A game theory look at bad mind, one-upmanship, and why your success makes some people itch.
"Resentment is like drinking poison and waiting for the other person to die."
— Saint Augustine (commonly attributed / popularized in modern philosophy)
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Mi seh it long time, and mi a go seh it again.
Yuh know the feeling. You’re scrolling through Instagram and see a former classmate from high school. New house. New car. Wife looking good. Kids in private school. Everything crisp.
And before yuh can even double-tap the photo, the phone rings. It’s your other friend.
“Yuh see him? Him must a duh some badness.”
“Her man a work overseas, but him nah send her nutten. She a borrow from the bank fi look good.”
“Dem house a rent, yuh know. Dem cyaan afford dat.”
Not a single “big up.” Not one “congrats.” Just pure, unadulterated bad mind.
For years, we’ve called it jealousy. We’ve called it envy. We’ve called it the “crabs in a barrel” mentality—the moment one crab tries to climb out, the others grab him and pull him right back down.
But what if I told you that bad mind isn’t just an emotion? What if it’s actually a strategy? A cold, calculated game we’ve been playing so long, we don’t even know we’re holding the controller.
Let’s talk about the game.
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The Zero-Sum Mentality
In game theory, there’s a concept called a **zero-sum game**. That means for me to win, you *have* to lose. There’s only one slice of cake, and if you get it, I starve.
In Jamaica, we live in a zero-sum reality. We look at success like a fixed pie. If you get a promotion, that means I didn’t. If you buy a BMW, that means you’re flashing it in my face. If your child passes all 11 subjects in CSEC, that means my child is somehow lesser.
Because the pie is small, and opportunities are scarce, our brains default to survival mode. We don’t celebrate the other person’s win because, deep down, we interpret it as our own loss. It’s not rational. But it is *strategic*. If I can’t get ahead, the next best thing is to make sure *you* don't get too far ahead of me.
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The Art of One-Upmanship
This leads to the second move in the game: One-upmanship.
This is the person who can’t just let you have your moment. You tell them you bought a new sofa? They bought a whole living room set. You tell them you went to Miami for the weekend? They went to Europe for two weeks. You tell them your child got a scholarship? Their child got a full ride to Harvard... plus a stipend.
It’s exhausting.
But look closely. One-upmanship is a defensive move. It’s the sound of someone trying to convince themselves—and everyone around them—that they are still ahead in the status race. It’s a desperate attempt to re-establish the pecking order. Because in a society obsessed with "status anxiety," if you’re not climbing, you’re falling.
And if you start climbing too fast? That’s when the real trouble starts.
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The Tall Poppy Gets Cut Down
Jamaica suffers from a chronic case of Tall Poppy Syndrome. The moment a poppy grows taller than the rest, we grab the cutlass.
We don't even hide it. If a young artist blows up, we start searching for their "bad" past. If a businesswoman builds a successful brand, we whisper that she’s sleeping with the "big man" for contracts. If a politician does something good, we say it’s just to buy votes.
We use gossip. We use social media call-outs. And yes, some people even use Obeah.
In game theory terms, this is the nuclear option. If the rules of the game don't favor you, why not try to disrupt the game entirely? Why not "turn down" the person who’s winning? It’s easier to curse the sunlight than to plant your own garden.
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The Political Prisoner’s Dilemma
Here is where the game gets truly dangerous. Take our politics.
We have two big parties. They hate each other. We all know corruption is a problem. But here’s the thing: if Party A decides to genuinely clean up and cooperate with the law, but Party B doesn't, Party A will lose all their power.
So both parties stay stuck in a Prisoner’s Dilemma. They both know the country is suffering. They both know the barrel needs fixing. But the cost of being the only one who cooperates is political suicide. So they attack each other, they accuse each other, and they never snitch on themselves.
They are the crabs in the big barrel called Parliament. And while they pull each other down, the rest of us are just scrambling for the crumbs that fall out of the barrel.
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So, Who Loses?
We do. All of us.
Because while we’re busy cutting down the tall poppies, we’re ensuring that we never grow a forest.
- The genius kid who gets bullied for being "too smart" stops trying.
- The young entrepreneur who gets accused of "bandooloo" (fraud) for having money shuts down their business.
- The creative who gets laughed at for "dreaming too big" plays it safe and gets a 9-to-5.
We are actively punishing excellence. And then we have the audacity to wonder why the country doesn't progress.
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Change the Game
If we want to fix Jamaica, we have to change the rules of the game.
Right now, the Nash Equilibrium—the default place we all end up—is mutual destruction. You don't cut me, I won't cut you. But we both stay at the bottom.
What if we flipped the script? What if we made it "uncool" to have bad mind? What if, when your friend buys a new car, you genuinely ask them how they did it, so you can learn? What if we turned success from a threat into a blueprint?
The only way to break the cycle is to realize that the pie isn't fixed. If you build a successful business, you can hire me. If I build a successful farm, I can feed your family. If we both win, we all eat.
But it starts with the hardest thing in the world: Swallowing the jealousy and saying, "Big up yuhself, mi proud a yuh."
Because until we celebrate each other, we will always be crabs. And the barrel will always be our home.
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Over to you: Have you ever experienced bad mind from a friend or family member? Or are you brave enough to admit you've caught yourself feeling it too? Drop a comment and let’s talk. Because the first step to fixing the game... is admitting we’re playing it.
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Selah.
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