Idealistic vs. Realistic

My last post made me think. It discussed wanting to prove yourself to other people, which is the direct opposite of what transcendentalism dictates, and that it was part of what made me succeed in this endeavor.

This led me to think of something: we're only human. Could transcendentalism ever work exactly as it's stated? You'd think all of our human traits would get in the way. Not that I'm comparing it to Communism, but it's the exact same thing with Communism: thinking idealistically, it would work perfectly and seamlessly, but that doesn't allot for traits that will always come out in humans (such as competition). Transcendentalism encourages people to ignore what other people, society, and preestablished ideas try so hard to instill in us, so competition doesn't exactly go with that because it consists of trying to prove yourself, and it's something that society advertises. But it's something that's inherently human---humans will always have a subconcious need to rise up. Or, in my case (and it's definitely not limited to me), people want to prove themselves, almost to show that they're worthy and that they can be successful too. This isn't always bad; if it helps someone to improve and want to do certain things better, then it could be described as good (there's a fine line, though; I'm just saying that it can be a good thing in the right circumstances).

What do you think? Could transcendentalism ever be carried out seamlessly with all of our human qualities potentially interfering? Feel free to leave comments!