Hello listeners and welcome back to the English with Neil Learn English podcast.
In today's episode we're going to talk about something called a rat race.
A rat race like the animal, the rat.
Now, before I get started, let me give you a few formal definitions of this lifestyle called a rat race.
So here's number one.
A rat race is an endless self defeating or pointless pursuit.
That's number one.
Here's another definition.
A rat race is a way of life in which people are caught up fiercely competitive struggles for wealth or power.
Okay, here's another.
One says the rat race is a situation or way of life in which there is severe competition.
So basically, the rat race is a lifestyle in which people are consistently competing with one another.
And the reason why we call it a rat race, Because if you've ever owned a hamster or a rat, you know that there's an exercise wheel inside of their cage.
And no matter how fast or how slow the rat or the hamster run, they never go anywhere.
They just keep going.
They just keep running and running in the same place.
But they think they're going somewhere, but really they're not.
And so this is just an analogy for people who are in constant competition with one another.
Let me give you some examples.
Let's say, for example, you just bought a new car.
You bought a new car and your neighbor looks at you and gets jealous.
They get a little envious, so they decide to buy a new car that's more expensive than yours and they say hey, I just got this new car, look at me, look at me.
And then you look at your neighbor and you get even more jealous, so you go out and buy an even more expensive car, Just to show off.
Just to show that you are better than them.
So really the rat race is really about the human ego.
It's really about ego.
And that's what it is.
It's this consistent competitiveness.
And it doesn't have to be with things.
It can also be for status.
For example, a job.
If you work in a big company, you know that there's a lot of competition in the workplace.
Someone is always trying to be better than you or you're always trying to be better than them, And everybody is trying to make the boss happy so that they can get higher positions and make more money.
And this goes on for years and years and years.
And sometimes it never stops.
Sometimes it's just.
It's a toxic lifestyle that people live that they don't even know that they're in.
And so this is called the rat race.
The rat race.
And so when we talk about the rat race.
We also talk about escaping the rat race.
How do we get out of this competitive cycle or this competitive lifestyle?
Well, I'm not a financial advisor.
I'm just going to share some of my thoughts.
One of the ideas that I found that is very practical.
It's something called wants versus needs.
And this is a great way to help you balance out your lifestyle.
And it's really good for personal finance.
So wants versus needs is a very simple idea.
You only buy what you need and you don't overindulge in what you want.
So let's think about the human life.
What do we need?
Well, we need shelter.
We need a place to live.
We need clothes.
We need food.
We need a place to bathe, to clean our bodies.
We need some sense of security.
And we need to work, we need to make money to survive.
Right.
And probably some other stuff like medicine and all that other stuff.
But for the most part, these are just the basic things that we need.
We need a house, food, clothes and in a way to clean our bodies.
These are just the basics.
These are needs.
Now, what is a want?
Want is something like we said, buying a new car.
A want is buying something luxurious.
A want is buying something to prove that you are better than other people, and those are wants that we don't necessarily need luxurious items right, i mean, you can do just fine with a cheap watch that just simply tells the time.
You don't need to spend thousands of dollars for a rolex.
You know there's nothing wrong with buying expensive things, but we're talking about escaping the rat race, so you don't necessarily need luxury items.
You don't necessarily need a new car or need expensive clothes.
These are just things that we want because they give us prestige or they give us status, or We buy these things to impress other people.
These are wants.
So a way to escape the rat race is to focus on just buying things that you need the essentials and not focusing too much on what you want.
Okay, so if you'd like to look more into this, there's a lot of information online and We use this term the rat race a lot in America.
I'm pretty sure in your country or in your language, you probably have another term, but since America is really big on consumerism and spending money and power and wealth um, we have a name for this lifestyle and it's called the rat race.
So go ahead and look into it if you want to find some more information about that.
But yeah, that's what the rat race is.
Okay, my friends, That is it for today's episode.
Thank you for tuning in to the English with Neil podcast.
I look forward to speaking with you in the next one.
Take care everyone and talk to you soon.
Peace.
