Good Competition

I play chess.  Almost every day, at the coffee shop where I live, friends gather together to engage in battle—over a chess board.  We are not especially great players but we play with heart.  And we love the game.  Chess provides for me a common interest, which myself, and friends, come together over

Anarchist ideals may be found wherever the word camaraderie may be aptly used.  It may be idiosyncratic that I use a game—an avenue of competition—as a grounds for promoting anarchist ideals.  Anarchy is anti-capitalist at its most basic level; fault with capitalism lies, very squarely, on its competition base social dynamic.  But chess is fundamentally askew with mainstream, capitalistic, social dynamics.

I enjoy competing with my friends over a game of chess.  And I do not think that it is incomprehensible that we could have a strong competitive drive within society which would also be both peaceful, and egalitarian.  Competition does not necessarily divide people—and it does not necessarily create hostility. 

Before European colonialism, many cultures—like that of the Native Americans—were host to forms of competition.  LaCrosse was a sport invented by the Native Americans; I believe it served as a means to settle disputes between tribes.  And they lived a much more cooperation based culture than what we do, today. 

For a society to have a culture which functions from a competitive basis, but bears no ill will between competitors, there must be more at stake in the camaraderie. Between competitors, there has to be more gained through sharing an interest than what may be gained from victory.  In chess, I find a group of friends with which I commune with.  Our friendships are far more important than is any one person’s prevailing at the game. 

Competition can strengthen solidarity which exists between two people.  Losing in competition can incite a person to give greater attention to their rivalry.  And rivalry exists between people who consider themselves equal in strength or skill.

Our culture of competition could be rectified from the debased nature which it has taken on if our political system did not impose wastefulness and deceit.  Community must come before social status—sharing must take precedent over ownership—and camaraderie before financial gain.  Existing within our society are micro-cultures that demonstrate the ideals fundamental to a cooperative environment which still has space for winning and losing.