Due to the 3 place podium, regardless of the type of competition second place looks like narrowly missing a total win, while third place looks like narrowly missing a total loss. People tend to look at the alternative to decide their relative feelings.
It's why even tragic situations can be an opportunity to be happy because the alternative is even worse, while some happy situations can be disappointing because they could have been so much better. Or the stock market where a modest win that could have been huge might feel worse than a loss that could have been huge.
Only a very small minority of people are "winners." Chances are you are in the majority.
And the winners stand out and are easy to notice. You see them on the TV, in movies, on the internet, in advertisements and commercials, articles are written about them.
You see the one douchebag in a Porsche but all the other typical people in their typical cars are invisible.
Right, and letting everybody see some lucky person win once in a while sort of perpetuates the delusion that it could be you, the guy standing on the sidelines.
Ultimately, it's cheaper for whoever owns the tent to let one person win every once in a while then to just let everybody lose.
Victory means that in the Race to the Bottom, you look back and see nobody behind you. Now you can stop and start walking backwards, and still be competitive.
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