Zana Hammad
Mr. Shepherd
Lit and Comp 12
3 November 2015
Race to The Top
“The strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to accept”.-(Thucydides). Thucydides was a Greek philosopher, but was also a father of political realism. This quote shows the true reality of society. People's main focus in life is to get success, and how they get it is almost like a race. Many people; not all, have a different mindset than others but that does not necessarily mean one is better than the other. Human nature is based on three things; competitiveness, selfishness, and aggression. The basis of human nature is people not caring about their consequences because they are too focused on getting ahead.

It's no secret that when people want something, they'll get it, the only problem with that is the matter of how they got it. People might brand this society as competitive, and that represents it almost perfectly. This quote shows us how self-worth is something everybody lacks and how people judge others on where they're at in life, “Your value is defined by what you’ve done.”(Kohn) Competition means that one person can succeed, but only if others fail. Something that should be learned throughout the years is to always put yourself first but not to hurt others while doing it, and somehow that concept is long gone in society. Many studies have shown that the way people view themselves is based upon other people's opinions. Society doesn't care if people are left behind, as long as they're ahead then that's all that matters. ”This competitive drive built into us has caused humans to go to war with one another—killing each other in the process. In the modern era, competition has been significantly tempered in its lethality.”(Kovis) For example, let's say two people are applying for a job, but they only need one person. One of them is going to push harder and use what they have against them to put one of them ahead. Which then leads them to being selfish.

People always want to take care of themselves before anyone else, and though that's not a bad thing it's also not a good thing. When people try to reach their goal, they push out everyone that gets in their way. With the others they tend to just forget about them and act as if they don't exist. Were all selfish in our own way, some more than others but still selfish. The people in this society don't think how their actions can affect not only them but people worldwide. For example, all the school shootings that have recently been happening. From just one person doing an unjustified act, it affected almost the whole nation. Why, because their “mentally ill” or “they don't like that race.” It is seen as people doing it for the hell of it. The pain that families, friends, co workers, and boyfriends/girlfriends have to go through because that person felt like it was their “duty”. A quote from the movie “Rope” by Alfred Hitchcock that stood out to me was, “Good and evil, right and wrong were invented for the ordinary average man, the inferior man, because he needs them.” This says that the wealthy demean the poor, because without them, they would be nothing. People are selfish because they have everything they want and don’t want anyone else to take it, and only save the best for themselves. Although people may claim to be independent, there was someone struggling to make sure they got to where they are. To back that up, some relationships between parents and their kids. “Part of the work of bringing up children to live in a social world is helping them begin to understand that other people have feelings and needs that must be respected.” (Barth). A mother will carry their kid for 9 months, and will go through so much pain just to make sure they're healthy, well and to raise them the best they could. The kids grow up thinking they got to where they are by themselves, as if they had no guidance whatsoever. In some cases this may be true, but it still falls onto them because they are the ones who chose that path. They had the decision of working hard or hardly working.

What is it that makes society so aggressive? Could it be the horrible economy, the police brutality, or even the lack of respect everyone is given? It could be anyone of those but moral of it all, society is aggressive. This quote has meaning to it, and has to be broken down to understand. “The theory also predicts that venting aggressive energy should make us less aggressive.”(Kohn) When people are sad/depressed, some tend to turn to people to talk about it but others keep to themselves. Both decisions can be dangerous to society. Often people in this society tend to doubt this rather than take time to focus on the truth. For example, when facing an unsolvable problem, people tell their friends hoping they can help but just like them. they can't do anything about it. They put them in an uncomfortable situation making them feel bad for you and themselves. Now let's say they do help, they now know what's your weak point and what breaks you. In society, most people feed off weakness in order to get ahead. Thats why its important to not trust everybody who comes into your life. Now there's people who keep to themselves, and although that's a smart choice it can also be a problem. People can only take so much before they had enough. All this anger builds up inside them which then leads them to doing something harmful, affecting not only themselves but other people.This quote in the book has so much depth; “She saw the man's face twisted close to her own as if he were going to cry and she murmured, "Why you're one of my babies. “You're one of my own children!", She reached out and touched him on the shoulder. The Misfit sprang back as if a snake had bitten him and shot her three times through the chest.”(O’Connor):”A Good Man is Hard to Find. It just shows that he had a hard childhood and had so much built-up. When someone tries to break a wall they built, they act out.

Society can be described as many different things, whether it be good or bad. People talk about society thinking they have it all figured out when in reality they don’t know right from wrong. People don't take time to realize how their actions affect not only themselves but people around them and some who they don't even know. A perfect example for this would be; a school shooting. When a school shooting occurs, it takes affect not only in that state, but worldwide. Society doesn’t realize how much of an impact we take from this. Parents are too scared to send their kids to school, let alone walk somewhere by themselves. All this from just one person doing an injustice act. So we come right back to saying, society doesn't really care what's happening, just as long as it's not to them.

Works Cited

"A Good Man Is Hard to Find." Flannery O'Connor:"" N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

"Are Humans Innately Aggressive? - Alfie Kohn." Alfie Kohn. N.p., 02 June 1988. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

N.p., n.d. Web.

"Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

"The Case Against Competition - Alfie Kohn." Alfie Kohn. N.p., 02 Sept. 1987. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.

"4 Ways to Deal With Selfish People." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2015.