“The Anti-Compete”

H, 

The other side of competition, or being competitive, is that if it goes far enough, if you want it bad enough, you will push others under the bus. This is not just in terms of ruining lives, which is also on the table, but also in making others a little weaker so we can be in a stronger position. It is such a subtle slide. It is foolhardy to think we can be this way just a little and not fall into the final flood. If we think people are a little expendable, if we have a little anger in us about how they may be standing in our way, we will go down that rabbit hole and soon we will be ruthless.

This is seen in the way a mob operates and the toxic masculinity in our different societies. M mentioned the other day about how a mob usually treats a woman they believe may be in a criminal gang. She saw a video of three alleged criminals experiencing mob justice. The man was still wearing his trousers and the two women were naked. The mob thought of his dignity more than that of the women. It is common and sadly so. The idea of violence against women, of labeling them by sexual acts and basing their value on what they do or do not do in their private and intimate lives is based on a certain spirit of competition. We are in a constant and one-sided battle of the sexes and since all the institutions have been male for millennia, we can easily seek to crush that other part of being human.

We have to free ourselves of this war over value by agreeing that we are all equal. The inherent value of every human being sets us up on the same pedestal. We are made of the same stuff and going to the same place. Our differences are superficial in the larger sense of eternity and based on things we do not choose or control, on this present fragile earth. Since we live for a different reality, let us have this mindset: we are free to see each other not as rivals, foes or competitors, but as part of a larger story and equal children of God.