Our Addiction to Competition

This is a speech that I gave at the Tyger Valley Public Speaking Festival. We were given a topic with ten minutes to prepare. Note that I have changed some things to make it more relevant to us. This is what I had to say:

Good morning everyone. My name is Matthew Field and I am going to do something quite foolish. I am going to tell you something very personal: something that I have not even told my closest friends. Oh well, here it goes.

I am Matthew Field, and I am an addict.

No, I’m not smoking cigarettes, I’m not drinking and I’m not hitting up that hash.

No, the thing I’m addicted to is much worse.

At least I know that I’m not alone. I know this because I go to a school like ours.

I, like many of you, am addicted to competition. We are always trying to be better. We are always trying to be on top. That is why we have Todd House, it is why we have bounds, its why we have the Top 10.

We have to constantly be doing things. I have to best my friend’s maths average, and you have to score more tries than anyone else. You have to be better and do more. You can’t leave with a starter pack.

Why is this?

We have based our self-esteem off of it. If I’m not getting 80s, if I’m scoring goals in hockey matches, if I’m not debating in competitions… then what am I? What am I here for?

Somehow I’ve based my entire self worth on this.

This doesn’t just apply to me. This applies to all of you. We see it all around us. Friends compare their averages. Houses compare their bounds times. Sportsmen compare their three-pointer stats to see who will win MVP.

They have to be better.

Why do you think it’s the best athletes who take steroids?

They have to be the best.

Why do the top students cheat in exams?

They have to be the best.

School is no longer about learning. It is about competition. If they are winning I am losing.

I envy my parents, when they talk about how fun their high-school years were. They were allowed to learn. They were allowed to have fun without worrying about the next test. They could have friends who were not also their rivals.

I can’t comprehend any of it. It’s an alien world.

We don’t live in the world of our parents. We live in a world where we are addicted to the high of being better than someone else; of beating someone else. Simply being recognized for achievement is not enough anymore. We have to be better than our rivals. We have to destroy them.

We cannot easily change this. We’re far too past that now.

All we can hope for now is some closure.

Where does this come from?

Its simple.

It’s our teachers saying we can’t study medicine if I don’t get 96%.

It’s us being told that if we’re not excelling, we’re letting my parents down.

If you’re not in top 10, you’ve wasted their money.

We have to do better than our parents; make more money than them and get better jobs than what they have.

We don’t know how we’re going to do this. We don’t know why we need to do this. But we have to.

This is the mindset that we have.

We have been pushed to be overly competitive, and its hurting us, all of us.

Thank you for letting me share with you today.

Matthew Field ©

An Open Letter to SA

Dear South Africa

Firstly, I would like to express my condolences. You have so much to cry about, but no water with which you can. You have fought for your freedom, but you are still in chains. You have trusted blindly, and failed miserably. You have talked big, but acted small. You have made promises galore, but abandoned them all.

I cry for you, South Africa, I really do. I cry because I am an African too. Not in the stereotypical sense, but enough to see. I know the great nation that we can be. I may not understand your pain, but I know its roots. It comes from ill planted fruits. Your hopes are a bad harvest. It was one done in high spirits, but with little planning. You met seed with soil and called it day. You sat excitedly, waiting for blossoms and flowers. However, you underestimated your powers. That was not enough. It needed water and care. You failed to give change its light and air. Nothing grows if it is not nurtured, same as how nothing changes without effort. You had it in the beginning, don’t get me wrong, but now I’m not sure where the spark has gone.

You have lost your way. Your teacher is dead. The training wheels are gone. You must ride by yourself. You cannot be divided by tribe and race, worse by political affiliations and attempts to save face.

Your youth are in danger. You cannot risk another lost generation. If progress is halted, you are doomed.

So, South Africa, I have just one thing to say. Get your act together, or get out of our way.

Yours truly,

M Field

3 THINGS I LEARNT AT THE PEOPLE'S MARCH (7TH APRIL)

Thing 1:

South Africa is starting to move away from racial politics. While much of South African political debate seems to revolve around race, it is now clear that it is not the whole story. We are now beginning to move past it. Afterall, who needs to fight about race when you have a crisis like #Zupta at your doorstep? Whether this is a temporary laying down of arms or a permanent cohesion of the races is still up for debate. Nevertheless, it is now evident, especially for Mellenials, that South Africans CAN put race aside. ‘White’ marched with ‘Black’ and man marched with women. Never in my life would I expect to see the VF and SACP at the same rally, yet there they were. South Africans of all ethnicities and creeds joined together to protest their corrupt government. We lived up to their national motto: !ke e: |xarra ||ke (Diverse People Unite).

This does not mean that there are no racial tensions in South Africa and that racial equality is a thing of the past; far from it. South Africa still faces these issues, and will do for generations. Black South Africans still live in hardship and ‘White South Africa’ still controls large sectors of the economy. These are problems that have to be solved. This can only be done peacefully through racial cooperation.

Thankfully, it is clear that the 1994 spark has not yet faded. We are still in that revolutionary honeymoon phase where we feel entitled to change. We are still willing to fight for a non-corrupt, non-racial, non-sexist South Africa. If that doesn’t lift up your spirits, then nothing will.

Thing 2:

South Africans are furious. There is no softer way to say it. We are angry at our government, at our society and at the current trajectory of our nation. When you have a public this angry and this desperate for change, you had better give them what they want.

History has shown us what has happened to rulers who were blind to their nation’s problems and did not heed the demands of their citizens. I would refer you to the French Revolution, the Russian Revolution, the Civil Rights movement and Gandhi’s movements in India. There is, of course, also the South African example. Our people have been angry for years. We were angry during colonization. We were angry during the South African War. We were angry through the terrible decades of Apartheid. We are angry now.

With anger comes change. This change can either be peaceful or violent. That all depends on the actions of government, protest leaders and ourselves. No matter what form it takes, change will happen. The sooner we accept that, the sooner we can figure out the nature of this change.

Thing 3:

South Africans will not be intimidated. Amongst threats from the ANCYL and MK Veterans, regular South Africans still took to the streets. These were not warriors, they were people. They were accountants, retail clerks, manual labourers, lawyers, students, etc. These are hardly professions geared towards violent political confrontation.

Campers were assaulted at Church Square, picketers were roughed-up outside Luthuli House and DA protests had their tents destroyed. For some, this would have been more than enough to call it a day, but not for South Africans. It is now clear that we are determined and fearless. If we want change, nothing will stand in our way. We saw this throughout the struggle movement. This culture of courage has now been cemented for a new generation.