The first time I saw images of children locked and stored in cages I had to close my eyes, but it was too late for the pictures had seared themselves to the level of conscience. It was my country that had done this and my innocence had retreated yet another notch to make room for the rightful guilt I felt. Now when I see a massive superstructure being built for cage fighting in the nations backyard to celebrate the Nation’s 250th birthday, and again I had to close my eyes  . . .  but too late.

It is not the fighters I am protesting here, but the cages.  Have we become such a fearful nation that our government must cage children and fighters to protect ourselves and from what?  The cage makes the competition an event that shames the audience who become by definition voyeur’s of violence .  The cage shames this nation on a global scale.  This writer watches football, boxing in the ring, and certainly soccer, but the history of the cage traces back to bad zoos, slavery, POW torture, and concentration camps.  Cages reveal the fear of those who sit outside the cage as the cowering voyeurs of other peoples pain.  Have we become a fearful nation?  No, but it seems the promotion of fear and the voyeurism of violence is nearly the singular tool in our current leadership’s tool box. 

Modest Suggestion for Good

That big, ugly chunk of metal has been constructed and I suspect we will have to live with it for a little while. but this is a diverse nation full of amazing talent and a full history of accomplishment to mutually celebrate.  More to the point, we are a nation with dedicated and gifted athletes and none of them, not even MMA fighters, need a cage.  Yes, this writer thinks using a single athletic competition to portray America in this momentous 250’th is an insult to our tradition of competition and entertainment and the cage of fighters performing for the fearful  is spectacular in its inappropriateness. We are in crisis and it is time to get serious and maybe even a little reverent to the values of our history as a nation.  Be selective in what you decide to participate in for this birthday celebration. That would be good. Certainly boycott the cages, and that would be great.