I grew up in competition. I play sports all year. As a kid, I was playing organized sports. It
was football, baseball, and basketball. One would lead into the other. I was
playing your typical childhood games of tag, kickball, and free-for-all( or
freefrog). I was even playing games like chess against my mom and other adults.
I have stories of being up through the night playing poker with friends for
five dollars. I was a competitor, that competitor is still in me, and I lost
more than I care to share. It was always fun. It was always respectful. There
was always something “other” keeping me in that space. I wasn’t someone who
took pride in beating someone else.
I grew up on comparing dick sizes and how many girls we
fucked. I grew up on the idea of making money at all cost. We’d compared who
had the most expensive shoes and jewelry. We were admiring the kids who had the
newest Jordan shoes and making fun of the kids with dirty and generic clothes.
What happened is that there were times where I would win.
There were times where I’d lose. I’m thinking about me being that competitor. I
was making ever effort to destroy someone else in competition. I would take
pride in watching other kids getting yelled at by coaches, because I beat him
in competition. I never wanted to be the kid with the dirty clothes
As a man approaching
his mid-30s, I’m thinking about competition. I’m thinking about watching
debates that people are having about hip hop being horrible for society. In these debates, no one ever says that these
artists are in constant competition with each other. It’s about what it
glorifies or marginalizes.
We live in a world where there is a three year campaign
taking a two scandals. There was no precedent.
The reality is that this is competition. It’s as much strategy as it is
about what is right and wrong. People are more interested in winning than
they’re about the right and wrong. We have a three year email scandal that is
followed by a three plus year Russia Interference scandal.
What is getting lost in all of it? Nothing is really getting
done. Every statistic relevant to the economy has shown the same trajectory
since 2010. As we go further, we continue to push “winning” over
