I'm not opposed to competition, just to an undue emphasis on it. All human life in society seems to me to be a mixture of competition and collaboration, and getting the balance right is important (and hard). Be the best you can - yes. Cheer others when they do well - yes. But do not assume that because you didn't win that you must be a loser. I am about developing for everyone a proper self-confidence that comes from knowing that you really are quite talented and that you can do a lot of things well. Since we are all different, no one else can quite do all the things that we can. The stress is always to be placed on the positive side, never the negative side. But I see so much of the latter about.

How do we convince people? Slowly. So much has to be done through education and mentoring, and that takes time. But the leap in the past fifty years has been stunning. We just need to keep doing it.

Yes we agree. Thanks for your insight.

I know of a religious, sectarian school with a large team of religious education teachers, who themselves failed to complete their secondary education or undertake approved university studies, with religious
education for 2 to 3 hours per day. It is a school with classes from Kindergarten to Year 12. The schools
alumni include medical practitioners, medical specialists, lawyers, engineers , accountants etc. Its Year 12
results place it near the top of the range for the state.
However, not all the schools students are given the chance to complete Year 12. A minority are encouraged
to cease their secular / academic studies at the end of Year 9 and undertake religious studies only. They then
undertake studies at the religious organizations theological colleges in Australia and overseas. These boys are told that there is
no need to undertake professional education / training. Their income will be provided from heaven. They are told that they can make a living through share trading or small business. Boys encouraged to take these religion only classes often have fee relief.
The report "A hand up not a hand out" by the Community Affairs Committee of the Senate of the Parliament Of Australia, in Chapter 7 (see http://www.aph.gov.au/senate/committee/clac_ctte/completed_inquiries/2002-04/poverty/report/c07.htm) states:
"Education is fundamentally important to the life chances of individuals and plays a key role in social and economic mobility from generation to generation.
7.1 Education and training are critical pathways into employment and social participation and a means of escaping poverty.
Education is absolutely crucial in terms of future employment. People with low levels of education are more likely to be unemployed and to be unemployed for longer."