Better than anybody else

I happend to find this column in the newspaper, which I bought for classified ads. This would be a good reading text for English learners in Japan. It is written in good English and tells you about some characters of American people. I believe that EFL learners ought to read authentic materials like this. They tend to read only passages in workbooks for college entrance exams or the TOEIC test.

Ambitious to a Fault
By Robert J. Samuelson

Thursday, October 18, 2007; A25

A great strength of American society is the drive to succeed -- well, not just to succeed but to do better than anyone else; to be a star, a tycoon, an authority, a power, a celebrity or a leader; to be admired, respected, feared or obeyed more than your peers. It is the belief in these possibilities that motivates countless Americans to strive for excellence, to work hard, and to
search for new discoveries and inventions. As for one of the great weaknesses of American society, see all of the above.

It is an enduring paradox of the American condition. There is a point at which ambition and the determination to succeed, which generally serve us well, turn destructive, corrupting and dishonest. Success becomes its own god. Winning is what matters; the methods or consequences count little or not at all.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/17/AR2007101702117.html?sub=new