Everything we do is likely to put us in competition with others. Playing the trumpet and being around the music business for many years has taught me that much. Even writing the little bits and pieces of fiction and non-fiction I’ve posted so far means I’m competing with serious writers, famous authors, and clever bloggers. We compete to be noticed, to have the chance to share our thoughts, to perhaps exert a little influence on others. Many compete to make a living, or at least earn a little something from their work. While I’d be happy to see some income from MurrayWorks, my main purpose is to share ideas and perspectives I’ve gained in nearly 65 trips around the sun. If there is a payday someday, that would be welcome, and wonderful, but even if not, I’m hoping a few people might benefit from my work. This is my idea of gain.
My most recent piece of non-fiction is a conversation, Gain: A Dialog. In it, Tullius and Marcus discuss the nature of gain, the drive to compete, and how to use competition to the advantage of all, not just for some to gain an advantage over others. It seems to me there is a community of artists who truly want to see their brothers and sisters succeed. But it also seems to me the best ideas do not always “win.” Sometimes artists are true to who they are, but their work seems to be consigned to obscurity. Too many sensitive, creative people to see, hear, and read. So little time.
Some are good at picking up on what sells or what is fashionable. Others are either no good at doing this, or like me, don’t care whether what they write connects with a cause du jour. I write what I write because it interests me and because it can contain a lesson or moral. Now, that last word, moral, isn’t fashionable, and I run the risk of being branded an old curmudgeon for even mentioning it, but it’s true to who I am. I’m an aging former college professor who remains interested in right and wrong, what’s true and what’s not, and what it takes to help people make better choices.
Some will read my Dialog and think I’m a dreamer. Nevertheless, I hope a few will read it and ask questions. “Why does the world have to be the way it is? Why do we keep teaching our children to become a winner by any means necessary or risk being branded a loser? Why do we continue to indoctrinate the young into a system that enriches a few but dehumanizes many? Why do we keep choosing the same path when it leads so many to the same sense of despair and isolation?”
Maybe we are intended to be forever locked in tooth-and-nail competition for gaining an advantage. I hope not. We rationalize advantage by pointing to superior work ethic, meritocracy, or divine right. As a result, we assume some are just better – more God-like, perhaps – while others are assumed to be worse. Upstairs, downstairs. The upper class and the help. Masters and slaves. The Apostle Paul wrote, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ.” The implication is clear: some are destined to rule while others are destined to serve. But I think Paul was misunderstood. In the ancient world, slaves were the losers of wars, the debtors, the lower class who could be kept in bondage at the discretion of the winners, the land owners, the strong and connected. Did Paul really intend to say the end game of competition is loyal servitude to the rich and powerful, thus equating them with the Son of God? Or was he saying slaves should just make the best of a bad situation by being obedient and respectful? It seems to me his thoughts are not the way the world should be, rather 2000-year-old advice for dealing with it as it was.
As a musician, I know first-hand the value of competing to cooperate. A symphony orchestra is made up of dozens of musicians who not only must compete for the privilege of playing but also must cooperate to play together effectively. There is no advantage in dominating the group at everyone else’s expense. When musicians battle for supremacy, musically or otherwise, everyone loses. When a group of musicians plays together, each contributing his or her excellence at the right time and with the right intensity, the whole is truly greater than the sum of the parts. Many endeavors are like this. One for all, and all for one. No one left behind. The noblest vision of humanity is the triumph of all, or at least the heroism of striving for it. Everybody can win when people listen to each other and work together.
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