»Sometimes
we need to remind ourselves exactly what competition is all about. Like Pete
Rose, who said simply: “Somebody's gotta win and somebody's gotta lose – and I
believe in letting the other guy lose.”«
– Ed Kittrell
US communications consultant
Competition starts early in the classroom. Anyone
who wants to get somewhere later in life should be better than average. In my
schooldays you still allowed your neighbour to copy from you. Such comradely
behaviour is rare nowadays and schoolmates have become competitors.
But wait, I must correct myself. In many cases
the rat-race is decided even before the children start school. For the family a
child is born into is the crucial factor for the course of the child’s future
life. We have a class society and the course is more or less already set from
birth for the child to belong to the upper class, the working class or the
group of social welfare claimants. True, there are dream careers now and again
but these are very rare cases.
»We live in
a system in which one must either be a wheel or get crushed by the
wheels.«
– Friedrich Nietzsche
philosopher,
stateless
Let’s go a step further. The increasingly
fierce competition naturally takes place on both high and low levels. On the
individual level it means an increasingly wide gap between the classes. On the
company level we are seeing ever-increasing cut-throat competition and hostile
takeovers. The big fish are eating the small ones. And on the nation level
competition manifests itself in wars (economic wars and armed conflicts). Most
wars are currently being waged either to obtain access to important resources
such as oil or to strengthen the country’s power position.
»When someone out there doesn’t hit the other one because he has the feeling
he should play Jesus, he himself gets hit. That’s the simple truth.«
– Helmut O.
Maucher
German top manager
It is nature that has always got a raw deal up
to now. But now enough is enough: nature is starting to defend herself more and
more. We are experiencing this in the increase of natural disasters worldwide.
No place on earth is safe anymore. And the »people in the street« are getting a
raw deal as well. They have always had to pay for the »fat cats’« games. But
let’s be careful not to blame anybody here either! The »people in the street«
have also made their contributions to the big game, even if they have simply
played the game up to now.
Possibly everything has had to happen as it has
so that humankind can progress in its evolution. Otherwise it would be
difficult to explain why nature has looked on for so long without defending
herself. If we assume that our universe and our earth did not come into
existence by chance but that a higher plan is revealed here, the current
situation must be part of this plan. We have to leave our comfort zones so as
to continue developing. Up to now most people have not left their comfort zones
until it really started to hurt. If we do not go on developing of our own free
will, a loving creator may possibly have to help us along.
»Anyone who isn’t number one or two on the shelf can mostly pack up
immediately.«
– Tim Crull
Chief Executive Officer,
Nestlé USA
A while ago I heard an interesting report on
the radio. It was reported that three major German carmakers had made record
profits last year with Daimler in third place. Instead of being pleased about
this good result, the investors criticised the management because Daimler had
not made it to first place.
The idea of competition or a rat-race is based
on an illusion. It is suggested that everybody can manage to get to the top.
Touching examples are cited of people who grew up in poor circumstances and
succeeded in becoming millionaires through their own work and a bit of luck.
Pop stars, actors, sportsmen, internet billionaires, industrialists… the
rags-to-riches fairytale is still very popular. The few people who have
succeeded can be counted on the fingers of one hand, whereas the other seven
billion do not fit into one hand. The human mind really lets itself be taken
for a ride. Our industrial society is a pyramid-shaped game, a house of cards
built on competition and on the lie that everybody can make it to the top.
And as everyone is busy feeding themselves and
their families, climbing the career ladder and getting a small piece of the big
riches, only very few people allow themselves time to take a step back to look
at the whole game from a different perspective. However, anyone who
nevertheless does this should be careful, for it could be dangerous! Once you
have seen through the game, it may be hard to go on playing it.
But gradually everything will become more
obvious. More and more people are realising that the old game cannot work
anymore and that it is only a matter of time before the house of cards
collapses. An evolutionary window is starting to open: more and more people are
noticing that the old system no longer works and are looking for solutions. And
these do exist! However, we have got so used to competition over the centuries that
the solutions are competing with each other as well. After all, we do not know
any different and first have to learn to cooperate. But gratitude and
appreciation of other ideas and people who think differently are growing
constantly. Good times have started for »do-gooders«,
Let’s now go another step down and ask which
dogmas, illusions and concepts have led to money being created through debt and
competition being allowed such an important place in our society.
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