Timothy Bailey

Regardless of where you stand on Balogun-Gate, the whole reaction to both sides highlights some very key differences in the American vs European mindset. In the American mind, "getting it right" is the most important thing. Thats how justice is served, is by getting to the correct result based on the play on the field. The European mind is different though. They have an instinct towards bureaucracy and are obsessed with process. The Process must be respected. Respecting process is more important than the specifics of what happened on the field. And thats why you get this wild take thats fairly common where a Euro will say something like "He didnt deserve the red card, but once it was given it cannot be overturned!". To the American mind, justice is served by getting the call right, regardless of process. To the European mind, justice is served by respecting process, regardless of the result. Its a fascinating look into the psyche of both, and if I'm permitted a little armchair psychoanalysis of both groups, id say the reason lies in their history. The Europeans spent centuries as the peasant class of Europe, essentially being forced to accept whatever shit the aristocracy piled up on them. There was no "appeals" process, they took what they had too, because there was no other option. In this environment, a certain "acceptance of one's fate" or immunity to overt injustice likely seeped into the national psyches. No one had success by "fighting the power", the power imbalance was simply too great. What eventually saved them though, was process. Rules-based orders were the only thing that gave them a semblance of power vs the aristorcracies of their upper classes. And so they came to revere Process as the Ultimate Good and working OUTSIDE process as the Ultimate Evil. The Americans, on the other hand, never developed their national psyche in the world of Kings and Aristocrats. Class was far less rigid in the new world, and risk-taking WAS highly rewarded there. "Fighting the power" to "do what was right" WAS greatly rewarded during the American Revolution when a few great men "fought the power" and were gifted with what would become the most powerful, prosperous country on Earth. And so a certain disdain against "process" took hold, a general feeling that "process" was only as good as long as it provided fair and just outcomes. As opposed to the European model, where "process " was the only thing that had given them anything close TO "fair and just outcomes". So in that context, the massive gap between both sides makes sense Or maybe this is all nonsense and its just anti-American, pro-Euro tribalism, who knows 🤷🏼‍♂️