Remind Me, What Game Are We Playing?

For several days, I have been fixated on the phrases "race to the top" and "win the future."  I've been pondering how little these phrases resonate for me, how absolutely dissonant they are with my personal life experience.  How is this top defined?  What do you do when you reach it?  Who gives or receives the high-five?  What happens to the losers of the race?  Why do we not want everyone to reach this imaginary peak?

And, once we arrive at this metaphorical top, where else is there to go, except down?

First phrase questioned, now for the second.  How do you win an abstract, noncount noun?  Is this a compulsory round, or do we have a choice whether or not to participate in the future game?   Again, if there are winners, there must be losers.  Does time stop for losers, and no future manifests itself in the space-time continuum?  The mathematics and physics of future-winning must be extremely advanced. 

Frankly, "winning the future" is a totally nonsensical phrase.  I still can't get over its repetition, or that it was supposed to be inspiring.

Imagining life to be a game is an insidious concept.  It undermines our ability to take seriously the work of creating a livable, sustainable, compassionate, and cooperative world.  Game is another word for competition.  Competition, by definition requires adversaries, winners, and losers.  Depending upon the nature of the competition, friendly or cut-throat, winning at any cost is a possibility.  Doing what it takes comes into play.  Advantages are sought.  Cheating may occur.  Chance might be involved, or handicaps awarded. 

Is life a shell game, zero-sum game, fair game, or the only game in town?  Who establishes the rules of the game?  Is it a game of skill?  A gamble?  Will there be bluffs?  Is it a long shot?

Metaphor is a useful story-teller's tool.  It can elucidate an idea and capture the spirit of an abstraction, reducing complex notions to digestible nuggets.  But the Game of Life metaphor works mainly in the context of literature, and is not best used to organize the nation's efforts to lift people from poverty, build infrastructure, and educate our populace. 

Play is a useful tool in the development of creativity and problem-solving skills.  But life is not all play.  When children go hungry, families are homeless, bridges collapse, illiteracy and innumeracy reign supreme, and endless wars absorb all the hard work of a nation, playing a game is not the answer.  I think we've already won the race to nowhere.