Corrupted By A Smiley Face

In a hierarchical society Competition is god. Each person is the enemy of the next as they kick and pull their way up the pyramid.
Yet, at the same time children in state schools are told that competition is bad. Although the children check each others test results, awards are frequently handed out on the subjective preferment of the teacher, supposedly for effort, rather than for achievement.
The lower orders are supposed to be kept at arms length from achievement.
The lesson they learn is that pleasing Authority (a nice smiley face) and dishonesty are more valuable than achievement.
Competition continues, but not as a healthy competition in which each one person sharpens their skills by pitting their skills against another. This natural competition leads to joy and laughter and great pride, as well as increased skill.
It is replaced by the competition for a smiley face. Children are taught that arse licking is the skill they need to learn if they want favours, that their achievements are of no account. If the hierarchy wishes them to be sick, that only by feigning sickness can they get the approval they wish for, that the world has been turned upside down, then they must be 'sick'.
Competition, as natural to Humanity as breathing, has been corrupted, perverted, twisted, polluted like the air we breathe.