Competition in the Workplace and the Human Condition

Do you notice where you find yourself competing with your other fellow employees, because you can’t all ‘win’, you can’t all get the bonuses, and this puts you in a position where you’re against each other, instead of working together toward the common goal, you’re now working in separation for ‘potential rewards’. And the only reason this competition exists, is because there are these possibilities/opportunities to get more money, but not for everyone. That means, very simply, it’s either ‘You or Them’. So now your focus is distracted from the task at hand, and now focused on ‘beating everyone else’ to get to that prize. And for many people, this is not something that sits well, as most people don’t want to be against one another, but would much rather get along well and work together on things, but find oneself torn now between one’s own personal well-being/income and everyone else’s. In this, one will have to find whatever way one can to cope with or justify having to compete against one’s fellow man, like coming up with reasons like ‘why I deserve it more and they don’t’ and ‘I have to look out for myself/my family’.

What hasn’t been considered within this is the simple solution of giving to all equally, and giving enough that each and every individual can have a dignified life, the best quality life possible, where there is no worrying whether you will be able to get the healthcare you need, or the food you need, or adequate housing, education, etc.

If everyone gets the same support, competition will cease, because you won’t have to compete with others to get what you need and to have a dignified life. Then we can really focus on the tasks at hand and the productivity of humanity will not diminish, but will be of a higher quality, as when we work together on things, we are capable of so much more than when we’re all ‘on our own’ and having to work against each other.

What’s really incredible is the extent to which competition has been and is accepted as a ‘normal’ part of life, and it’s essentially forgotten that competition had to be conditioned in – we aren’t born with it. It’s something we learn through our family structures and in school, especially in sports for example, where winning is emphasized, and you’re separated into ‘teams’ instead of everyone being on the same ‘team’ and working together.

Some will argue that competition builds character, and it sure does – the question is, just what kind of character does competition create? The kind that has justified and accepted turning against one’s fellow man and seeking to ‘win’ no matter if it means someone else loses. And that is the very basis of our current economic system and our relationship toward/with it, in which we’ve accepted that only a few can ‘win’, while most everyone else has to ‘lose’, and never considering the option that everyone can win, and that if you winning means someone else losing, that is not really ‘winning’. The real way to win is to have a world where we’re actually supported to live in the best quality, and none are denied access to what we need here to live and thrive, that none are allowed to suffer for no good reason in order to make profits.

And it’s actually thought that using ‘incentive’ actually ‘increases productivity’, and you’ll have things like ‘quotas’ to meet at work, where what happens is this actually limits growth and productivity, because once you’ve met the quota, there’s no motivation then to go on any further, as your movement was dependent on that incentive. And where in the case of meeting a quota, the reward is usually actually the ‘avoidance of some form of punishment’, so your goal becomes totally removed from the actual task/job you’re doing. And that begs the question, why does what you’re doing require incentive to get you to do it? Is it not something you would do otherwise? So that really calls in to question the nature of what it is that we require incentive to do, and whether it is really the kind of jobs that are of benefit to ourselves and each other, and all of life here, or whether it’s jobs that only exist for the making of profits, without concern/regard for life?

See, we wouldn’t just naturally abuse ourselves and our home the earth and nature, but we had to be incentivized to do so, so that we won’t question what’s really being done and what are the actual consequences and outflows we’re creating, and why it is that we’re doing it, because we’ve been given a reason, it’s for a reward, which for many the ‘reward’ is literally one’s survival, and there is obviously no freedom in that. So it’s slavery, we’ve enslaved ourselves to/within this capitalist system where we must work within what’s available to us just to be able to survive, and thus there is really no free will in this reality, no ‘free choice’. Because not everyone can become, say, president of a country or a business. I mean, it’s obvious no starving child is ever going to be a wealthy business owner. And that even the majority of those in elite countries who are surviving in relative comfort, and living paycheck to paycheck, are not going to become world leaders or big-time CEO’s.

Obviously a system based on competition is not working, with most of the population living undignified lives, lacking even the most basic of needs, when there is plenty for all to live the best quality life. It’s as simple as no longer accepting a system that is based on us competing against one another, and instead one where the starting point principle is to work together, as the world we can create through cooperation is one in which no one starves. Where no one suffers from lack of clean drinking water, effective education, proper housing, or effective healthcare. I mean it really makes you wonder why haven’t we done this already and established an Equal Money System, so that we can give ourselves the best life possible, and All of us, not just a few with the most money in a system that doesn’t give enough to all, through which we’re allowing people, children to starve every day, when it can be prevented. Time to give ourselves the life we’ve always wished for – join us today at http://equalmoney.org.

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• 209. Successful Living = Capitalist Brainwash

Einstein Hit the Nail on the Head of Capitalism

“The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of evil.‎ Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of the smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organised political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights. This crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career. I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by a educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilised in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow-men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society”.

~ Albert Einstein (1949)

Interest Groups – WTF? FAIL

Wow- Interest Groups. We actually have various groups of which the purpose is literally to represent the interest of some in spite of others. Rather than representing interests of All Equally. Groups are then basically competing amongst each other in this system for support for their own members in disregard and separation from all other groups.

We even have a ‘theory’ about this, as if a ‘theory’ ever had anything to do with actual reality rather than just being an ‘idea‘ which we try to view the world as- rather than seeing direct what is here, no ‘theories’ necessary- and the theory is called ‘Pluralism’ or ‘interest group theory’. My textbook describes this as: “a theory of politics that contends that power is group based and that because there are multiple points of access within American government, each group possesses an equality of opportunity when competing with other groups for power and resources.” It seems odd to define it in such way as to say ‘this theory contends that..’ I mean, is it contending? and with what/who? or just in general? lol.

Interestingly, this theory comes from James Madison who had “envisioned the United States as a society in which conflict, rather than consensus, would predominate.” Is this statement meaning that he predicted it? or that he thought it should be that way? Strange. Anyway, in a Federalist Paper he “warned that U.S. citizens would be subject to the development of factions.” Factions being groups of citizens united for “some common impulse or passion that might adversely affect the rights of other citizens or the interests of the larger community.”

Madison believed that the factions were based on economic differences, that those with property and those without had different interests. Those who are creditors and debtors, manufacturers, mercantiles, etc, all divided into different classes according to their different sentiments and views.

What’s fascinating about this is to see that these ‘sentiments’ and ‘interests’ and ‘views’ are all determined by the design of one’s placement in the system. According to what ‘profession’ you have or what your ‘wealth’ status, determines what your interests are, therefore you can see that these interests are not real interests that would exist no matter what, but are only ‘superficial‘ interests that only exist within certain specific placements. Yet to a vast extent, these interests are treated as if it is the real interests of the people themselves, in spite of this fact that the interest onlyexists due to their particular predesigned system placement, and that if you changed that placement- the interests change. Therefore, its a point to see/realize/understand that when you see these interests and see some group that is fighting for these interests or you are fighting for these interest, that these interest are not in fact real interests and only exist within the particular ‘made-up’ category or position that one is in within the system.

Therefore, when we are ‘contending’ with each other for these interests- we can consider and see that it is not necessary to fight for these interests- there is also the options of changing the placements themsselves such that the interests are no longer even relevant or exist.

What we need is real interest groups whose interest is the interest of All Equally, focusing on the real interests of all life here, that which is common no matter what placement you could have in this world, this existence anywhere. Such a group or groups there’d be no contention. Who is there to contend with a group which supports the interest of All? Only those who want to support interests that work for them in spite of everyone else. Which is how it is now, every group having to compete against each other for their personal interests, and therefore in this current system if you’re not fighting for your interests, someone else is ‘getting them’, lol, which is not funny at al when you consider that the interest groups must have money to fight for their interests, therefore the poor is obviously not able to amass groups to fight for their interests, they don’t have the money, the education, the time, they don’t have fucking anything. They are totally disregarded by this system, and it’s completely unacceptable. I wouldn’t want to be born in a position like that, totally stuck and hopeless. It has not always been easy even in the position I was born in, in the elite country of the U.S.

I mean, WTF? Almost NO ONE is happy in this system. Definitely time for a CHANGE. Equal Money System!