Competition is a driving force of nature, promoting growth and forcing us to be more creative. The concept of competition is a powerful idea that is crucial to everyday life. The economy and businesses are shaped by competitive and uncompetitive practices, driven by educational hierarchies, competition for Wall Street careers, and businesses for market shares and profits. In “Project Classroom Makeover,” “Biographies of Hegemony,” and “Rent Seeking and the Making of an Unequal Society,” written by Cathy Davidson, Karen Ho, and Joseph Stiglitz, respectively, all authors discuss the ideology that both competitive and uncompetitive behaviors shape the individuals of modern America. In America today, individuals seek to develop their skills to
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For example, in Davidson’s essay, Davidson indicates that the rapid expansion of the education system in the United States was due to the fact that countries such such as South Korea and Russia surpassed America in global education rankings. With the education system depending on standardized testing, this resulted in the degenerative nature of the American education system. This competitive behavior demonstrated inequality. Due to the authority figures of government standardizing the test, it showcased students with the ability achieve high test grades that these figures desired and ignored those who could not. As a result to the increased emphasis put on standardized testing, students were stripped from their originality and creativity in order to keep up with the hierarchy 's expectations. Similarly to Davidson, Ho demonstrates how “the business world is obviously desperate to milk our minds, youth, creativity and work ethic” (Ho 179). As a result of this, a majority of the elite student body obtains the same kind of smartness, which results in a “generic sense of ‘impressiveness’ of the elite” (Ho 167). Despite this being so, the recruiters would already consider these elite students regardless of whether or not they have a degree in investment banking or if they graduated from Princeton or Harvard. With many individuals that possess similar skill sets, competition arises due to the abundant amount of elite students with similar talents. It is often difficult to tell who is more suitable for the position since recruiters of investment banks are willing to enlist all students from Harvard or Princeton who are willing and qualified. This demonstrates equality in the careers of Wall Street. Due to an abundant amount of students with “same smartness,” it shows the same level of competition between the elite students.
For example, in Davidson’s essay, Davidson indicates that the rapid expansion of the education system in the United States was due to the fact that countries such such as South Korea and Russia surpassed America in global education rankings. With the education system depending on standardized testing, this resulted in the degenerative nature of the American education system. This competitive behavior demonstrated inequality. Due to the authority figures of government standardizing the test, it showcased students with the ability achieve high test grades that these figures desired and ignored those who could not. As a result to the increased emphasis put on standardized testing, students were stripped from their originality and creativity in order to keep up with the hierarchy 's expectations. Similarly to Davidson, Ho demonstrates how “the business world is obviously desperate to milk our minds, youth, creativity and work ethic” (Ho 179). As a result of this, a majority of the elite student body obtains the same kind of smartness, which results in a “generic sense of ‘impressiveness’ of the elite” (Ho 167). Despite this being so, the recruiters would already consider these elite students regardless of whether or not they have a degree in investment banking or if they graduated from Princeton or Harvard. With many individuals that possess similar skill sets, competition arises due to the abundant amount of elite students with similar talents. It is often difficult to tell who is more suitable for the position since recruiters of investment banks are willing to enlist all students from Harvard or Princeton who are willing and qualified. This demonstrates equality in the careers of Wall Street. Due to an abundant amount of students with “same smartness,” it shows the same level of competition between the elite students.