[fraction]Since the beginning of civilization societies have long debated the best ideals, virtues and frameworks to pass on to the youth in order to ensure continued prosperity. These values have always been mutable changing to fit the challenges and tribulations of the time. The prompt suggests that in our modern day societies leaders at all rungs and fields foster a sense of cooperation instead of competition in order to create a generation able to rise to the occasion when facing the ills of the 21st century. In my opinion I strongly disagree with the prompt and for three reasons believe that in order to craft the best leaders of their generation we will need to further reinforce a spirit of competition amongst societies youth.

first of note, competition is vital to identifying talent and meritocratically promoting staff throughout organizations both private and public. Employee evaluations at the start of ones career can barley predict future performance in a litany of future tasks some of which do not exist at the time of evaluation, therefore an ongoing assessment needs to be conducted in order to evaluate amongst the companies stock of employees whom are best suited for more difficult and demanding roles. Thus a more competitive workplace culture that enforces the notion that staff see each other as rivals, pushes them to commit their best efforts to their work and allows for a more accurate assessment of talent and aptitude, further bettering the organization.

Secondly, competition allows for the most efficient distribution of resources. Competitive market structures such as free market capitalism and libertarianism allow for any party to transparently find the most efficient, cost effective and convenient solution available. Controlled markets such as the economies of Russia, the Eastern block and China lack the competitive drive that drives innovation and are thus rife with corruption, fraud ,inefficient and archaic solutions. The stark contrast was most observable when citizens of the the Soviet Union had to wait up to 10 years for a badly made error prone vehicle only available in a single model and color, but Americans could simply walk off the parking lot with vehicle of their hearts desire, in any color, model or make. The above example illustrates how competitive work and business environments push individuals and organizations to perform at higher and higher standards and objectives allowing for greater freedom, choice and prosperity for all within the nation.

Of coarse some argue that in our increasingly global world where decisions are no longer made at the level of individual countries, but at the level of large trading blocks such as the African Union, European Union or the North American Trade Alliance. Therefore it is more advantageous for leaders to be able to cooperate with their counterparts than compete against them. However isn’t that precisely why we need to foster a greater competitive spirit because we are entering an era of continent spanning trading blocks and multinational conglomerates, therefore the youth will have to compete with a greater pool of talent that has had access to better resources and experiences to aid them. In order for organizations and nations to have any influence at the world stage their staff must me internationally competitive i.e. a global 1%. Thus I believe by further strengthening the values of meritocratic competition society will be able to nurture future leaders who will lead the world to greater prosperity.[/fraction]