Article 1: Some Misunderstandings About Competition

The concept of competition is a source of much confusion and misunderstanding. Some people believe that people in competition are necessarily hostile to each other. Others think that competition is a unique feature of capitalist countries. Both views are wrong! Good friends will have to compete with each other if their decisions are in conflict. Even people who do not know each other may engage in competition. A Thai paddy farmer may have never met a Chinese farmer, yet they have to compete for the consumer's expenditure on rice.

Neither is competition a unique feature of capitalist socities. The scarcity problem also applies to socialist countries, whose people have to compete among themselves for the limited goods and services. Socialist and capitalist countries differ in the competitive criteria used. Competition is an inevitable outcome of scarcity. It doesn't matters whether a country is capitalist or socialist.