discover how it binds to cells in humans - it was worth it for the “Tyson’s knockout blow” headline alone…).
Stories are around for a while, but eventually they all come to an end.
We are at the point where, rightly or wrongly, we are starting to see the pandemic in the rearview mirror. More and more of us are getting vaccinated, societies are opening up, travel is returning. There are crowds of fans on terraces at football matches, and Conor McGregor will soon fight in front of a sold-out T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Things are getting back to normal, and as that happens we are missing the chance to change allt the things that should have been changed.
This morning I was on Pat Kenny’s radio show in Ireland to talk about housing. The Swedish prime minister lost a confidence vote this week on the issue of the introduction of market rents (in a limited way to begin with, but once that genie gets out of the bottle it ain’t going back in…) and he has a week to decide what to do.
An election is possible, as is a new minority government.
So too are market rents.
No-one is currently talking about the issue that saw him voted out - they are instead concentrating on what happens next. Those in favour of market rents - whereby the most attractive apartments in the city would go to those with what has been euphemistically called “a greater willingness to pay” - are more than happy with that situation.
They get to keep moving towards their goal, testing their communication, fine-tuning their arguments, covering their blind spots. And when the subject comes up again, it may well do so under a government more amenable to their desires.
It should be pointed out that very few of the people who vote for those currently calling the shots in Sweden are in favour of market rents, but party leaders don’t care. All they are concerned with is power, and if the lobbyists tell them that market rents is what they want, then market rents is what they shall get.
Hitting the less-well off hardest as it did, the pandemic provided us with an opportunity to change all these things, to demand a fairer, more equitable society. Some of us did, but it didn’t matter. That chance has now passed.
Like news stories, there will be new chances, but we can’t keep missing them - especially not one as big as this pandemic - because we can be sure that those seeking to profit from misery aren’t taking any days off, and they sure aren’t getting distracted from their goals.
The Bigots
Last week the Hungarian parliament passed a homophobic law. What it outlaws or the spurious reasons behind it don’t matter. It was homophobic.
At the same time Hungary have been playing in the European Championships in soccer. They were due to play Germany in Munich, and the local council asked UEFA if they could light up the stadium in the rainbow colours as a gesture of solidarity to LGBT+ people.
UEFA said no, claiming the request was political.
Well, duh.
I got into trouble online for calling the Hungarian regime fascist and suggesting that UEFA was allowing that fascism to creep into football. I was asked how, as a journalist, I expected UEFA’s spokespeople to react if I needed a comment from them on this or any other story. I was told by someone I respect greatly both professionally and privately that a journalist should be neutral.
Journalists are not, and should not be, neutral.
Journalists should be objective.
And, objectively speaking, Hungary is currently being governed by a fascistic, homophobic regime, and UEFA is turning a blind eye to that fact.
Too often we let such things slide past because we want to avoid a scene, or what the Swedes call “dålig stämning” - no-one wants to be the cause of tension, so we just accept it and move on.
But when I see those things, I have to say it, not least because people are watching and my credibility as a journalist and a man depends on it.
I know there are gay and trans people following my tweets. I know they expect my support. I know athletes - many of them female footballers who play in UEFA competitions every season - who are looking to see how I react.
They know me. They expect things of me.
And if I choose to either ignore what is happening, or to somehow try to water it down, then that affects the trust that exists between us.
I don’t really care about the feelings of UEFA’s spokespeople. They are comfortable enough, and dealing with people like me and our questions is their job. They get called worse every day by fans (and journalists) accusing them of all manner of corruption.
What I care about is the person who reads what I write, in print or online, and who looks to me as an ally, a coalition partner in the fight to maintain their human rights.
It might be a gay athlete in the closet (an NFL player came out this week and believe me, there’s a lot more where he came from, in every sport from soccer to MMA), or a trans person struggling with their next steps.
What they do with their lives is none of my business. But their human rights are my business. They are everyone’s business, and we need to defend them.
Sweden boss Janne Andersson said it best - “I think it is sad and deplorable that in 2021 we have to talk about these issues, that a human being should not be allowed to love and live with whoever they want.”
Janne didn’t have to come out and say that. We’re both two comfortable, white, straight men. But he has taken part in Pride marches, and as he says himself, it’s completely right for him to come out in support of LGBT+ people.
There is no neutrality when it comes to rights.
None.
The Euros
As I write this, it’s the second night in a row without live football, and it’s like a mild bereavement. It’s so easy to slip into the three-games-a-day, there-is-nothing-else-in-the-world bubble of a major tournament, and there’s nothing I love more.
As yesterday was the first day with no games this week I was hunting around for interviews, and eventually Jon Dahl Tomasson (former Danish international striker and assistant coach, and his country’s joint top scorer) gave me a call.
I remember going to see him playing a friendly for Newcastle United against Bray Wanderers in about 1998 or so, and every now and again I still have to pinch myself when the likes of Jon Dahl or Janne Andersson call me. It’s a dream come true.
The Jab
Second dose coming this week, in good time for the Olympics in Tokyo, which looks like being very, very restricted in terms of what we get to do and see. Still, I won’t complain (at least not yet) - as I mentioned above, it’s a privilege to see these events live at all.
The Podcast
… was a little different this week. I did an audio diary of Denmark’s last group match against Russia on Monday.
It’s hard to do a really good job when you’ve so many other things to do, but as a behind-the-scenes document of what it’s like to work at these big tournament I think it works well. The fact that the game was a cracker helped a lot, but by that time I was busy scribbling all the stories that had to be written in the aftermath.
You can hear the whole thing here.
Have a great week, wherever you may be.