“Competiton, where it exists, is an immensely powerful incentive” (Russell 46).
Russell’s idea expressed in this quote is a recurring theme in his lecture. Competition is an incentive that drives everyone to achieve the goals they strive. It motivates individuals to push themselves to work at higher levels in order to get to where they want to be. This also connects to Russell’s second lecture in which he writes about social cohesion and the government. He wrote about the competition between empires. Each empire that emerged after the one before it was always larger, and improved. As times changed, and new empires rose, there had to be change and improvements. In every aspect of life, there is always competition. There will always be someone that either has more than you or wants to be like you and will push them self to get there.
This is a powerful quote that Russell expresses that I believe others have echoed though through different words. Your interpretation is interesting because it focuses more on the outcomes of competition in history, rather than the incentives as motivation. I think you could have explored why it is that people want to improve and build bigger and better empires. And why do you believe Russell believes that human beings are always striving more?