The threat of competition

"Trying to be number one and trying to do a task well are two different things."

Alfie Kohn

I am deeply concerned by the competitive nature of western society; I believe it is implicit in almost everything we do and defines how, as individuals, we see ourselves. I believe that herein lies our seemingly endless desire to have more, implicit in this is that the more "stuff" we have, the more self worth we have. I know this is a huge generalisation and that there are many people whose values are not so shallow but I believe it is symptomatic of western society as a whole. From our earliest years we are encouraged to judge ourselves against the benchmark of others, as if there is a stereotypical "best" to aspire to. Whilst this may deliver satisfaction to those who are particularly good at something we choose to value, it devalues the majority. The inherent lack of self esteem that follows then leads to all sorts of dysfunctional behaviour in life, the most damaging of which, on a global scale, is the need to consume. I see this as a ‘need to feed’ the unrecognised and damaged unique individual that we are. This can lead to over consumption, addiction, or aggressive gain, at both the micro and macro level. As Alfie Kohn suggests, the underlying intent behind being number one and doing something well, can more often than not, be worlds apart.

As necessity is said to be the mother of invention, competition is often cited as the source of excellence. As Einstein reminds us, everything is relative, in a world that celebrates individual success and has a, to the victor goes the spoils mentality, this is undoubtedly true but this is the world of man not the real world. Whilst Darwin postulated that the natural world and its evolution was centred around the principal of the survival of the fittest, I believe he intended this to mean the best able to co-exist, to find an harmonious niche, not to dominate and conquer as seems to be the popular modern interpretation of his theory. I am not suggesting that we all need to be the same but that we should learn to celebrate and recognise the value of our diversity. Competition in some circumstances, can add to the excitement and joy to be had from an experience but should it should not be at the expense of the enterprise itself.

Much has been said by economic theorists surrounding how competition has furthered the development of mankind, if this is true why are we now facing the greatest crisis ever? A crisis that is of man’s own making and that I would suggest, is born out of his predilection towards competition. If we look at energy consumption alone, how much unnecessary energy is wasted in industry by companies competing for the same piece of business, which only one of them can actually win? This may make sense within our economic system but makes absolutely no sense in the context of our over exploitation of the earth’s diminishing natural resources and extreme climate change. As competition was the watch word of the industrial era; co-operation must become that for the ecological era. We have to construct an alternative to the economic model, one which fosters the behaviours necessary to avert the disaster that await us if we don’t.