By Lizz Bottrell, Citizen Staff

It seems today that everyone is always trying to outdo someone else. I find it very frustrating how easily our world has become obsessed with competition, though for once, this isn’t something that just popped up in my generation.

For as long as there has been people on planet earth, man (and for all the feminists, woman) have competed to be and have the best. Darwin called this survival of the fittest. As the theory goes, only the fittest survive, so basically, back in the day, humans competed for life.

However, today our competitions seem much vainer. Today, instead of simply competing for survival, we compete to own the biggest house and the most expensive vehicle; we compete to have a job that makes us the most money; we even compete to look better than one another. Really, when you think about it, it’s sad.

I must admit, after what seems like a million years of schooling, I definitely came away with a competitive spirit. I’m sure everyone can argue with me on this (here comes my competitiveness) but I went through school in a very competitive program. Everyone either thought they were the best, though they would never admit it, or they strived to be the best.

But this competitiveness goes back even further in most people than just school. I imagine all our parents likely bragged to their friends when their child was the first to walk, talk, or poop on his or her own.

Face it, competitiveness is in our blood. However, it’s the way we compete and some of the things we compete for today that is really scary. No longer do we compete for food, clothes, and shelter. Instead, we compete to have the best materialistic items in life. I find it very interesting watching groups of friends. If one person in the group finally finds a significant other he or she truly loves, instead of reacting happily, friends tend to act out in a jealous rage. It’s the friends that look at the situation positively that turn out as friends for the long haul.

Maybe that’s the answer; maybe everyone fakes friendship these days. That could explain why when one member of the group receives a promotion, the other instantly become jealous, trying their hardest to make the person feel undeserving of the promotion.

These are problems one can see time and time again, whether it’s with a close group of friends, acquaintances, or even a parent’s group of friends. If it’s not apparent in any of those groups, simply turn on the television to any reality show or drama or comedy - every single one includes jealous friends always trying to outdo each other in some way or another.

What makes this whole situation even sadder is the fact that the ones who come out on top tend to include jealous people who still feel the need to further push people, they feel are below them, further down to the ground.

Today it’s no longer the survival of the fittest; it’s becoming the survival of the most envious.