I’ve heard a lot about reality lately, defined by those who are not so ambitious. Where reality in a proposed Marxist world is determined by the lazy and not very skilled, truth be told, at the age I’m at now, I get asked a lot why I do so many competitive events. Do I need a few more trophies for my wall and office? Personally, I don’t. But I do get involved in those kinds of things, especially in shooting sports, because it tells me a lot about people in general, and I get a kick out of just how much competitors will do as rivals to make themselves better. When I go to a competitive event, even if I don’t mean malice on my part, I have watched people drive themselves to near insanity with competitive zeal. And I think that’s a good thing, and I enjoy inserting myself into places where competition is most needed. And out of all the trophies I have won over the years when I look at them, I don’t so much think of the many victories but of what I was able to do to provoke more competition into people’s lives. I did get a kick out of a recent shooting competition where there was a not-so-subtle attempt by most of the shooters to distract me from the task of winning. It’s like a free throw shooter in basketball with audience members waving in the background to divert your attention from the accuracy needed. But that’s all part of the process, and in the wake of all that competition, things have improved dramatically, which is one of the critical points of my book, The Gunfighter’s Guide to Business. Capitalism over socialism. Competitiveness over lazy stagnation. I consider my work in the world good if I have an army of rivals up all night sweating like pigs, trying to plot some way to beat me. In that way, I purposely go out of my way to improve the world by making myself a target for that improvement. And it makes me happy to see people try so hard.
But regarding those shooting competitions, the ones who want to win not by competing, but by some form of sabotage, baked into that mentality are the various levels of Marxism that have so permeated our society. If people want to win by penalizing you somehow, they aren’t trying to win with a fair fight. They are trying to win with sabotage. But even in those circumstances, you can learn much about people and what holds back a culture. So my interest in shooting sports is to get to that raw essence that is at the heart of all human activity. Shooters are very competitive and, to a large degree, extremely malicious when left untended. But they don’t disguise it the way you see in other fields of activity, and it always gives me a good perspective on the human condition. And that is the nature of reality. I recently stopped by several McDonald’s restaurants for food while traveling for a fast-draw competition with a particularly intense competitive environment as a backdrop for the whole event. I noticed that the first window had been abandoned out of the standard two drive-thru windows because of staffing problems. I’ve talked a lot about McDonald’s restaurants in 2024 because they suffer from short staffing due to a bad Biden economy. And that the trend of the average worker is to say that such a limitation is “reality.”
We have allowed Marxism into our world, including the attitude in competitive events where the expectation is to penalize the competitor and to prop up the weak with lowered standards. When I am in shooting competitions, I love to hear the person beside me breathing deeply and trying hard to beat me like it’s the only thing they have been thinking of for months beforehand. It is good to be the one everyone wants to beat, even if they have to rig the game. Because it breaks loose the otherwise mundane existence we see in all Marxist cultures. When lazy losers and the unskilled try to alter reality with lowered expectations, a great detriment is being imposed on our culture. I’d rather see people go insane over competition than try to make reality a dismal frontier of bland scrutiny. At one of those McDonald’s restaurants during that shooting competition, they did not open both drive-thru windows, but the young girl working that second window was trying to keep her times down with great effort anyway. And when I told her she was very speedy, her face beamed excitedly because she was glad someone noticed. She would be paid to be fast or slow on that drive-thru window, all the same. But she chose to go fast, and I’m glad she did because I was in a hurry, as usual. There is a lot to do in the world; the quicker we can do it, the better. And that pressure is healthy; people need that pressure. They need to feel that competitive zeal. They need to think of hatred for a competitor getting in their grill. Because in their efforts to defeat you, they will become better people.
So, in that respect, we don’t accept reality as defined by the lazy losers of the world. For instance, I showed up at a gun shoot recently, and most of the people there obviously didn’t want me to arrive. They hoped I wouldn’t come to the event because they would have a better chance of winning if I wasn’t there. So they conspired to act concerned about some mechanical issue that was going on with my gun during its initial inspection. So, before I knew it, a small team of people wanted to help resolve the problem, which, to me, wasn’t a problem. But for them, it was necessary to put doubt in my head and distract me in the confidence of my equipment. I tried to be as polite as possible during all this because what is looming in the background is a recognition that they are trying to keep reality pinned down to a status quo that facilitates their lackluster speed and endurance. And it’s gotten so bad over the years that when people find out I’m coming to a competition, they withdraw so they don’t have to suffer embarrassment. So many games go on psychologically and essentially struggle to keep reality from being defined by the best but by the laziest and least ambitious. To see it clearly, I go out of my way to compete in many endeavors so that I don’t lose touch with that feeling and that hatred that usually comes from competition that is never really friendly. If people are being nice to you, it’s because they are trying to take the edge off you to make it easier for them with less vigor and expectation. A competition between friends is a nice concept. But truthfully, it’s always ruthless, and it should be. At least honesty, in reality, is defined by the solid and competent, who push the lazy and lackluster to perform better than they otherwise would. When I look at my many trophies, I think of each one of those occasions and remember that to win meant you had to push other people toward improving themselves for the better. And in those small ways, big things do happen when competition is stiffest, and you fill the minds of your rivals with fantasies of victory for which they would never even attempt otherwise. And in that way, reality is defined by those who work hardest and are the best. Not those too lazy to strive to be anything more than a slug. When you push yourself to compete at anything, it helps to see the need for competition where it’s needed most. This is why I spend my time doing competitions rather than sitting in a rocking chair on the front porch waving at cars as they drive by. Making the world better starts with a good competitive attitude and a lot of hard work.
Rich Hoffman
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