^
Cheers, mate.
It really is a strange phenomenon. It's also bizarre that in an age of the internet where information is readily available to all, ignorance and lack of wider awareness is more rife than ever. But then again, we also live in a time when people love to overlook their own shortcomings whilst gleefully pointing out the shortcomings of others, without a hint of irony.
It seems to be the same when it comes to people's birthplaces. We live in the ironically named United Kingdom. Anyone with a pair of eyes and ears can see social problems exist everywhere. People are sleeping in doorways in the rain in even the most affluent bit towns and cities. Crime is rife throughout the country. The whole country is in decline, shops lie empty. Pubs closing down all over the place. Jobs being lost all over the country on a daily basis. Budget cuts galore. Public services decimated. Yet idiots from all over the place slag off this city as though they come from paradise rather than places with exactly the same issues as us.
Liverpool is far from perfect, but I've yet to visit a place that is, and I've been around a fair bit. It seems far too many people don't seem to have the awareness to see where they come from in a realistic light. Mind you, just as nationalism is encouraged by many in this country, so is regionalism. It helps fragment the people and keeps them at each others throats rather than at the throat of the establishment which is strangling the life out of us all.
There's probably a book to be written about this whole subject and how all the things I mentioned in my other post are all interlinked. Regardless of what the Bitters think, Liverpool FC is seen as representative of this city and its ethos. From Shankly's brand of socialism to the Hillsborough families brave fight for justice and truth, it's LFC and it's fans that the country see as representative of the City of Liverpool. There is also a lot about us that scares them. Our fight, the fact we get back up after every knockdown. People often hit out at what scares them. People often hate what they fear.
The club, the city, the ethos of the city, the courage and heart of this city. The fight it has. If you are not part of it it can breed jealousy, fear, envy etc. Liverpool probably has the strongest identity of any British city. We are not the biggest city, nor the richest, yet our identity is powerful. Again, this breeds jealousy in others whose reaction is then to put us down.
The obsession with Liverpool goes far deeper than just the club itself, but as we are seen as THE representatives of this city, and football stadia and social media give people a platform to air their prejudice, we see it manifest in the away section of Anfield as well as on the internet and in the media on a regular basis.
As I said earlier, I find it amazing that in this age where information is just a mouse-click away, so many seem less knowledgeable and more ignorant than ever. Mind you, disinformation, false news and propaganda are also just a click away too, aren't they. And if a person is already prejudiced, there is no end to the amount of shite being peddled out there to feed it further.
