The EGO Driven Nation
Sometimes certain things need to be said. Today is one of those days. Most of this stems from events over the weekend where I was involved in. This caused me to do some thinking and soul searching.
Why are we such a hard-working nation? Ever heard people talk about how South Africans are sought after overseas due to our work ethic and our willingness to work exceptionally hard? Are we really hard working or just so driven by our egos that we lose contact with the truth? We are a very competitive nation. Being competitive is not wrong. It is when the competitiveness becomes an obsession. Always having to drive the biggest and the best cars. Earning more than the person next to us. Living in the big house. Buying only expensive clothing. You don’t agree? We pay more than double for vehicles in this country than in the US and most European countries. Yet, when the latest and greatest models are released, we flock to the dealers to buy them, and they know this. Because they know we are ego driven people. I know of people who barely have furniture in their houses, but they drive expensive cars. Because that is what people see – the car we drive, the clothes we wear, the shops we visit. All fuelling our ego.
Next time you drive up to a traffic light, have a look for yourself. I noticed a guy changing lanes to be in the front of the queue. If he didn’t there would have been only one car in front of him. But that is not allowed. We have to be in front – we have to be first. When the traffic light turned green, he pulled away slower than the one vehicle next to him. What did he gain other than feel that he was in front?
What does ‘ego driven personality’ mean? It means that our focus is only on ourselves. Life is all about what we can get out of it, irrespective of the impact it has on the people around us. This morning, on my way to work, I noticed this in action. The lady at the front of the queue stopped as the flashing green arrow giving her the authorisation to turn right turned orange and then switched off as she approached the intersection. It was now the turn of the cars in front of her to cross straight over the intersection. A businessman in an expensive German car behind her (not a BMW!) hooted at her and shouted at her to cross over. He was upset because the lady in front of him did not break the law in order for him to cross the intersection. His ego was all about him getting across, even if it meant putting himself and other people in harm’s way. Our egos are all about self-preservation. Yes, self-preservation is good. It keeps you alive. Up to a point.
We need to learn to control our egos. Allow your ego to keep you alive, not run your life.
Is it bad to work hard to obtain riches and the good in life? Not at all, as long as it is not to the detriment of everything and everyone else in our lives. If you take away from someone else in an unfair way to enrich yourself, life has a funny way of returning the favour.
Friday evening we had a critical mass ride in Johannesburg. On our way back I noticed several instances where cyclists were almost hit by vehicles. Why? Because we do not have the patience to wait 3 seconds to allow another human being the opportunity to be in front of us. We have to get there first. Second is not good enough. So much so that we are willing to harm other human beings. And the most interesting of all of this? It works the other way around too. When we are on our bicycles, we do the same. We take over the road in the belief that it belongs to us. We don’t want to share. Take that same cyclist and put him in a car – and he again has full right to the road, and the other road users become his enemy, cyclists included.
The whole idea behind the critical mass is to expose the people to the presence of bicycles on the road. To show them the benefit and pleasure in cycling as another method to commute. It is to raise awareness about cycling. The purpose is to move as a mass to draw attention. But even then, there were riders that always had to be in front. They did not have the patience to wait for the slower riders. The ride had to be ridden on their terms. Not for the greater good of cycling, but for the greater good of themselves. The ego had to be pleased. And at times even putting their own lives at risk.
Have we turned into such a selfish nation that we lost respect for other people’s right to stay alive, and our own as well? Have we turned into an aggressive, selfish nation? Are we here only to stroke our egos? Surely this can’t be our reason for existence …
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