Competition - Should it be banned?

What is competition? It seems the entire human existence relies upon the concept of competing against one another. Since human record began we have been taught that our very ability to survive has required our competitive spirit. But is this the core reality of our ability to survive?

It is the basis for "survival of the fittest" ideology promoted by business, religious, and political ideologues. It is an easy philosophy to prove. Winner takes all, concepts always seem to be embraced by our cultures.

But let us analyze the truth. Is it a value that has met its limits? When man was a simple mammal inhabiting the earth it was his mind, not his strength, nor his natural protections that gave him the ability to survive. Man's intellectual capacity overcame many odds to achieve a status no other animal in the history of the earth could have concieved of.

But as much as man has attained, he is also his own predator. The history of man is riddled with war and destruction upon himself and the entire life of the planet. The impetus for this self annihilation has been built upon the premise of competition. We must compete with nature. We must compete with each other. But is it really what we need to do to survive?

Because of our intense desire to rule over our environment and each other have we not written the book on our own destruction? Isn't our competitve spirit similar to crickets who, when they have exhausted their food supply of grasshoppers, turn upon themselves and eat each other?

Religious ideology is built upon the competitve philosophy. My religion is the right one but I must beat yours to prove it. The Crusades, Jihad, etc. are examples of this competitive narcisism. Politically we have seen the self serving criminal imperialistic slaughter of human kind at the hands of ideologies like Nazism, Ethnic cleansing, Communism, Capitalism, etc. Throughout history we were subserviant to Monarchies and Emperors, despots and dictators.

Today, the human condition still promotes this concept through wars and sports. In business, the corporate culture demands competition but in reality wishes only to have complete domination. This philosophical approach is leading us down a path of inevitable armageddon. The competitive drive has prevented the true evolution of environmental solutions. Innovative ideas have been tossed aside because they may not make a company more "competitive" with their piers. They may also prevent truly great creative ideas from ever becoming a reality as the "competition" buys the rights and destroys the concept.

There have been many reports in all fields of human endeavor where "cures","scientific solutions", and plain "inventions" have never seen the light of day because the wealth of larger entities have stifled their growth.

Even the arts are embedded with this notion of competition. This is a travesty. The creative spirit at its purest yet societies measure its success by the number of awards and prizes won. The Academy Awards are a perfect example of this competitive measure in the arts. Often its not the best that reaches the top but the most promoted. You are sold the idea they are the best. But who sets the measure?

Canadian Idol is a television program which promotes this competitive philosophy in the arts. Yet the only real underlying theme is to create entertaining television. Its the contrasts, not the talent that make the program successful. The competition, not the talent. How many of the winners do you truly remember?

The truth is we are reaching a point in our entire existance where we need to divest ourselves from this archaic ideal. We need to reassess our purpose and values. With economic, environmental, and mutual destruction, looming on the horizon we need to find a new way to survive. It is within us to do so. We need to work together to survive. Not to compete but to use our creative minds together to overcome our impending demise.

Instead of a few attaining all of the wealth we need to distribute wealth both economically and intelectually to all of human kind. We need to appreciate each person's contribution to the whole. A celebration of an individual's personal achievement measured only by their own standards and goals. Not based upon philosophies that by their very nature eliminate most who participate in them. In a competitive world there are more losers than winners.

We have within our human condition seeds of cooperation and social conscience we need to nurture to prevent our own destruction. They are as basic and have been as much a part of our growth as anything else in our wonderous abilities. All of man's greatest achievements have only occurred because of the hard work of many unknown participants. The working and poor elements of our societies have built the structures not in order to compete but more from a need to care for themselves and their families.

Cooperation is the only way we can survive in the new world unfolding before us. During the last great depression it was this philosophy that helped the agrarian workers overcome insurmountable odds at a time when the economy of capitalism had let them down.

This philosophy needs to be nurtured and evolve to meet the real challenge humankind faces today. The challenge of our own destruction by ourselves.

Armand