Thriving does not imply competition to start with, thriving for life means growing vigorously, but since our society is materialistic to no end, its original meaning has been extended to gain in wealth (and even profiting from conflicts). In a money-free society, it is intrinsically referred to growing to achieve abundance by voluntary cooperation.
Competition on the other end, rather suggests an external opposing force that makes one act against any conventional wisdom. Such as hunger, poverty or power. Competition defines survival by aggression either morally or physically, or both. Competition also implies to be left behind and stripped from all one's birthrights if deemed necessary by the environment or... simply failing to compete.
PETER JOSEPH: our economy is based on consumption and advertising is the "arm" of creating ARTIFICIAL demand.... advertising spreads consumption like a virus, everybody wants it because we care about social inclusion, which is part of our biology. So advertising manipulates our primal sense of humanity. Without that "arm", our society would collapse.
Social competition is always the result of ignorance manipulated by a few. One just needs to look back at history, which is always written by the winners to control the future. This because some in the know would hate to become irrelevant if a majority ever discovered that thriving brings about peace and does not require "competition" to function.
In a money-free society, thriving is simply impossible without the implementation of humans' birthrights. As opposed to competition that will impose slave wages, which are inherent to a top down structure. The social class one is born in defines the privileges. What has not changed over 2,000+ years.
Competition is inherently short sighted and its aftermaths are always disastrous because the "whole" is neglected. Everybody is preoccupied by his/her own personal needs first. Many today cannot accept the "bigger picture" because of their long-term habit to hypnotize themselves with what only validates their own "perceptions". Competition fragments human beings from within.
Thriving also begins by following one's heart, whereas competing serves the ego mainly. This is a huge difference. In a competitive environment, following one's heart will generally not pay the bills, unless one is born among those who have more privileges. Heroes are very seldom and will never make the rule, but are used to instill a false sense of leadership and perceptions about reality.
Thriving as a model promotes heroism as human talents complete one another. Each being is unique. Whereas competition responds to archetypes, such as the slave breaking free or even the celebrity cult while keeping a vast majority under control -- the carrot and the stick. When thriving, being just oneself is most important and daily achievements effortlessly benefit the community, because the sense of "wholeness" is regarded as ultimate for the sake of the human-nature symbiosis.
Escape From Freedom.... The Empathic Society won't rehash any of such facts but will delve into the core issues, to explain people's disempowerment or complacence in the face of a scourge that seems to have existed since the beginning of times. That very scourge is a byproduct of the Fear of Being. The responsibility of being humans: https://celinek.net/empathsociety.html
Individualism and competition generate a loss of the self, which is then compensated with narcissism. Today society is utterly narcissistic and self-serving. Most are more interested in doing things that strengthen their egos. Unfortunately, the realm of the ego is very fragile, and this means that competition corrupts cognitive functions in humans.
One in 6 Americans Take Antidepressants, Other Psychiatric Drugs: Study (NBC/2016)
Thriving is being creative without the pressure to perform at all costs. Creativity is free from coercion, and imagination is thus not held hostage by materialistic concerns and is allowed to think far ahead for the benefit of the "whole" . Which is why our pollution is staggering. When imagination depends on competition, the short and long-term results always end up revealing a great disconnect between purpose and aim.
CONCLUSION:
Life itself comes to a zero sum game which can no longer be passed onto the next generations. The market exists as an illusion, or delusion, that society can cheat this very zero sum game. More Knowledge does not lead to more wealth but less materialism. With the responsibility of knowing comes which of understanding the very dual nature of Life and that a money free society governed by the Act of Creation is the only path possible to explore and achieve world peace and more importantly, Infinite Awareness. ... more: https://celinek.net/empathmoney.html