In the Federalist Papers, it is argued that the wills of the factions are kept in check by those of other factions. In other words, competing interests will stop any one group from getting too much power. Examples of this are seen throughout society (the most obvious being the conflicting interests of the Democratic and Republican parties). For every group with a strong opinion and set agenda, there is another group to oppose it. Therefore, somewhat ironically, it is only by the abundance of factions can each individual faction be controlled and stopped from obtaining too much power.
In our entire society, competition is a driving force. Competition between the branches of government has been persistent throughout history as attempts for one branch to gain significantly more power have been thwarted by the other branches (FDR's court packing scheme, Clinton's line-item veto, etc.)
Concerning the economy, Smith argues that competition is one of the crucial elements to safeguarding against uncontrolled self-interest. The article , "The Wonderful World of Adam Smith," states, "A man who permits his self-interest to run away with him will find that competitors have slipped in to take his trade away..." It seems that Smith's "forces" which "bring [output or prices] back [from their socially ordained levels]" are largely dependent on the factor of competition.
Competition in our economy is highly prevalent, whether it be Orbit gum versus Trident, or Macs versus PCs. Competition in the economy seems to be necessary for economic growth, not only by acting as a safeguard to unregulated self-interest, but also by forcing continuous improvement of products, regulating quantity of goods produced, and regulating incomes.
For all of these reasons: governmental checks on powers, safeguards against factions, protection against too much self-interest in the economy, I believe competition to be a crucial aspect of society.
5 comments:
Kristyn, I think this is a cool observation, and I especially appreciate your tie-in of separation of powers as a form of competition. What's particularly interesting for me is the notion that competition can serve as a vehicle for altruism and "proper" behavior. One example cited in the Smith article is how if people don't treat their employees well, they may lose out to others who regard employees with more dignity. In this sense, I think that competition's potency often depends on the values of the society in question--for example, in England in the 1700s, brutal working conditions were the norm, so there wasn't a substantial impetus against this practice.
It seems ironic that all these theories pretty much say that the interaction of many imperfect individuals, whose innate impulse is selfishness and vice, brings about perfect equilibrium and harmony; imperfection being the agent that brings about that which is perfect!?!? It shouldn't make sense.
What is more, the piece suggests that the "altruism" that Ari mentioned is a product of selfishness. Are these economic theories messing with our conventions of morality?
Well because China called, I guess I had to give them their wall back, so I won't have too much to say here, other than a small observation.
"For all of these reasons: governmental checks on powers, safeguards against factions, protection against too much self-interest in the economy, I believe competition to be a crucial aspect of society."
1. You just said the government places those checks
2. The government provides those safguards
3. The government provides protection against the self-interested private sector
4. I'm completely opposed to the concept of competition in the first place. Cooperation is more preferable. Maybe this is why I tend to be more favorable of a command economy ...
And a mixed economy ...
Great insight here, Kristyn. Another aspect that makes competition so successful, in addition to it's balancing power, is its power of progression; like in the biological world, competition in the economic world helps businesses evolve and grow in a way that's favorable to society (much of the time, at least). This is a huge reason why capitalism tends to outlast socialism in the long run.
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