Competition! A stirring word for all red-blooded Americans. Maybe there is a country out there that prizes competition as much as we do – but I can’t name it. Most folks hearing the word would think of business or sports, but it goes way beyond that.
Opinion
If you like competition, what a time to be alive!! The New Year started for those of us in the Eastern Time Zone quite literally with the end of the college football semifinals, as the slaughter of the Big Ten was completed just minutes into January 1. As I write, we are only hours away from the championship game. Even sooner, we will know which NFL teams will go forward into the playoffs, and which will watch the playoffs at home. Weekends will be consumed by the gridiron battles leading to the Super Bowl.
We did have a moment when sports competition seemed to lose its importance, when Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field a week ago, and nearly died. But whatever caused his heart to stop, competition saved his life – as a pro athlete, he had immediate access to trainers, team doctors, and an ambulance, not to mention the thoughts and prayers of millions watching the game.
And then there was the battle for Speaker of the House. It was not the longest political competition that we have ever had in that arena; in 1856 Nathaniel Banks was elected on the 133rd ballot, putting Kevin McCarthy’s 15 ballots this month in the shade. Still, losing a tenth of his own party (the “chaos caucus,” as it was playfully dubbed) was at least unusual. Banks later became a (mediocre) Civil War general, which McCarthy is not likely to be. Still, we do treat our elections as competitions where winning is everything. Sometimes, we continue the competition beyond the election, as with secession and 1/6/2021. The Brazilians are now copying us in this respect.
General George S. Patton Jr., thought this American attitude was good. “Americans play to win at all times. I wouldn’t give a hoot and hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost, nor will ever lose, a war.” I’m not sure what they taught him at West Point about the War of 1812, but that’s another column. His attitude is pretty clear.
Not everyone has agreed with the great general on whether this is always a good thing. The English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679) believed in having a powerful government because he thought people left to their own devices would destroy each other through excessive competition. A couple of things about Hobbes. First, he was not the friend of government that you might think he was; Hobbes believed that such a government should be created by the people, and that the people could remove it at any time. Second, you’ve heard of him, even if you think you haven’t: remember the cartoon series Calvin & Hobbes? The cartoonist Bill Watterson cleverly chose two people – the other being John Calvin – who had exceptionally dim views of human nature.
And then there were the first Socialists. In the late 18th century, several people developed the idea that humanity would be better off producing through cooperation rather than competition; some formed utopian communities. The British businessman Roberts Owen even established one of these in the United States. This meant that the wealth of the community would be owned by and shared by the whole community. These early Socialists, however, were not being entirely original. Having community rather than individual ownership can be traced to 16th and 17th century Christians, including the ancestors of today’s Baptists. However, they differed from the Socialists in that they did not condemn or criticize competition but relied on certain Biblical injunctions such as the rich going to heaven (Mark 10:25, Matthew 19:24, Luke 18:25), whether one should have possessions (Matthew 6:19-20, 19:21, Luke 12:33, 16:9, 18:22) and the love of money (1 Timothy 6:10).
That old Baptist interpretation never gained universal popularity, and for the most part it fell on stony soil here. That was probably inevitable, given how closely our founding was linked to business pursuits. Our first ancestral colony (Jamestown, 1607) was founded purely as a business venture. Massachusetts Bay (1630) was founded as a religious venture by the Puritans, but its founder was, after all, a businessman, John Winthrop, and his colony became wildly successful from an economic perspective. Much of the money came from the manufacture and sale of rum. (The Pilgrims’ Plymouth colony (1620) was more radical but it was later absorbed into Massachusetts Bay.)
So, it is no surprise that competitive business became an American hallmark. This was not universally admired. As much admired as America became throughout much of the world, it seemed to many foreigners to be obsessed with the almighty dollar. Those who came here as admirers were often the most disillusioned. Such was the case with the great Irish revolutionary Wolfe Tone who lived in Pennsylvania in in 1795-96 and became disgusted with the new aristocracy of money that he felt America was developing. Of course, those with an entrepreneurial cast of mind were encouraged to move here – but the reaction of people like Tone explains why this country was never viewed as the moral and spiritual leader of the world.
And even if we look at Tone’s reaction as an extreme one, some modern attitudes might give us pause. We really do admire the successful robber baron, no matter how much human misery is inflicted along the way; the phrases “it was a business decisions” and “we should run this like a business” are used to justify almost everything. And our competitive attitude is hardly just a business thing. I can promise you that it is every bit as strong in academia; just take a look at the amount of work and application that it takes to get an academic job! The language of academia may be “softer” than the language of business, but the attitude is no difference. To quote Henry Kissinger, “academic politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small.”
But we do have to consider the results. Is this love of competition such a bad thing?
It is one of the things that makes American culture different from the rest of the world, and there is no harm in that.
It has built this nation.
It created a world power.
It generated an abundance of wealth. And of course, terrific football.
CONCLUSION: So if you love competition, this spring looks very promising indeed.
