CooperativeGames.com

Though force can protect in an emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration, and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.

– Dwight D Eisenhower
34th President of the United States

Everything we want to get done in the world we must do with and through other people.

– Earl Nightingale
American Radio Announcer, 1920’s

Was your child eliminated from the spelling bee and came home in tears? Have you heard of an athlete who took steroids to win? How did you feel when you were chosen last in a game because you were not as “good” as the others?

All of these events reflect our preoccupation with competition. This concept is deeply rooted in our nation’s education, sports, politics and even in families. Author Alfiew Kohn, in his well-researched book No Contest, The Case Against Competition writes how we are “encouraged to pit ourselves against one another and taught that competition is a prod to productivity, a builder of character, and an unavoidable part of human nature…. ”

It is ironic that we play games to be together yet spend our efforts trying to bankrupt someone, destroy their armies, conquer the world, etc.—all goals which create hostility and separate us…

– Jim Deacove
Owner of Family Pastimes Games

The case for competition is based on . . . four central myths . . . The first myth is that competition is an unavoidable fact of life . . . The second myth is that competition motivates us to do our best . . . Third, it is sometime asserted that contests are the best . . . way to have a good time . . . The last myth is that competition builds character . . . ”

– Alfie Kohn
Author of No Contest, The Case Against Competition

The only competition worthy of a wise man is with himself.

– Washington Allston
American 19th Century Poet and Painter