Competition

Competition is part of what makes HoloWorld work.

However, since competition is an often misunderstood term, and an often subverted mechanism, that needs clarification.

Much of what went for competition in the old civilization was really manipulation, monopolization, deception and waste of resources.

Nature itself is a competitive, cooperative synergetic system of different life forms. Many lifeforms coexist peacefully with each other. However, those lifeforms that are best suited for their environment tend to do best. Evolution is the ongoing process of selection towards becoming more able to live in the conditions there are to live in. Evolution is competition in the sense that the fittest lifeform survives and the unfit lifeforms don't. That doesn't mean they are against each other, and it certainly doesn't mean that any lifeforms are out to extinguish any other lifeforms. They all simply go about their business, and those who are good at it proliferate. Those who aren't, die.

Human competition can work the same way. Those schemes and activities that work well can naturally proliferate. Those schemes that don't work well can die out.

The trouble comes in when somebody decides that their way is per definition RIGHT, and ought to be used universally no matter whether it is what works for everybody or not. And those purveyors of the "right" way then use deception or politics or force to make their way prevail over all others.

Competition is NOT that you invent something inherently unnecessary, or redundant, or wasteful, or of little value, and you then convince others that it is better than any other choices.

Competition with integrity is when there are always multiple choices available, when the choices are presented honestly and clearly, and when those choices that work best proliferate, and those that don't work well fade away.

The goal of competition is not to become a monopoly, to win everybody over to your cause, or your product. If that is the goal, those who pursue it are of anti-social intent, and ought not to be given the means to do so.

Evolution takes place when there is always a diversity of options available, and they compete on even terms. Then those options that work well will naturally be chosen, and evolution towards higher forms of life or social interaction takes place.

If there is only one option available, or only very few, the system becomes stagnant, and evolution is blunted.

True competition is between options, companies, or schemes that are different. We're not just talking about options that are the same, but that pretend to have advantages they don't have.

If there is a grocery store on a street corner, and another grocer decides to open a grocery store on the other corner, in order to attract the business of the customers of the first grocery store, through better advertising, that is not necessarily useful for the community. If the second grocer truly had something different and better to offer, that might indeed by helpful. But then he wouldn't concentrate on attracting other people's business, he would concentrate on delivering what was needed and wanted.

Competition on honest and even terms does not involve aggression and opposition between the different players. If one group truly has a better scheme, the competitors would happily concede their territory. They wouldn't be losing anything, as they might quite willingly start using the new scheme too. And in turn, no producer of a product of service would have any problem with new entrants in the game.

Competition does not in any way have to be a win-lose game. It might instead be a win-win cooperative endeavor aimed at finding what works best.

There are no central agencies in HoloWorld that will subsidize systems that don't work. There is no overall attempt of protecting production or trade that isn't viable. Any specific community is free to restrict or regulate its trade or production any way it feels like it, but it is not free to impose such restrictions on other communities or on whole regions.