cooperation vs. competition
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Most of us think human life is more competitive than cooperative. In school, we compete for grades, friends, and popularity; in the workplace we compete for jobs, higher pay, and promotions. In sports, we compete to win games and championships. Men compete with each other for women, and women compete with each other for men. Everywhere in life, we compete - for love, approval, power, respect, and resources.
This is the rat race of life. Survival of the fittest. Every man for himself. Maybe you like things this way – maybe you don’t. Life is a game with few winners and many losers. But most of us agree that this is the way life is. You think life is like this because human nature is like this. You think human nature is by nature selfish, and because it’s our own human nature, you think it can’t be changed. And so you believe that competition is just a natural outcome of our selfishness.
But I believe cooperation is more natural than competition. When primitive man first lived on the earth, he needed to cooperate – or die. One man alone could not defend himself against large predators such as the lion; nor could he by himself easily hunt down large prey such as the buffalo. Both to defend himself and to attack and hunt, he needed to cooperate with his fellow man – not compete against him. Survival depended on cooperation, not competition. Life was not survival of the fittest, but survival of the most cooperative. Those who worked best together, survived better together. United they stood - divided they fell.
What has happened to us? Primitive man has now become modern man. Instead of living with the world, our human technology has now given us the means to rule over the world. But our ancient fears still remain. With guns and nuclear weapons in hand, we no longer fear lions or other animal predators; we now fear only other human beings who would prey upon us. We have conquered the world, and now we desire to conquer each other – because there is no one to fear now except each other. It is almost as if we always want to be afraid of something. Our own fear of others leads to the desire to dominate and control others - so that we no longer need to feel fear and live in fear. We believe that if we fear our enemy, we must conquer our enemy. And so instead of cooperating with each other, we compete with each other. And the best way to compete with your opponent is to divide and conquer. For if your opponents do not stand united, divided they will fall.
And this is why our societies have become so competitive. If you and your fellow man are divided against each other, your position and that of your fellow man is made weaker - and someone stands to gain from this situation. Perhaps your boss, your co-worker, your enemy. This is why your enemies always attempt to sow seeds of distrust, set each other up, and play one off against the other. But if you and your fellow man are united with each other, you and your fellow man’s position are made stronger. And someone else stands to lose - your boss, your co-worker, your enemy. Your individual strength and security lies not in your competitive ability, but in your cooperative success.
If we do not cooperate with each other, we will compete with each other until there are only a few winners and many losers – which is the state of many of our societies in the world today. Only a few will be left standing in control with most of the wealth and resources, while the rest will fall hopelessly behind into poverty. We will have a world where 10% of us are winners, and the other 90% are losers. And in the end, that hurts us all. If we produce so many losers and so few winners, what does this say about our societies and cultures - that the civilization of human beings is very good at producing losers? And do you think the masses will continue to accept this situation until the end of time? If you were poor, would you accept this situation until the end of time? Perhaps – but perhaps not.
If we do not learn to live together on this planet, we may eventually kill each other off. You may think this is a radical view, but I believe that survival is a radical reality. There is no middle ground when it comes to survival – you either survive or you don’t. There is only life or death. Even though they may not realize it, all species are either moving in the direction of their own survival or their own extinction. Any species increases its chances of survival if its individuals work together, rather than wastes its energy, powers, and resources in competing against each other. When it comes to survival, we are all on the same team. Cooperation is the path to survival, and competition is the path to extinction.
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