Closed

I would not even consider this stuff if it were not for my looking into dictionary words.  The word my finger fell on today was “closed”.  Not as in “entries have closed” but “closed competition.”  As in something only open to those who meet certain requirements.
I admit I do have some misgivings about that in some forms, but it works in others.  Like if something is open only to women or men that to me is ok.  “Women’s or Men’s Open”.  Or the “Under 18 Competition”.  I think I might be too old to enter that one.
I guess even the most inclusive competition is closed in one sense in that it is open to humans only.  Someone suggested on Facebook they thought Miss Universe was rigged in that someone from Earth has won it the last 10 years or so. (Actually, someone from Earth has won it since its inception.)
I do not mind closed stuff as long as there is an Open.  Opens determine the best.  Opens declare that, all things being equal, this person is the best performer.  It is why performance enhancing drugs are sought out and eliminated where found.  The winner of an Open competition needs to be determined by all competitors competing on a level playing field.
It is interesting what one remembers.  I remember as a teenager suggesting that any society that needed to build walls to keeps its people in, had something wrong with it.  To me that is a closed society.  I ask myself if what is being espoused is so good surely people would want to return.   There would be no compulsion.  No bribery.  No need to tell others how good it is, as people would do that automatically.
It seems to me though, closed societies seemed to have evolved.  There is a sense that if I can keep others distracted by riches and having needs met, they will not care what sort of political system I espouse.  I am free to pursue my own ends because I let others do the same in matters that are central to them.  Where they do not play the game, as long as I am more powerful than them, I can make them disappear or silence them.
I am a big fan of open rather than closed.  Open is unrestricted.  Even rules liberate rather than hinder.  I was watching someone playing years ago and they suggested the rules were there were no rules.  Rather than order, chaos prevailed.
When I think of closed, I think of fenced in.  Open though to me implies freedom.  Even when it is governed by a set of rules, those rules ensure all compete under then same conditions.