It is argued whether competition is a virtue that possess significant benefits in daily life or if cooperation adds more value. This essay agrees that while a spirit of competition can help boost people’s performance by imbibing a competitive spirit within them, in the long run, cooperation is what will bring out the best in individuals and in our society.
It is natural to experience competitiveness. Wanting to do better than your peers can push an individual to out-perform at school or at work. For example, the Clean India Movement started in the 2010’s by the Central Government of India, with a clear goal to pit cities against each other for the title of “The Cleanest City”, was a great idea. This worked wonders with local governments taking charge, benefitting everyone in the process. However such examples are rare. Competition can bring out negative feelings of jealousy and instead hamper our growth.
Cooperation on the other hand is the ideal that will push forward not just one self but all of society. Learning to collaborate is a valuable skill. Many great leaders like President Barack Obama, Nelson Mandela and even Mahatma Gandhi have praised the boons of collaboration. The best example of cooperation being more virtuous than competition, is the coming together of the world in 2019 to face the Coronavirus pandemic. In the face of a deadly disease that had plagued all of humanity, world leaders came together to share vaccines, oxygen tanks and medical supplies. This saved millions of lives.
To conclude, competition has its merits in certain cases where it can be used as a motivator to enhance someone’s performance, but in the long run cooperation is the better attribute as we have historically noticed.