Chapter 4 Chapter III Competition

If you ask any American, or an English businessman, what is the greatest hindrance to happiness in his life?He would say, "The Struggle for Existence." He said it from the bottom of his heart, and he believed it to be so.In one sense, this is true; but in another, and more important sense, it is not necessarily so.Of course, the struggle for existence does exist.If we are unlucky, we have to fight for survival.This is the case, for example, with Falk, the protagonist in Conrad's novel.On an abandoned ship, he was one of only two armed men; there was nothing left to waste but the other.When the two eat the last morsel of food they had shared together, a real struggle for survival begins.Falk won, but he has since become a vegetarian.This is not a "struggle for existence" as businessmen claim.For businessmen, this term is just an imprecise expression they use to give importance to essentially trivial things. Just ask, how many people in their living class are dead? for the hungry?Ask again what happens when his friend goes bankrupt.Everyone knows that a bankrupt businessman is in a much better position in terms of material comforts than a person who has never been rich enough to be bankrupt.Therefore, what people usually refer to as the competition for survival is actually a competition for success.What they feel terrible in the competition is not whether they can have breakfast the next morning, but that they will not be able to beat their opponents.

It is strange how little people seem to realize that they are not at the mercy of an inescapable machine, but of a treadmill; Go to a higher place, so remain in the original position.I am, of course, referring here to the great and successful businessmen who already have a considerable income on which they can live if they choose.However, in their view, doing so is disgraceful, like retreating in front of the enemy.If you; think of them, what kind of public are they doing this for, they are still speechless after pondering over the clichés of those advertisements in the stressful life. Just imagine the life of such a person.We assume that he has a splendid house.A beautiful wife and lovely children.In the early morning, when all the family members were still dreaming, he woke up and hurried to the office.His job there was to display his qualities as a great manager; his jaw was set and his speech was quick and decisive, designed to impress on everyone but civil servants an image of shrewdness.A discreet impression.He dictated letters, made phone calls with a number of dignitaries, studied the markets, and then had lunch with someone who was doing or was trying to do a deal with him.In the afternoon, the same thing continued.Back home exhausted, I hurried to change clothes and go to the dinner party.At the dinner table, he and other equally tired men had to pretend to be happy in front of the ladies, who were not tired at all.There was no telling how many hours it would be before the poor busy man could get out of this scene.It wasn't until finally that he was able to fall asleep, allowing his tense nerves to relax for a few hours.

The working day of these people is like a 100-meter race, but the only goal of this race is the grave.The kind of concentration suitable for the 100-meter race finally reached its extreme here.What did he know about his children?Usually stay in the office, and spend Sundays on the golf course.How much does he know about his wife?When he left her in the morning, she was still asleep, and throughout the evening he and his wife attended social functions where intimate conversations were impossible.He may not have one true friend among men, though he may have many who pretend to be intimate.Flowers come and go, and he only feels them when they affect the market.He may have traveled to many countries, but there was weariness in his eyes.For him, books are useless and music is mystification.As time passed, he became more and more lonely; his whole mind was devoted to business, and his spare time became boring.In Europe, I met a middle-aged Yankee of this type who was traveling with his wife and daughter.Evidently it was the wife and children who had persuaded the poor wretch that it was time for a holiday and to give the daughters a chance to see Europe.Mothers and daughters surrounded him excitedly, pointing out to him every surprising and interesting sight.The head of the family looked tired and disturbed.At this moment, I am still worried about how business is going in the office and how the game is going on the baseball field.In the end, all his family and children lost hope in him, thinking that all the men were from Tiaolisi.It never occurred to them that he was the victim of their greed; indeed, in the eyes of a European observer, he was no different from a widow who committed suicide.Perhaps nine times out of ten, this widow voluntarily sacrificed herself by burning herself for the sake of chastity, honor and religious order.The merchant's destiny and sense of honor prompt him to earn more money; therefore, like the Indian widow, he accepts pain and suffering with great ease.If the American businessman wants to make himself happy, he must first change his beliefs.He is a wretch so long as he pursues success in the full belief that it is a man's business to do so; and as long as his life remains so tense and restless, he cannot be happy.Take investing as an example.Almost all Americans would choose a venture capital investment with an 8 percent profit margin over a safe investment with a 4 percent profit margin.As a result, money is constantly being lost, and people worry and worry about it.As far as I am concerned, I hope that money can give me an easy and happy leisure time.But typical modern people, what they want is more money to show off, so as to surpass people of their own status.The social classes in America are indeterminate and in constant flux, so that all snobbishness appears to be more fluctuating than in places where social classes are fixed.And although money by itself hardly makes a man famous, it can't be done without money.Furthermore, how much money a person earns has become a generally accepted measure of IQ.A rich man must be a smart man, and a poor man must be not very smart. No one likes to be thought a fool, so when the market is in a bad situation, a person will be as nervous as a young man in an examination room.

I think it should be admitted that the real, though irrational, fear of bankruptcy often enters the businessman's sense of anxiety.Arnold Bennett's Clayhanger, no matter how rich he becomes, is always worried that he will die in the workshop.I have no doubt that those who have suffered poverty in their childhood are often haunted by a fear that their children will suffer the same fate; to ward off this disaster.Such fears may well be unavoidable among the entrepreneurial generation, but they probably have little effect on those who have never known what it means to be poor.Either way, they're just a minor exception to the problem.

The root of the problem is that people place so much emphasis on competitive success that it becomes the primary source of happiness.I don't deny that the awareness of success makes it easier for people to love life.A painter, for example, who has remained unknown throughout his youth, is likely to become happy once his talent is recognized.Nor do I deny that there is a sense in which money greatly contributes to the promotion of happiness; beyond that, things are different.In short, I firmly believe that success can only be one of the ingredients of happiness, and that it is too expensive to obtain at the expense of all other factors.

At the root of the problem is the philosophy of life that prevails in the business world.Objectively speaking, in Europe, there are still some professions with high reputation.In some countries, the nobility still exists.In Europe, except in a few small countries, learned occupations, such as armies and navies, are highly esteemed.Indeed, no matter what one's occupation is, there is always an element of competition in success.At the same time, we should see that what is respected by people is not only success, but also outstanding performance.Regardless of its form, success depends on this performance.A scientist may or may not earn money.If he goes to earn money, he will not be respected any more for it.No one was surprised to see a famous general or admiral live in poverty.In this case, poverty is, in a sense, an honor.For these reasons, in Europe, the competition for money is really limited to some professions, and most of them are not very influential, nor are they the most respected.In the United States, the opposite is true.By their standards, the military plays a minor role in the life of the nation, and its influence is not great; and as far as those professions that require learning are concerned, no one outside can know how much medical knowledge a doctor knows, or whether a lawyer is a lawyer. Indeed proficient in the law, an easy way to judge their accomplishments is by their income and standard of living.As to professors, they are mere hired hands of merchants, and are much less respected than in the old countries.The consequence of all this is that in the United States the specialists follow the merchants, and follow suit, rather than separate themselves as in Europe.Therefore, in the whole class of achievers, there is nothing that has the function of reducing the competition for purely monetary success.

American children are taught from a young age that this is the only thing that matters, and that if there is no monetary value in any education, they are unwilling to work on it.Education has been recognized as a discipline of appreciation and enjoyment--I mean the enjoyment of those higher things, which are unacceptable to the uneducated.In the 18th century, appreciation of literature, painting and music was one of the signs of a "gentleman".We may not agree with their hobbies today, but at least it exists.Now the rich are a different type.He never reads.If, in order to extend his prestige, he attempted to establish an art gallery, he would have to rely on specialists for the selection of paintings; his pleasure in this was not in their appreciation.It's the joy of preventing other rich people from owning these paintings.As for music, if he happens to be a Jew, he may have some appreciation; otherwise, as in the other arts, he has no education.The upshot of all this is that he simply doesn't know how to spend his leisure time.As he got richer and richer, it became easier and easier to earn money, until at last, by spending five minutes in a day, he made so much money that he didn't know what to do with it.So the poor man was at a loss because of his own success.So long as success itself is regarded as the sole end of life, this must be the result.The attainment of success must make him the prey of boredom unless a man knows how to deal with it.

The competitive habit of the mind can easily invade territory where it does not belong.Take reading as an example.There are usually two motives for reading a book: one, because you appreciate it; two, because you can show it off.In the United States, it has become commonplace for ladies to read (or seem to read) several books a month; on the desk.But they don't read classics.There was never a month when the book club recommended Hamlet or King Lear; there was never a month when Dante's name seemed necessary.Therefore, people only read modern works that are completely mediocre, and never read famous books.This is also an effect of competition, although it is not all a bad thing-if the young ladies we have just mentioned are allowed to choose for themselves, the books they read are even more vulgar and inferior than those recommended by the literary masters, Not to mention any famous books.

The overemphasis on competition in modern life is associated with a general degradation of the norms of civilization, which began in the Roman Empire after the time of Augustus.Men and women have appeared incapable of appreciating the more noble entertainments.The general art of conversation, for example, was developed and perfected in the French salons of the eighteenth century, and was still practiced forty years ago.It is a very delicate art of bringing out the highest human potentialities for something almost fleeting.However, in our time, who cares about such trivial matters?Ten years ago this art was flourishing in China, but since then, it seems to me, it has been swept away by the missionary zeal of the Nationalists.A knowledge of fine literature is common among the educated, but it is known only to a few professors today.All highbrow entertainment is thrown out.In the spring, some American students took me for a walk in the woods beside their campus, where the flowers were splendid, but none of my guides could name Nabo as one of the flowers.What is the use of such knowledge?It doesn't generate income for anyone.

The problem is not solely personal, and the individual in his isolation cannot prevent it.The problem is the generally accepted philosophy of life, according to which life is a struggle, a struggle in which honor goes to the victor.This view leads to an overemphasis on the development of willpower at the expense of all senses and intellects.Perhaps, so we are putting the cart before the horse.The moralists among the Puritans have always emphasized the role of the will in modern times, although they originally intended to emphasize faith.Perhaps the age of Puritanism produced men who overdeveloped the will and forcibly repressed their sensibility and intellect, and who therefore regarded the philosophy of competition as the one best suited to nature.In any case, these modern dinosaurs, like their prehistoric prototypes, owe their great success not to wisdom but to power.This success has led them to be imitated everywhere, and as a result they have become role models for white people everywhere; this situation may become more and more popular in the next few hundred years, but those who do not follow the fashion can rest assured that because ancient dinosaurs Not winning in the end, they killed each other, only to allow wise bystanders to take over their kingdoms.Our modern dinosaurs are destroying themselves.Under normal circumstances, every time they get married, they only give birth to less than two children.At this point, the overzealous philosophy they inherited from the Puritans seemed out of tune with the world.Those who feel so little joy in life that they no longer care about having children are biologically doomed.It won't be long before they are replaced by a new, happier generation.

The idea of ​​competition as the main thing in life is so cruel, too stubborn, so tense in the muscles, and too concentrated in the will, that if it were the basis of life, it would be impossible for a generation or two are difficult to continue.After such a period it must have given rise to nervous fatigue, various forms of avoidance, the pursuit of pleasure as intense and difficult as the pursuit of work—because relaxation and abundance were no longer possible—and finally, because of sterility, resulting in Whole families perish.Not only is work poisoned by the philosophy of competition, so is rest.That easy, relaxed, relaxed life is also tiresome.All of this inevitably leads to a continuous revival, the natural end of which is drug addiction and a breakdown.The only cure is the acknowledgment that sane, comfortable enjoyment is necessary for a balanced life.