The idea of competition lies at the very heart of our entire socio-economic system. We are taught that competition is a good way to motivate people, that it guarantees an optimal distribution of resources, that it builds character. Unfortunately, we couldn't be more wrong.
There's a big difference between competitive ideas and competitive people. Trying different things to see what works well is definitely worthwhile. When a new idea works better than an old one, there's no problem with throwing the old one away. But people are a different story.
Separating people into "winners" and "losers" is about the worst thing you can do to the human mind. Once the idea of losing exists, someone has to play the role. All competitions have losers, so in every competition, someone ends up at the bottom.
Even worse, the human mind remembers. Remembers and judges. So losing is no longer an isolated event. The mind doesn't think, "Oh well, so I lost one." It thinks, "I'm a loser." And it expects to lose again.
Then again, winners aren't a whole lot better off. For one thing, they're terrified of being on the other side. The very idea of losing creates fear in every human mind. For another thing, consistent winners are insufferable. They separate themselves from what they fear by showing disdain for the other side.
The result is a whole lot of misery. Living in regret over what is, or living in fear over what might be. Either way, the mind suffers.
Humanity finds joy in human connection. This is a basic human need. Humanity also finds joy in striving toward anticipated goals. But striving need not be competitive. Striving toward a common goal in the joyful fellowship of other human beings is the true key to sustainable human happiness. And the fellowship will not be truly joyful if anyone stands to lose.
Nonetheless, our entire "civilized" society, from the global economic system right down to your local kindergarten, is based upon a foundation of systematic, institutionalized competition.
(Don't believe me? The global economic system is defined as the set of rules by which nations compete for the control of resources. And kindergarten kids are evaluated by comparing them to a hypothetical "norm," determining whether they are "ahead of" or "behind" other children their age. Everything--everything--about our society is organized competitively.)
So imagine for a moment what the world would look like if our most fundamental belief system were based on the concept of inherent value. What if our most fundamental belief were that every human being on the planet is valuable; that every human being has a meaningful contribution to provide; that only by working together can humanity achieve its greatest potential?
I pose to you this: that from our current mindset we can barely even begin to imagine what such a world would be like, and that therein lies the greatest hope of humanity.
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