issue 226 Competition is ultimately more beneficial than detrimental to soc

跳梁小丑UID: 157249

Competition is ultimately more beneficial than detrimental to society.

Competition is inseparable from scarcity. Competition presents itself in a way that individuals or communities are aiming at the same but rare resources.  Competition exists at the particular level as well as the systemic level. At the particular level, individuals or groups compete against each other either informally or in formal contests. At the systemic level whole societies are organized in such a way as to promote competition, usually by offering incentives. Competition is ubiquitous in our modern society. Although it may serve as a stimulus for achievement and thus do good to our society, it is my belief that competition is more detrimental to our society as a whole.

Competition, admittedly, is able to push us to great heights. It prods us to achieve more than what we could without it. With competition, individuals have to study and work hard so that they can compete with others and avoid being dropped behind. Competition can also bring society many benefits. In economics and business, competition is often seen as a pillar of capitalism in that it may stimulate innovation, encourage efficiency or drive down prices. Competition causes firms to develop new products and technologies, and thus gives consumers greater selection and better products. The greater selection typically causes lower prices for the products compared to what the price would be if there was no competition (monopoly) or little competition (oligopoly).

On the other hand, competition can result in a loss of moral direction. In order to fulfill one's own achievements and gain rewards, individual may take various kinds of immoral and illegal measures to beat up their own rivalries. Such examples exist everywhere. In sports, in order to gain the golden medal, athletes are capitalizing on steroids to compete with their own contestants, which is a typical example of competition eroding the contestants' moral compass. In many large multinational companies, say Enron, it is the corporate environment that is so competitive that a cutthroat atmosphere was a leading factor in its demise. Thus, competition often deprives individuals and communities of social responsibility and morality.  

Not only may competition lead to a loss of moral direction, but it can also promote excessive concentration on achievement. In an environment where competition is fierce, individual often pays excessive attention on the result of the goal, mainly the achievement. Statistics reveal that many athletes push themselves to the point that they do harm to their bodies. Workaholics are those people who spent so much time at the work that they do themselves and their families damage. It is due to excessive concentration on achievement from competition that individuals themselves and other persons may be hurt.

Finally, competition may lead to wasted or duplicated effort and to increased financial costs in many circumstances. All competition involves the expenditure of energy and resources. Elections for example, are very costly competitions, in which both the successful and unsuccessful candidates consume large amount of money in advocacy, traveling and other activities. In the business world, the Coke/Pepsi wars of the 1980s and 1990s is an example of a multi-million dollar contests that provided neither contestant a significant advantage. Similarly, sporting games can also be very expensive to stage.

Without competition, society becomes self-content and eventually inefficient. Without a society that recognizes the damage and negative consequences of competition, individuals suffer from it. Thus, beneficial to our society as competition might be, it can also cause detrimental effects which will impede the progress of the whole society.

跳梁小丑UID: 157249

为什么我回复的帖子没有跟上呢？
首先，感谢xiaohe
In the second place, I want to take this chance to explain on some points made by you:
1) capitalize = make use of
2) 还是用中文吧，我对原文的审题及论证很没有信心，虽然我知道语言应该还过得去；原因在于提干说“竞争最终将对社会如何如何。。。”而我讲的例子及论证都没有讲竞争最终会怎样怎样
我之所以写有害的一面，原因在于我觉得竞争对社会有利是大家都认同的，想“标新立异”一下，虽然不知道ets到底会怎么整
这两天突然有中想写东西的冲动，尤其是再被别人改过之后。。。
大家一起努力啊！

跳梁小丑UID: 157249

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