The world’s people are roughly divided into two categories: those who watch the World Cup and those who don’t.
　　The fact that global citizens do not belong to a monolithic group well demonstrates that our human society is a plural one and peoples with different cultural and religious backgrounds can by and large get along quite well. As we all have seen, the global soccer tournament is by no means an event that is exhilarating one group while dismaying the other. Instead, it has made both camps jubilant.
　　It is the thrill of being soccer fans, for whom this magnificent pageant, which comes around every four years and lasts about a month, represents a festive occasion that seems to outweigh the Christmas season, New Year’s Day, Spring Festival or any other celebration one can imagine. Actually the bliss the soccer carnival has brought to its admirers is beyond description. You have to be a staunch soccer aficionado to get caught up in the euphoria of the “beautiful game.”
　　For those who don’t give a hoot about the game, the event also signifies something meaningful. Let’s take the so-called “soccer widows” as an example. Nowadays female hedonists are smart enough to take advantage of the World Cup season to pursue their own elation. I have little idea about what’s happening to overseas “soccer widows.” All I know is here in China those wives who used to be uneasy about the grand sporting show are now adapting themselves to the soccer phenomenon.
　　One tactic these women have successfully taken is to turn themselves into a part of the soccer kingdom, which they in the past thought was exclusively dominated by men. The pretty impressive performances by China’s women’s soccer team, which has far overshadowed the country’s men’s squad, obviously help many women change their attitude toward the sport. The improving social status of women, the spread of feminism and the increasing influence of the World Cup are also responsible for the boost in female devotees.
　　Making a “game rule” within a household turns out to be an efficient way for those couples who have different hobbies but distaste for domestic conflict. The key point of the rule, or a husband-wife agreement, is to decide who watches what TV programs at what time. Inasmuch as most live matches are shown at midnight in China, husbands, who usually are more enthusiastic about the contest, are supposed to let their wives take precedence in watching whatever they want before 10 or 11 p.m. Meanwhile, the game watchers are obliged to maintain the TV’s volume as low as possible while enjoying the German spectacle in the wee hours.
　　Many Chinese who don’t follow what happens in German stadiums have their wishful calculations in mind in this soccer month. A housewife, for instance, may tell her soccer husband that he may have the prerogative of the TV set during the whole season provided he is fully responsible for all household chores. In the meantime, the woman, an avid addict of mahjong, a popular and all-season traditional game played by four persons, may take more time to satisfy her avocation at others’ homes. That’s a common household deal, and a smart one, isn’t it? Many housewives are well aware that in this special month their men are much more likely to do something they usually are reluctant to do, as long as their thirst for soccer is fully quenched.
　　However, what we’ve heard is not all that harmonious. There are clamors everywhere, which are challenging cultural diversity or pluralism, one of the cornerstones of a stable and civilized world.
　　I read an essay in a Chinese newspaper about the game, which the writer dubbed a “feast” for the zealots. Well, everybody knows that. At the end of the article, however, an old soccer fan is quoted as saying that those who don’t understand the alchemy of soccer are probably “mentally ill” or queer fellows. That remark really makes me uncomfortable. I like soccer and many other sports, but I don’t think those who are incurious about sports are abnormal. There is no accounting for tastes. People are free to show their inclinations for any entertainment, just like they enjoy, theoretically, full economic, political and religious freedom.
　　So, where there is freedom there is pluralism and vice versa. If we accept pluralism as a fundamental trait of our society and nature--from sport patterns to supernovas, then we’ll take it for granted that individuals and nations may approach the World Cup differently. That’s why I think the United States has done nothing wrong in this regard. Even if the superpower turns its back on the world’s favorite sport, it actually offends nobody. It actually hosted the global soccer gala years ago and has sent its team to participate in the current one.
　　Now it’s easy to find media reports criticizing or taunting Uncle Sam for an indifference to soccer. Some say the United States is an exclusive nation because it names the sport “soccer,” while all the other countries call it “football.” And this reflects that there is an “exclusive ingredient” within the American culture. Others conclude that a superpower is not supposed to follow others; instead, the rest of the world should follow the superpower’s lead. In other words, because of its elevated position in the world arena, the United States is unlikely to condescend to make soccer the most popular national sport, as others have done.
　　Politicized, these remarks are too farfetched. Soccer, or football, has little to do with a nation’s political position, economic prowess, military muscle and cultural heritage. It’s just a matter of recreation. You can’t compel the Americans to prefer soccer to baseball, American football and basketball, unless they make that change out of their own free will. Let things slide, please. Don’t try to make any nation, big or small, do what is against its will, in playgrounds, as well in all other visible and invisible fields.
　　Our world is marvelous because of the World Cup. It is much more marvelous because of many other games and forms of entertainment. In a larger sense, it is pluralism, not monotony, that forms the source of human curiosity, happiness and ecstasy. We should feel lucky that we have various opinions toward the soccer event and many other things.

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