cooperation, competition

In cooperation the basic rule syllogism is: "I will help you and you will help me; I helped you, you help me." In competition the basic syllogistic rule is: "I will try and do better than you and you will try and do better than me: I tried to do better than you, you tried to do better than me." Both cooperation and competition are healthy. But competition can sometimes get out of hand... One solution to the cooperation/competition dilemma is to teach young people to compete with themselves and cooperate with others. In this way the child focuses on improving his own performance rather than besting the other child. From The Power of Play; David Elkind, Ph.D. Competition needs to be balanced. The news is often full of examples where it gets out of hand. Focus on cooperation can provide a better long term environment. We are all in this together. If we help each other, we can get further ahead. I believe this. I try to act this way. What do you think?