OP is putting it extremely bluntly and his idea is more abstract. I don't necessarily think his masculinity and identity are based on those material possessions. I think he is making the point that the whole idea of life in general is to be happy and regardless of what makes you happy, the root of all of it is comparable in nature. If he were to lose all of his money and status, he would be poor and homeless, and the majority would look or interact with him differently because of his situation. He would not be viewed positively because he was poor. Most would think he was a loser who had no ambition or drive and ended up in his current situation. Which goes back to the point that being better than everyone is the purpose of life.

No one works their whole life in the same job, never wanting more. Its the way everyone is raised. Its natural to want to be better than others, because that means you are fulfilling lifes basic needs and are the king of the hill. The central idea life is based on is essentially competition. Survival of the fittest.

You type like my mom bro, God bless

This. The animal kingdom is blatantly about competition and being superior to the next male. Why would the human race be any different? Because we have brains capable of thought? Our brains that are capable of thought have come up with ways to help us cope with the fact that life is strictly about competition so that the genetically inferior can be brainwashed into thinking they matter. Survival of the fittest in the human race isn't life or death anymore, it's who has the most money/looks/status. The average person who would not survive in the animal kingdom is kept around because the guys at the top have figured out how to put the average man in a role that makes THEM money.

Checkmate.

It's mog or be mogged boyos

Slay or die coping

Get rich or die average

Were not all guna make it

You seem pretty stuck on the material things aspect of it. I personally don't care about buying expensive designer clothes. All that **** is a ripoff. I also don't see the point of having a ton of cars/boats/etc.

And "fun" is so ambiguous. The more money you have, the more fun you can have. Pretty soon your level of fun is going to become boring and you're going to want a higher level of fun, which almost always means you'll need more money to get. It works in the same way as material possessions when you think about it.

Trying to have a good discussion by the way. I'm pretty unhappy with my life tbh, so I'm trying to find out why I might be wrong.

This. Re-evaluate your life

Look man, I know you feel obligated to spread your positive wishful thinking and propaganda but it's over, the people are realising the truth.

And you also need to explain why you are on cellular technology when you don't even compete before you lecture us on doing things for ourselves.

No not at all. It is about how you ACTUALLY stack up to others, not how you perceive yourself to. I'm not BASING my happiness on anyone other than myself. But that happiness comes from the comfort of the life that I live in comparison to some of the awful lives others live. Perspective is the word that best defines it. I am thankful for the things I have in comparison to those who have nothing.

Edit: Also, after reading your reply to my original post again, I have no idea how you gathered that that was the take away from my point.

Yep. I'm not delusional. I know how I stack up to others. I'm not going to be happy until I am actually ahead of most, and I couldn't give a fuk if anyone acknowledges that or not. I know deep down that I have beat them, and that makes me happy. I like to win.

Why you unhappy brah??

Just having more money and more things won't make you better. That car salesman guy is always bragging about making $150k a year and at the same time crying about not being able to get any girls.

I screwed up in HS and college. Didn't try as hard as I should have. I didn't realize that unless you get into education in a highly specialized field, you're stuck picking up the scraps, AKA the jobs that people don't even want to give out to people they know.

I can't find a job that will allow me to live the life I want to live.

It's a tough question tbh.

At the pinnacle of all of it, though, is isolation, which is what people are talking about when they vie against it.

As i said before you can replace "competition" with "survival" and it fits. You cant have one without the other.

But maybe i mentioned it in another thread. Humans are social - they REQUIRE groups. That's why prison, isolation, are used as punishment.

Essentially what you're trying to do is isolate people. "I'm better than all of you" isolating both yourself from others and others from you. This is the problem people have with it

I think so long as you achieve your goals without isolating others you're doing well

Question is: is competition necessary? Are there ways to survive without competition being a thing?

This. Everyone I've ever seen who has put in the time and effort to make the most of the raw materials life has given them has gone far in life. Become the very best, most authentic version of yourself and the rest of your life will fall into place.

This is because when somebody does this, they become ACTUALLY one of the best. How many people do you know that put in the time and effort to make the most of the raw materials life has given them? Very few. That's why they are among the best and have gone far in life.

@ that mod with the ripped avi. Why did you upload that to this website if you werent trying to impress anyone but yourself? Some of you guys dont even realize the game you are playing...the same game humans have been playing for 200k years. Competition is ingrained, hardwired, in our brains. Anyone saying otherwise is in denial.

shut ur whore mouth

yea, bitch im sure Michael Jordan was preoccupied with that thought when he was practicing his fade-aways

That's what Warren Buffet concerned himself with when he was reading 10-k reports all day in his office

That's what Ronnie Coleman thought when he put 800lbs on his back and squatted for reps

That's what Usain Bolt Bolt thought when he was training for the Olympics

get back in the kitchen u dumb kunt, who are you to tell others what they should/should not aspire to

This. I only have a "selfie" here and nowhere else. I wouldn't dare put it on ******** or Instagram. No one here knows me. I would feel cringey doing it where other people knew me.

In some areas I pride myself in being "better and stronger" but at the same time I've realized that caring for others is a sign of strength. In a weird way being egotistical and seeing others as weak has made me a better person.

You can't keep talking us in circles with endless questions under the guise that you have an alternative perspective besides the generic cope that's already been posted.

The grand scheme of the universe is completely irrelevant to our lives, It's as insignificant to us as we are to it.

The basis of the op is the raw formula of society and human life as you know it. Every experience is a duality. Hot cold happy sad rich poor good evil

All these things can only be experienced in relation to it's opposite. Somebody who has never ever felt pain can't truly experience pleasure because they have nothing to compare it to... but those things are actually real and have significant meaning so the rules are different.... when it comes to material things which our current system is built on (evidently by the 90% + of all jobs directly fueling consumerism) things like money and success are artificial constructs created by people which can't be measured by your own experience like love and hate... only other people's status and success can be measured against yours to gain perspective as to how well you're doing...

This is why you can never be satisfied chasing money and success, it's why rich people kill themselves and I don't agree with this way of life I'm not advocating it, I'm simply aware and acknowledging that as long as you're part of the system this is the game you're playing and this is how you win.

and I don't care what you think at this point because you're still wrong

Helping others feels good. Even the best like to mentor people or coach them about their expertise. Being competitive and helping others are not mutually exclusive.

Competition against fellow humans is not necessary for survival.

It's not a game where if Jake wins, John loses. Unless for example Jake and John were trapped on a island and they had a ticket off the island, but to get the ticket Jake must kill John or vise versa.

He would be unhappy because he was poor and could not afford the things he once could, not because of how others view him. He knew what it was like to have money/status and it was taken from him. Again I point out that its perspective.

I can tell how I actually stack up with someone very easily. It isn't necessarily a "my life is more valuable than yours" measurement, it is a how much more complete of a person am I. Do I have the basics? Love, family, friends, empathy? If so then do I truly know who I am, do I understand myself fully? What else do I have? Success, status, masculinity, aesthetics, women?

If we assume that everyone has the basics, the latter characteristics are easy to identify in someone.

You are probably a fairly successful guy, and you don't consider yourself more successful than the hobo on the street corner? You don't think of yourself as a better person? Better meaning successful, intelligent, fit, logical, responsible. Think about it like a car. One car has roll up windows (success), no heated seats (intelligence), no cruise control (fitness), cloth interior (responsibility), The other vehicle is fully loaded. Which car is a better car?

How do I know that person isn't successful, intelligent, fit, or responsible? Because they wouldn't be on that street corner if they were.

Competition is not necessary, but it is inevitable. Unless we are all born as eunuchs.

Testosterone drives men to compete against other men. It's biological.

I don't know enough about female physiology to comment on that side.

I agree 100% OP

Sorry you feel that way OP. If you live your life like that, it is going to suck.

is that a bad thing?

Dunno if you've heard the story of the tree's, 1 tree decides to grow taller... here it is -

Bunch of tree's, all the same height and all get all the sunlight they need, and more. 1 tree decides to grow taller than the other tree's, and in doing so casts a shadow on the other trees below it, the other tree's don't get any sun and die.

All the tree's were living perfectly until that 1 tree decided to grow taller.

Now all the tree's must grow taller in order to avoid the shadow cast by that one ******* that decided to grow taller.

So the moral of the story is, EVERYONE can thrive, but we need to just not be *******s and cast shadows on each other.

What kind of life do you want to live? Its never too late to take a step in the direction that you want to go. Most people will settle into a job they don't like, never see the things they want to see, or do the things they want to do. If you don't know what you want to do, pick something that interests you or that you are naturally good at, and become the master of that.

Do you want to be a doctor, engineer, lawyer, business owner, personal trainer? Great risk brings great rewards. Take the risk and do what you want to do. If you fail, you'll be right back to where you are now. Alive, jacked, and hungry for something more.

I bought a book,What Color Is Your Parachute, to try and figure out what kind of job and life I want. You work through a huge self-inventory section of the book where you write down all your skills, what's important to you in a job, what your purpose is in life. You go deep into 7 areas of your life and try to find a career that FITS YOU, rather than what everyone else does, looks for a job and tries to FIT IT. I'm still working through it and reading. Hoping I can get a clearer picture when I'm done.

Honestly I feel like it's too late for me and it's hard to let go of how many years I've wasted. I'm 26 and I'm in the worst position I've ever been in. Going back to school for something else would make me feel like I'm just starting over again, and that's very depressing to me.

As far as what kind of life I want to live. I just want a career that I get satisfaction out of and one where my performance determines my income. Not one where I earn a fixed wage and hope that somebody notices my good work and decides to give me a small raise every couple years. I also want a salary of at least 70k. The prospect of making 40-50k and saving like 4-5k a year like most people do is so sad to me.

And as for other aspects of my life that aren't career, I can't even think about them at the moment. I have to be established in a career before I make improvements in relationships. Who is going to want to date a 26 year old with nothing going for him?