Choice

Spectators have the choice to buy an ever increasing range of merchandise that's linked to their team(s) of choice. For example you have the choice of access to exclusive seating in the stadium, giving you enhanced viewing, which if you're willing to pay, has you hoping you've made the right choice. Yes there's always been some differential re seating at sporting events, though it's now more pronounced, more packaged, as a choice you're happy to pay more for.

As consumers we have the choice of buying these products. The ubiquitous scarves, beanies, jumpers now are supplanted with hoodies, replica premiership cups, DVD's, even a Footy Feud card game and a framed honour roll print. The choices are endless. Is there any item you wouldn't chose to buy? But if you choose to buy a product you're not happy with, is anxiety a reflection of making the wrong choice?

Choice is often a term bandied around to attract non partisan spectators/supporters. Support our team (brand) and you have these choices; seats at our games, photos with the team, etc. An example readily coming to mind is in newer forms of sport like the cricketing Big Bash League. Recently established it doesn't have the history to have had long term supporters. It's marketed/advertised to reach out to the non-committed encouraging them to choose a side to follow. Asspectator sport has moved from happily watching sport because you love the sport or because of team loyalty, it's now primarily a form of entertainment,.

If you don't have A side or A sport, but numerous sides, not just local, but global, your list of choices is endless. If you'd been a Richmond supporter, though you liked Celtic in Scottish soccer, and/or the New England Patriots in the Gridiron your ability in following those teams were limited. Now with changes in technology you have the choice to watch their matches, to obtain their merchandise, lots of choices. How much is there to choose? Of course, all these choices involve the nexus of cash exchange. Following modern sport is very much akin any other aspect of the entertainment industry, where you have the choice of what product you chose to pay for. If you've chosen to pay for a sporting contest you end up being unhappy viewing, how do you then feel?

One can think of more examples of the term choice being used as a pernicious manner. To touch upon choice in a further context, the industrial 'deforms' introduced under John Howard contained the magic C word; choices. To many workers the choice under Work Choices was very stark: Accept the choice of having your wages/ conditions altered, or the choice is don't come Monday.

The philosopher Renata Salecl, currently professor @ Birkbeck College, University of London, speaks about the Tyranny of Choice. Salecl speaks of increased choice being a contributing factor to the levels of anxiety.

Salecl talks about the mantra of choice being a cause of discontent, about making a choice, then being dissatisfied it is the wrong choice, but how do we make a correct/better choice? Capitalism is happy for us to use the mantra of choice, to focus on our individual wants. No need to look at options, or co-operation, with a future premised on our common good.

People are confronted with the burden of choices, options. What do I chose: Have I chosen the right one; can someone help me choose: Why must I choose? Of course according to the mantra of choice when we're not happy it's simply because we made the wrong choice. Though we have choices that rhetorically mean we have control over our lives, reality is we don't always control the consequences of our choices. If our choice is wrong we can feel guilty, increasingly anxious.

All this coincides with an Australia where 30% of mortgage holders have mortgage stress as a result of entering into a mortgage. This is a land where we are ranked 23^rd of 35 countries measured on the OECD inequality rankings. In 2015 Australia's debt to income ratio was 212%. How do these figures sit with the mantra of choice? Would stress, not choice, be a more applicable term?

In our contemporary world where the sole nexus seems is about cash exchange for benefit, choice(s) is oft the mantra behind this. Should we perceive mental health disorders like anxiety as being an inevitable outcome of this? If so, is this as far as we can go? Is there not a better way forward for humanity?

What did Devo say about freedom of choice?

Freedom of choice is what you've got

Freedom from choice is what you want