What is lost in a competitive world

Growing up in a competitive all boys school in the 1980s, I experienced the joy and pain of winning and losing almost on a daily basis. Everything in high school seemed to be some form of competition; from our grades, our extra-curricular activities, the girls we get to know, the strength of our muscles,  the talents we have, the cool people we know. Now that I can look back at it, I realize that the sense of competition was often overwhelming and paralyzing. The fear of losing in a competition was often the reason I was not competing well. In some cases it was so intimidating that I decided not to participate in the competition all together against my own wishes.

50 years through life now, I am still fascinated by the merit and demerit of competition and what it means to our lives. I have been running my own business for six years in addition to the twenty years or so navigating a career path in a corporate environment. Competition is still a part of my life, but they are much less influential, much narrower than that of high-school. After all, I do not care anymore if anyone is more talented in music or more muscular than me. I can't be bothered by anyone's judgement about me. I care about making a nice home and family, doing things I like, staying healthy, keeping my friends and keeping my business running well. I compete only when I have to - mostly to grow my business, or when I am playing some form of sports.  

I suppose if I can give an advise to the younger me in high-school, I would have told him that he has been wearing the wrong lens to look at life. I would have told him that winning and losing come a few steps down after having fun, learning about things that interest me, making friends and experiencing life as whole. But I wonder if the younger me would have understood the advise, especially when many things in high school were measured and compared very regularly, if not by the school, by peer pressure.

Competition is a part of life, and it happens in nature. But there are fundamental differences between competition in nature, and competition as it is created by humanity. This is where all the problems started.

In nature competition happens briefly on important moments; like during the time when two lions are fighting to find the leader of the pack, or when two male birds competing for a mate. It is almost like a rite of passage for an order to be established. But the moment the winner is found, the competition is over and life resumes. Humans, on the other hand, have a believe that competition is needed all the time, in every part of our lives. It is believed to be the reason why societies move ahead. Records have to be broken all the time, not because they are important, but because they are measured and reported.

Competition a-la humanity is perpetuated for the sake of rewards, mostly measured by money. Just consider the media or social media, and how they have to always create competition in their reporting. Russia vs. USA vs China, capitalism vs socialism. The truth in real life is far from what is portrayed, because there is no such thing as Russia vs. USA the way the media would like us to see it. They are countries, not individuals. Russia and the USA have governments who each has to find ways to manage the need of their people. Capitalism and socialism are governing systems, and they are extremely imperfect at their best. It is therefore puzzling that the media and world leaders seemed to be obsessed to prove the superiority of one from another instead of trying to make them work together. 

Competition in nature is a moment to restore balance, while competition of human beings continue to create imbalance. A "winner" in business is measured by its growing sales numbers but not by its environmental pollution that it generated, or the well being that it created for the users, consumers, employees, environment. Because of this single sided approach to life, businesses have been behaving with unmitigated irresponsibility in the name of winning. That is why our modern way of life is hopelessly failing to resolve most pressing problems in our lives like hunger, poverty, pollution, inequality. We are in a system that promotes and rewards imbalance, and until it is changed, we are just not going to get better.

One may argue that competition has been good for humanity. Without competition, wouldn't we still be stuck in the dark ages? Would people like Albert Einstein to Steve Jobs be discovering and creating things if they are not competitive? 

I would argue that competitiveness is a part of human nature, just like testosterone is a part of human hormonal system. Competitiveness is useful, important, but it is not a singular way of living; just like testosterone is not the only type of hormone that are working in our body. A healthy body is a balanced body, where all the hormones are excreted at the right amount and all the nerves are functioning at the right level of sensitivity. If testosterone is the only hormone that is working in our body, we will not be a living being. 

In the same manner, when humanity perpetuates competition and put it as the way to live, the world becomes a poor place. The race of nuclear warhead that has continued on since the end of world war II is one of the most insane situation that humanity has ever put itself into. Every single nuclear warhead that is produced means an increase of risk to our lives, but yet we are unable to collectively stop the race. We are trapped in an escalating self-destruct mode in the name of "winning".

This problem would have been funny if it is not so serious. If we feel the world is increasingly jittery, polarized, hostile and unsafe, it is because we are continuously in the competition mode. If the United States, China and Russia continue to see each other first as competitors and not as fellow mortals who try to find peace, then we can forget about any potential solutions to the world's biggest problems. Unfortunately the world leaders are still deep in the woods grappling in the dark while the forest is burning fast.

Perhaps my advise to the younger me in high school applies to the world leaders too. Lower the mindset of winning and losing a few step down. Lets first try to understand, make new friends, keep our old friends and create a peaceful place to live in. Keep the competitiveness in check so that it does not take over our lives.

The story of Man

One of the best things in life, in my opinion, is the pleasure of authentic food in its authentic place; like a crusty golden fish and chips in a pub in London, a set of Xiao Long Bao in Shanghai, a Dosa in Chennai, or a plate of buffalo chicken wings in a blues bar somewhere in the USA. The food is only a part of it. More than the food is the feelings of being in a cultural space that make the food that much better. To top it all, is the company of the local people who share their time with me.  

Delicious food from every part of the world is one of the most clear evidence of the best of humanity. It demonstrates our ability to create something beautiful. It highlights our common need for nourishment and enjoyment. It facilitates hospitality, togetherness and friendship. It enhances life experience. It symbolizes sharing, generosity and peace. It is, in my view, a convincing example that human beings are truly capable of being wonderful. 

That is why it is more than sad to think about the state of the world. To be clear, I am not talking about a contagious virus that is currently still at the top of most people's attention. I am talking about how over so many centuries of our modern history, humanity has created a deeply flawed system that brings out the worst of our human characters. The state of the world is bad not because humans are bad, but because we are following a very bad system that we have created for ourselves.

There is no shortage of news and analyses that articulate the dire state of the world. Inequality, poverty, pollution, hunger, wars, trade wars, nuclear disaster, nuclear arms race, territorial dispute, refugee crisis. Those are just examples from a long list of many more; and words are inadequate to express the depth of the problems. All of them are in a worse state today than it was yesterday, and unless there is a systemic change done today, it will only get worse tomorrow. All of the problems mentioned above has not include the bigger than life crisis of climate change. Humanity is not in a good state. If humanity is represented by a single person,  this person is not only gravely ill with lung, heart, skin kidney and liver disorder, he also has severe delusion, memory distortion and obsessive compulsive behavior. He is rapidly and alarmingly becoming a hazard to himself and other beings.

How did humanity arrive to this point? 

For the sake of this discussion let's create a person who represents humanity and call him by his nick name, Man.

Man was a gifted creature. He was born into an abundant world with clean air to breathe and self rejuvenating food supply. He has a strong and highly sophisticated body and clear and robust mind. As he experienced life he learned about pleasure and pain, and he realized that those sensations are both rather interesting and he wanted to experience more.

Over many years, Man created a habit for himself. He used his mind to enhance his experience. Over time he invented tools and methods to be able to do more, make more, take more in a shorter amount of time. He was able to travel more distance, exploit more resources that the earth has to offer. He was convinced after so many years of growing bigger and faster, that he is the best, most powerful creature on the planet. He mindlessly tear apart his environment in order to satisfy his growing desire for more things. He even killed other creatures just for his own entertainment. 

As he carry on this habit through the years, he started to feel some discomfort. He seemed to need to consume more and more things just to feel ok. The air he breathe did not seem to be as comfortable as before, the soil is not as fertile, and the choices of enjoyment seem to be diminishing slowly but surely. At first, he thought it was a fluke and things will come back to normal. But things only get worse each day, to the point that the discomfort becomes a dominant sensation in his life. The discomfort bothered him more and more that he was unable to think clearly anymore. His body is in pain. His muscles are stiff, his eyes are blurry, his heart pounds irregularly, his lungs heaves heavily. Panic began to seep in. He began to to blame the weather, the air, the water and all the creatures around him. He has forgotten the feeling of comfort that he used to know, and he began to think that the world is a very difficult place to live. He kept telling himself that the discomfort is just a fact of life. Man became angrier, more irritable and increasingly destructive to himself and his environment.

Throughout his life, the world around him has been trying to send him a message. When he discovered the black gold underground, he took them out greedily while much of the waste spilled over to the sea. He did not clean up after them and he found out many years later that many of the fish and birds that he used to see are dead because of it. When he discovered nuclear power, he did not bother to think about how to contain and diffuse the radioactive waste. The radioactive waste has leaked several times and he realized it has made some places inhabitable and affected his health. When he discovered how to make plastic, he used it for everything and trash its waste liberally without care. After several years he discovered that the trash has made his backyard look like a junkyard and he does not know how to remove them. When he cut the trees recklessly, he never bothered to replant new ones. He found out later that the earth gets hotter, the soil gets dryer and he was unable to enjoy the fruits that he used to enjoy. The environment he lived in are crying for help, and the more he ignored it, the worse he became.

A little bird has been chirping around him for many days lately. It was trying to tell him something, but Man was too preoccupied with self pity. The bird was trying to tell him a simple reminder. Stop taking for a while and start giving. Man was born with such abundance and strength not only so that he can enjoy them, but also so that he can maintain them. Over the years, Man has created a habit of taking with no regards to the responsibility of replenishing what he has taken. The bird tried to remind him, that Man was not born bad, but he is facing the consequences of following a bad habit for many, many years. The bird tried to tell him, that the more he take the poorer he become.

Man, in the middle of his severe pain and discomfort, is struggling to accept that he is facing a monumental choice.  If he chooses to stay with his habit, more pain and suffering will ensue to the point that death maybe a better outcome. If he chooses to create a new habit that restore the balance of taking and giving, he will give himself a chance to return to a comfortable life that he was able to enjoy. The consequences of the two choices are clear as the sun. The choice that Man will make, on the other hand, is as murky as ever.

One World Two Systems

In the coming decades, a form of geo-economics standoff between the old west and the new east is likely to emerge. Here is an assessment on how it may play out.

China, with its expansion of government-sponsored businesses across the world, already draws much influence in the Asia Pacific and Africa regions. The ASEAN countries and the Indian sub-continent are racing to invite China’s money into the region. From manufacturing to mining and infrastructure, many of these countries are allowing Chinese companies to set up shop with very few terms and conditions. China also has a stronghold on the economies of African countries and the Indian subcontinent through financial aids which eventually may lead into controlling stakes on their main infrastructure like their international ports.

Because of this unprecedented freedom to play, Chinese businesses will not only be able to tap onto the Asian and African markets; they will also increasingly be very influential in the economic policies of those countries. As long as China’s money continue to “lubricate” its entry into these markets, there will be very little resistance that can hinder or slow down their influence. In the next decade or two, barring any unforeseen internal collapse in China’s government, it is very likely that China will increase its influence on the economic agenda of Asian and African governments.

Standing on the other end is the old western economy that has defined the world’s way of life for most of the 20th century. The western economic influence, led by the United States, is strong and deeply rooted because it is built on top of two pillars of power: military and cultural influence. The western military alliance has interfered with many governments for many centuries to ensure that they serve the western interest. Through the twists and turns of the world war II, the US established an unmatched worldwide military presence around the world, a presence that is detested by some, but welcomed by the others who feel the need for some extra protection against large powers like China. 

A balancing act to the US military power is the soft power of its entertainment and media industry. Most people who lived through the 20th century are influenced by the power of Hollywood movies and western television programs. This domination of the airwaves worked wonders in creating an image of the USA as a strong and judicious leader of the world. The youth of the time believed that the English language is the key to a successful career, and those that could afford it went to study in the west and tried to experience the “land of opportunity”. Through the airwaves the United States told the world what is cool and uncool, and what is right and wrong.

As we enter the third decade of the 21st century, the competition for influence between China and the US is escalating. China has the upper hand on the business momentum, with its strength of the domestic market, its increasingly wealthy and skilled population, their business-minded government, and their established “seeds of investments” in many countries around the world. China now has reached a position where it can determine the economic health of virtually every country in the world. More recently, China began to exert this influence by punishing other countries who have spoken loudly against them and their policies. Australia was recently punished with an increased import tariff for their wines and barley, after questioning China’s role in causing the COVID-19 epidemic. Canada has also gone to their bad book for helping the US arrest Huawei’s top executive. 

Despite its economic influence is at the moment, China has not reached the multi-dimensional influence that the US has been able to establish through its military presence and its dominance of the information airwaves. There is no question that the USA is facing life-altering domestic troubles, and this will certainly weaken its international standing. However, their pillars of power are still there to help them maintain their influence. Many countries in the world, from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore to the Western European nations depend greatly on the health of the USA. They will be happy to embrace them back the moment they can, even if the USA has become a weaker version of itself. The transparency of the US troubles in the social media provides the world clear information about who they are as a country. There will be a time when the USA finds its new equilibrium and the world's familiarity to the USA will turn to work in its favor.

On the other hand, China has been taking a closed book approach to the world, in which nobody could know what is happening inside the country. This approach may work fine during its fast growth spurt in the last few decades, but it will likely be an increasing challenge as it tries to wield more strategic influence in the world. A closed-book approach does not create positive sentiment and trust, the subtle qualities that are important to create sustainable leadership in the world. There has been signs that China is trying to open up, inviting more people to work in China, creating cultural and educational ambassadors around the world in the like of the Confucius Institute. However, it is still in its early stages of its soft power development and much remain to be seen.

The dynamics of the present time, with the economic might of China and the domestic troubles in the US point to a creation of some form of new polarization. However, unlike the cold-war of the 1960s, this polarization is not driven by philosophical ideas of capitalism or communism. Although the debates and narrative on capitalism and communism are still very loud throughout the media and social media, they are mostly academic with no real consequences in the world. After all, China is both a capitalist and a communist.

The polarization is going to emerge in a form of dual economic order, one being the western economic order influenced by the USA and the other as the eastern counterpart, influenced by China.
 

Here are some of the areas to watch for

1)   Dual global currencies

The world is due for a complete re-invention of the financial system. The concept of the USD as the world reserve currency seem to be as outdated as the analog system in the digital age.

A digital-currency that is accepted around the world as a medium for trade will create a great alternative to the USD. The Chinese-government with its extensive investments around the world is well positioned to influence its creation. It is quite likely that in the coming years there will be real alternative to the current USD dominance.

However there is a vested interest in almost everyone to minimize its volatility of USD or at least allow it to release its status as a reserve currency in a manageable pace. A volatile USD will wreak havoc not only in the USA, but in almost every country.

For the coming decade or more we maybe experiencing a parallel system of the old and the new.

2)   Dual trade arrangements

One of President Barack Obama’s strategy to compete with China is to push the creation of TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), a deal that was spearheaded by the USA and participated by most other Asian countries. The US participation in the Trans Pacific Partnership was later on canceled by Donald Trump, just as China proceeded to solidify its presence in the pacific through the RCEP agreement. This agreement, along with the many direct investments into Africa and Asian countries, will likely to accelerate China’s influence in the Pacific.

In the meantime, the USA will need to find its way to create a trade agreements that work in its favor. Other than trying to re-enter the TPP framework, the USA will likely look east towards the Atlantic for partnership with their old allies in Europe, as well as working on a more country-by-country basis with their allies in the pacific. The western European countries will try to build a close relationship with both the USA and China. However, China still has a long way to go before it can earn the trust and support of the Western nations.

3)   Dual socio-political alliances
Unlike China, the USA did not expand its influence in the 20th century through business deal-making. Its economic strength emerged as an outcome of the expansion of the two pillars of power around the world that has been discussed earlier.

With the backing of those power pillars, the American brands from McDonald, PepsiCo, Starbucks and Facebook easily gained reception in many countries in the world. However, this influence has waned significantly lately and is likely to continue. The USA also has taken a serious hit to its reputation in the world as it battles its domestic demons of racism, political instability, and social injustices. Its influence will never be the same anymore, but it will still be the center of the western economic interest.  

USA's struggles is China's opportunity. Just like the English language was the language of the 20th century, the Chinese language is seen as the language to learn in the 21st century. As mandarin begins to be understood by more people around the world, there will be higher understanding and emotional affiliation towards China as a culture, not a country.  This provides China the invaluable opportunity to expand its influence to other dimensions of other people's life.
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How this standoff will take place will be for all of us to experience in the coming years. Both China and the USA are imperfect giants with their own demons to overcome.

Can China transform from being the biggest boy in the playground who everyone fears to become the wisest person in the field who earns the respect of others? Without genuine respect from the rest of the world, China's influence will always be fragile. China of the present can take lessons from the 14th century China, who was successful in creating lasting influence in the world through their trade.

The USA’s deep troubles are well laid out in the media. Their domestic social and political crises are at the early phase and much will still be coming out in the years to come. Its standing in the world is going to be weakened, perhaps quite significantly. But a weak giant is still a giant, and its action will continue to set the tone in the world we live in.

The rest of the world will have to get ready to live in a one-world-two-systems environment. How will it be like? 

The Precious Year 2020

 The year 2020 is a year that has been portrayed by the media, as well as by the world leaders, as a year of hardship, pain and suffering. The virus that is spreading is believed to be the main cause of increased death worldwide. It is also blamed as the cause of the economic trouble as the world took austere measures to defend against the virus.

It is easy to forget that before the word COVID entered our vocabulary, the world was already on a fast track towards a crash or a clash. At the end of 2019, the global economy was already showing dangerous symptom of overheating at a scale that we have never seen before. There was rampant speculation in the stock market and rapidly growing income inequalities everywhere in the world.  While the world's economy was a runaway train wreck, the geopolitical environment also deteriorated.

Prior to COVID 19 crisis, China was struggling to keep its economic growth and seemed to have a growing tendency to exert itself to other countries like the biggest boy in the playground. The USA was already long in its self-destruct mode with its polarized politics, toxic media, health care crises and other deep-rooted social issues. Europe was already in economic distress due to its dysfunctional union and was already in a divorce court with Britain. The middle-eastern countries continued their struggle to recover from many years of violent interventions by the west. In the meantime, we are reminded about the climate crisis with unprecedented magnitude of forest fires in Australia and California and severe flooding in several Asian countries in the early part of 2020.

The corona virus may have taken so much of the world’s headlines and attention in 2020, but it is certainly not the cause of the world’s biggest problems. Some pundits have called the virus the great accelerator. Some others have called it the great equalizer. It deserves those titles and more. What the virus has done certainly, is to disrupt the rhythm of the world all at the same time. This disruption may not be a bad thing at all. It offered an opportunity for the world to work together on a common cause, to reach out with goodwill and create peace. The disruption should let us find new ways to doing things that is not destroying our environment or creating additional burdens for the next generation. 

 
As we enter 2021 with the prospect of vaccine and the hope to go back to “normal” – does that mean that we are getting back on-board the runaway train wreck?