I wholeheartedly agree with this.

> We can't really get mad at CEOs, billionaires, bankers, or statists for doing what they do, without acknowledging that they are just playing the game of this culture, and that they happen to be the ones who play to with (with some cheating here and there).

After all, they also all report to somebody. CEOs are at the mercy of the board room, the millionaires are accountable to shareholders, etc. etc. They may be seen as bigger sharks, but they’re also just pawns.

And as Marcus Aurelius said so eloquently:

> Always observe how ephemeral and worthless human things are, and what was yesterday a speck of semen tomorrow will be a mummy or ashes.

I’ve stopped playing the game. After having managed a team of 40 and lived the _good life_, eventually life threw me some bad curveballs I didn’t manage to dodge.

But I discovered that while not having much I had before... I had much more. I now live in a recently elevated to Development Nation country. After having even worked in a top advertising agency here, eventually I discovered there’s a much nicer side to life.

The life without the game. The life less pressured by money, peer pressure, and luxury and whatnots.

I look around and I see people not encumbered by their oh so addictive dopamine kicks their mobile phone sends them. I see kids play in the streets rather than be addicted to their gaming console (or annoyed because the parents can’t afford the latest game their friends are all playing). I get a prepared meal with rice for less than $1 and I drink local beer at around $0.60/bottle.

I have no car, no mortgage, no credit cards debts.

Life is awesome. It truly is. Oh and while many are procrastinating online during official company time... I may or may not sit on the beach while commenting.

![9AF97DA1-FEFA-420F-9EBD-7065566897F8.png](https://ipfs.busy.org/ipfs/QmbkokqiUk27kXrZTX3kTMJqL7dF5i2Dx5KWSvXY6kxV3g)

But let’s be totally honest... it wasn’t easy to reach this level. It was a long and hard battle before I finally grasped the game of life. The one you only win by not playing. Pretty much like the lottery actually.

>Which games are you playing?

Lately? Steemit.

Wow, @kennyskitchen I am playing the game of life and success

Games are meant to be played and won by the person who most wants to win. Many people play games just to enjoy themselves, just to relax and some play to win, in my point of view, there is nothing wrong with that, unless they are cheating because that is not fun, not for anyone, not even for the one wining.
That being said you make a lot of good arguments for your point of view in the post and for that, I give thanks to you.

Perhaps you win the game by not playing it in the first place. 

An American investment banker was at the pier of a small coastal Mexican village when a small boat with just one fisherman docked.  Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna.  The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish and asked how long it took to catch them.

The Mexican replied, “only a little while. The American then asked why didn’t he stay out longer and catch more fish? The Mexican said he had enough to support his family’s immediate needs. The American then asked, “but what do you do with the rest of your time?”

The Mexican fisherman said, “I sleep late, fish a little, play with my children, take siestas with my wife, Maria, stroll into the village each evening where I sip wine, and play guitar with my amigos.  I have a full and busy life.” The American scoffed, “I am a Harvard MBA and could help you. You should spend more time fishing and with the proceeds, buy a bigger boat. With the proceeds from the bigger boat, you could buy several boats, eventually you would have a fleet of fishing boats. Instead of selling your catch to a middleman you would sell directly to the processor, eventually opening your own cannery. You would control the product, processing, and distribution. You would need to leave this small coastal fishing village and move to Mexico City, then LA and eventually New York City, where you will run your expanding enterprise.”

The Mexican fisherman asked, “But, how long will this all take?”

To which the American replied, “15 – 20 years.”

“But what then?” Asked the Mexican.

The American laughed and said, “That’s the best part.  When the time is right you would announce an IPO and sell your company stock to the public and become very rich, you would make millions!”

“Millions – then what?”

The American said, “Then you would retire.  Move to a small coastal fishing village where you would sleep late, fish a little, play with your kids, take siestas with your wife, stroll to the village in the evenings where you could sip wine and play your guitar with your amigos.”

I'm glad you found @phillyc on your own, I was going to recommend him for tribesteemup once you started looking for new people again!

I can't watch dtube videos right now I'll try to check when I'm on better wifi.  

I feel the problem is the **incentive to COMPETE** when we are already capable of abundance beyond our wildest dreams.  We treat each other as enemies when we are not.  I think competition can be a fun way of pushing each other forward when it's something that we choose to participate in freely, not when our livelihood depends on it.  There may have been times where we needed to fight for food but we are beyond that already, even with 7 billion people we could easily feed and house everyone comfortably with a few adjustments...but our systems don't really incentivize those adjustments.  I don't think we should force anyone to give up what is *legally* theirs (although the concepts of ownership and legality are worth debating), but there should be more incentives to act cooperatively than competing ruthlessly and society is just not there yet which is why I like to jump outside of it.  From outside of the norms of society and mainstream culture, we have an opportunity to experiment and find culture that works better for everyone.

Great article ! Concise and definitely makes sense.