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 mariasabina
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Registered: 10/10/01
Posts: 584
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 competition... good? bad? 
#609717 - 04/16/02 04:47 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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it has been said that all of our motivations stem from competition. if we had no one to compare to, we wouldn't need the nicer house, faster car, better looks, fatter wallet, etc. think about some ways you have improved yourself recently... haircut, clothes, anything... was it motivated by competition, or a need to live up to some kind of standard? i think it's true in many cases.
so competition is good in that spurs self-improvement. but it can also consume people and make their lives miserable. i guess it is, like anything, a two-sided coin.
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Tales and dreams are the shadow-truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes, and forgot. - Niel Gaiman
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 skaMariaPastora
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Registered: 03/14/01
Posts: 443
Loc: MA
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Re: competition... good? bad? [Re: mariasabina]
#609953 - 04/16/02 11:12 AM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Not to mention the fact that commercialization stems from competition. Its the desire for more money rather than consumer well-being that gives us companies spending millions on advertising to convince us to buy things that we don't need. In many economic situations free competition is a good way to keep everything in balance, but it seems that in recent times it has become more and more inefficient and more and more a contributor to the devaluing of society.
This value of self-worth through competition has been deeply ingrained in our society and is pushed on us from the earliest age. Some of the first large-group social interactions I was a part of (besides school) was organized sports like soccer and baseball. "Play" had to be disguised as a competition where there are winners and losers and being the winner was more important than having a good time.
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Anonymous
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Re: competition... good? bad? [Re: mariasabina]
#610003 - 04/16/02 12:18 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Overall, in the economic sphere competition and the desire to create wealth have been good. The average poor person on welfare in the U.S. today can live a better life (materially) than a middle class person of 100 years or even 50 years ago.
I think the negative points skaMariaPastora brought up have deeper underlying causes than competition. What he was referring to about the value of self worth and competition are more symptoms than a cause.
Edited by evolving (04/16/02 12:20 PM)
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raytrace
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Registered: 01/15/02
Posts: 720
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Re: competition... good? bad? [Re: mariasabina]
#610204 - 04/16/02 05:13 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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don't want to overlook the many positives of healthy competition.
i just want to say: we are forced in a race since the first day we went to school. we are just like the dogs in the races, given their tags with numbers. some of use are not good at racing or get tired, these are not given a bone, they are not wanted. we learn to hate each other because of the race. no matter who wins, it's not the dog that gets the cash. this is no good.
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Xlea321
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Registered: 02/25/01
Posts: 9,134
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Re: competition... good? bad? [Re: mariasabina]
#610460 - 04/14/02 07:45 PM (22 years, 10 months ago) |
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Certainly there isn't a business in the world even remotely interested in free competition, the free market is a media myth. Business's are more ferociously protective of their markets than they have ever been. Corporate welfare has exploded, the richest man in britain recieved more in subsidies from the taxpayer last year than he paid in tax himself. Business moves abroad and drives down minumum wages in south east asia to make even more profit. The minimum wage in one country was 60 cents an hour, western corporations insisted this was too high and it was dropped to 25 cents so they could get their slaves even cheaper.
The only people who live in the "free market" are the poor. Wages are dropping, the hours they have to work are increasing. Meanwhile the rich live in a communist paradise of government handouts and no competition. It's time we all got a chance at that paradise.
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Don't worry, B. Caapi
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frogsheath
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Registered: 02/18/02
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Loc: Chicago, Illinois U.S.A.
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Re: competition... good? bad? [Re: Xlea321]
#611110 - 04/17/02 05:41 PM (22 years, 9 months ago) |
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Good point Alex123. This is a good question. Competition
seems to have been around since life on earth began. It's common to all, from the
microbes on up to the vetebrates. It has practical uses in nature and in human civilization. Yet we ask, "Is it fair?" I don't think it is and I hope we will evolve
to a point where it becomes not useful. I don't like competition yet I always feel the need to compete.
Edited by frogsheath (04/17/02 08:29 PM)
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