“He’s a winner. If that means he occasionally steps over the line between right and wrong, then that’s what comes with the territory…”
The above tweet, composed by English footballer-cum-social commentator Joey Barton after Luis Suarez took a nibble at the shoulder of an Italian defender during a World Cup match, represents more than simply a naïve attempt to defend a fellow professional. Rather, it indicates the extent to which modern man has succumbed to a most perilous maxim: win at all costs. All that matters is that we become winners such that an individual who rebuffs morality in order to ensure the outcome he desires is no longer considered an unprincipled fraud, but rather is admired for his audacity and lauded for his ‘drive to succeed’. The colossal quantities of money that have flooded professional sports in recent decades have seemingly snuffed out sportsmanship, and whilst examples of chivalric behavior are occasionally reported by the media, they are certainly considered the exception rather than the norm.
Behaviours are the product of the paradigm the perpetrator lives according to. Whilst sporting incidents offer conspicuous examples of self-serving conduct, they are but the leaves of a rotten tree. Our society has come to judge success according to outcomes. Whilst a nostalgic sense of honour may result in plucky losers receiving praise, ultimately the true victor is one who fulfils his desires, with only limited concern being expended upon the manner in which the triumph was achieved. The indecent and irresponsible attitude of some powerful corporations, the advertisements for ‘essay writers’ that pepper the margins of my inbox, and the persistent stream of sportsman convicted for taking performance enhancing drugs are all manifestations of this doctrine, novel not in its existence, but in its establishment as a societal convention.
Yet we cannot criticise human beings who live according to a self-serving agenda when it has been their stable diet since childhood. Worldwide, educational institutions are assessed according to exam results, and whilst the quality of teaching and learning are often appraised by inspection bodies, the ultimate standard by which the success of a school is gauged is its capacity to get learners the grades they desire. Appropriate, valid, and well-designed assessment can be an accurate indicator of the skills learners have, but the gradual transformation of learning establishments from holistic development centres to certificate factories has inevitably impacted upon the fabric of our societies.
Learners learn to be hunters, are taught to hound down a grade, not necessarily by the dedicated professionals who undoubtedly expend their energies to help our children flourish, but by a system that recognises scores and undervalues industry. A learner who exhausts the God-given skills she has in the production of an average piece of work will be complimented, perhaps even rewarded, but ultimately will not be considered successful.
Inability to reach imposed standards in a given subject area is considered failure, whilst the demonstration of skills that are not considered significant by education authorities are treated as no more than interesting digressions. Learners soon discover that in order to be considered significant by the system, they require top-grades, and their attention is quickly shifted from discovery and creativity to the acquisition of certificates. In order to emerge triumphant, they have to achieve the desired outcome. When the end is the ultimate objective, the means becomes less significant.
Perhaps we could emphasise to our children the thoroughly personal nature of success, and in the process subdue the toxic and deeply entrenched perspective that human value is judged by the results a person achieves rather than the manner in which tasks are approached. Perhaps our school systems could stress that without appropriate conduct there is no accomplishment, and that individual excellence should be pursued at the expense of productivity. Perhaps our teachers could accentuate the fact that victory is found in utilising the abilities that one has to their maximum potential, rather than by getting a higher score on an exam than one’s classmate. Perhaps such changes in outlook could revivify a far more honourable maxim, articulated melodically by American jazz vocalist Ella Fitzgerald in 1939: ‘Tain’t what you do, it’s the way that you do it.”
This article was written by Yusuf Abdulrahman.