Non-Competitive Methods in Competition and Happiness by Theodore Rubin - Article Example

Lecturer Competition and Happiness Our society has embraced competition and has always viewed it as a means of fostering success (Post 21). Other individuals like Theodore Isaac Rubin, however, have divergent views and see competition as a threat to the success of any community. A fictional story about a society that existed in a fictional land named Herland also indicates that competition is more of a vice and that a society that is based upon non-competition values in more likely to prosper. This paper will analyze the culture of Herland to determine how it exemplifies Theodore Rubin’s argument on the negative elements of competition and determine whether our culture should adopt the non-competitive methods. A utopian fiction describes Herland as a strange land that is hidden very high in the mountain, and which only has women as its inhabitants. According to the inhabitants, Herland has existed with no men now for 2,000 years following a series of wars, internal strife and natural disasters, which together combined to leave just a small population which was exclusively made up of women (Gilman 2). Left with the burden of fending for themselves under severe conditions, the women did organize their society along the most possible coherent lines, coming to note that their survival would never be possible without collaboration. After some time, there was a miraculous occurrence where a young girl became pregnant (Gilman 2). All her descendants were female and came to inherit her exceptional ability of solo reproduction, thereby helping to maintain the society making up the present residents of Herland. With time, the women of Herland embraced a peaceful, organized, hugely efficient society such that such factors like competition, crime, and disruptive behavior are nonexistent (Gilman 2). As would be expected in a mothers’ society, childbearing is the utmost tribute of the women’s lives, and also their most important duty. In essence, Herland is a large family, and an organic society practicing a common good (Gilman 2). For that reason, property is communally owned, the system of authority is not that strict and is solely based on knowledge and insight, and the welfare and education of the children are given the first preference. Theodore Isaac Rubin notes that our culture today is of the view that competition is helpful in bringing the best out of people, but then he disputes this notion (Rubin 1). According to him, competition is intimately connected to jealousy, envy, and mistrust, and hinders self-evolution and progress (Rubin 1). It results in nothing less than a draining and deadening influence on self as its unremitting demands are accomplished, and the self-realizing needs disregarded. He provides various explanations to substantiate his claim. According to Rubin, the central point of focus in one’s life during a competition is fundamentally from without one’s self. It is our competition and not us and our exact needs that determine how we spend our energy and time. As a result, our sense of personality gets weakened, and to make up for this ever-rising feeling of worthlessness and susceptibility we continue competing, inculcating a self-depleting cycle (Rubin 1). After enough depletion has occurred to rule out any possibility of more “successful” competition, one is hit by the feeling of hopelessness and futility, and then the individual’s life appear purposeless. Rubin goes ahead to state that race originated and can be traced back to a primitive past and cannot be in any way claimed to be genetic left over (Rubin 1). It is handed down to us by means of training within the society from one generation to the other. The training is always initiated at very early stages in the members of the society, which is evidently seen from the sibling rivalry that starts at very tender ages. Sibling rivalry, as is proposed by Rubin, is not instinctual, rather it is instigated by the parents who themselves are caught in a similar trap spending large amounts of energy and time trying to outdoor others. It has even been observed that several children are forced into the Little League, or any other comparable competitive structures with the excuse that such activities will encourage the self-development of the children, their well-being, and their general health (Rubin 1). In real sense, these organizations and activities virtually always act as vicarious channels set to satisfy the parental desire for a competitive success. Individuals raised up in this manner would feel left out if they are unexpectedly plunged into such situations where there is a little competitive tension (Rubin 1). Owing to the fact that they are brought up just to compete and have lost their sense of living, when presented with the new situation, they make up hierarchies and gimmicks to supply the incentives they require going on with life, even if such inventions are in the end disparaging to the inner peace and individual health. Competition, as is claimed by Rubin, causes harm to people by providing a tense, isolating and fearful atmosphere that is incredibly a threat to peaceful coexistence (Rubin 2). In most cases, competitive strivings are not blatantly or directly felt. They never take place exclusively when we are caught up in antagonistic tussle with rivals. But the restrained effects of the competitive thresholds to be achieved and our consciousness of the progress of the next person with respect to position, notoriety, earnings, accomplishments, or any other measure, work their restraint and not-so-restrained corrosive effects (Rubin 2). Such measures put unrelenting pressure and weaken our efforts to build a self-realizing system. This implies that we get more concerned with the progress of another person than the way we do what we want to do. We care more about the feeling that the next fellow has about us than the feeling we have towards ourselves. His last take on the competition is that it is always very hard to admit and sense the beneficial effects of give-and-take, and frequently makes the much-required help from other people not possible to accept (Rubin 2). The culture that we have wholesomely embraced has made this suspicious end to nourishment from other individuals a virtue, commonly streamlined by the ideas concerning self-reliance and independence. Autonomy and independence are undeniably valuable assets, but in most cases they are in reality cover-ups for the fear of other people and are efficient of sick pride spent in denunciation of the much-needed help by other people (Rubin 2). The culture of Herland is that which discourages competition. It promotes a system of living where people live in solidarity, and no one is trying to outdoor others. There is a sense of brotherhood in this society and it is seen that they are prosperous, and they leave to enjoy every beat of life because there are no such vices like jealousy, envy, and mistrust, all of which, according to Rubin, are brought about by competition. Herland, in comparison to our society, is far much better in terms of peace, a value that is solely attributed to the non-competition structure that has been put up by the residents of that particular society. Maybe this society would have been a lot worse, even worse than ours if they were to embrace competition the same way we have. In his arguments, Rubin indicates that competition creates a tense-isolating and fearful atmosphere, where peaceful coexistence is just but a dream. It is however stated that the people of Herland lived peacefully, were successful and life was worth living. An atmosphere that is tense, isolated and full of fear will in no way support peace, success or a worthwhile life. People will fear for their lives day by day, and they will not work hard towards achieving their dreams of being successful. In fact, they will live in turmoil and resentment, and there will be no progress at all. It is only non-competition that can be attributed to these values enjoyed by the people of Herland. Theodore Rubin’s arguments are unquestionably substantiated by the culture of Herland. Success, as has been observed in the culture of the population of Herland, is accredited to trust among people, and suspicion and mistrust, all of which arise as a result of competition are enemies of success. The notion that has long been held by our society that competition helps bring out the best in people is misleading because in a competition, people will be more concerned with outdoing others rather than setting goals that are aimed at benefiting them and achieving such goals. Individuals involved in the competition will end up exhausted and have no sense of progress or self-realization. The arguments made by Rubin make lots of sense for someone who is ready to reason out and notice the truth in what he says but now the question we are left to answer is whether such non-competitive methods can be meaningful to our culture. To answer this question, we should explore the various observations and experiences that we have been privy to in our society. Take the case of our economic system. Our country, the US, is a capitalist state (Post 69). People struggle to reach their full potential, and the wealth of an individual is based on the level of hard work. Those who are hard working and are smart in their dealings are always ahead of the lazy ones, in terms of wealth. Those who have less wealth are always challenged to work hard to reach where the others have managed to achieve or even do much better (Post 97). This is a healthy competition. Were it not for the competition, our country would have most probably reached the far it currently has. Our education system also speaks it all. The students are always subjected to competition, and each one of them tries to come out as the best (Post 102). In the process of striving to emerge at the top, the student becomes more knowledgeable and can achieve his/ her full potential. If it were not for the competition, then the students would not be challenged to work hard, and all that would result would be fewer knowledgeable graduates. Going by these observations, it would be prudent to conclude that our culture should not adopt such non-competitive methods as brought forward in Theodore Rubins arguments. Works Cited Gilman, Charlotte. “Herland” Sparknotes, B&N, 2015. Web. 27 Feb. 2015. Post, Charles. "The Formative Period of American Capitalism: A Materialist Interpretation, Daniel Gaido, London: Routledge, 2006." Historical Materialism21.2 (2013): 191-195. Rubin, Theodore. “Competition and happiness”. Part II Essay Assignment, n.d. Read More