For a decade, it's been a constant drumbeat: Our nation needs to be competitive. Businesses need to be better than the competition. So do our schools and students. People need to be more competitive. Yet, despite these admonitions-nothing's changed. Sure, we compete more, but in futile ways ($500 shoes and violin-playing toddlers) that ultimately don't get us anywhere. And we're just ever more daunted by the enormity of the competition we face.