Not everyone in the UK is horrible
A football fan from south Wales is raising money for a young German girl who was abused online to "show her not everyone in the UK is horrible". The comments were made by England fans on social media when the little girl was pictured crying in the crowd after England beat Germany in the Euros. Ex-England player Gary Lineker tweeted: "Absolutely disgusting. Sickening xenophobia." Joel Hughes has so far raised more than £8,000 for a "nice treat" for the girl... More here.
Football is the 'beautiful game' in many countries around the world because it brings out emotions most other sports struggle to do on a consistent basis. It feels important, it feels real and in a major tournament it can feel overwhelming.
This young German girl embodied that in one photo and the fact that so much abuse was thrown in her direction should be shocking, but alas it isn't anymore.
It feels to me like we have very vocal group of people in the UK who have zero empathy, who cannot cope with anyone who does not agree with their limited world view and who are obsessed with the country winning anything and everything. And they are inspired and directed by our current government.
The replication of recent events in the US is obvious. A vocal group of shouty Trump supporters who make good TV and YouTube clips because of their stupidity, and the end result that some view them as somehow indicative of what the entire country is like.
In the US these Trump lunatics are in the minority and the vast majority of people are good, and this is replicated in the UK. It's just that these people have a magnified voice on TV and through social media, and a little girl can no longer cry without being abused.
I just hope that at some point the good people can take back ownership of the asylum.