THE VALUE OF COMPETITION
Rep. Mike Morley
I have been enthralled with the inspiring stories of the Tour de France as, I imagine, have millions throughout the world. There is no question the focus this year, and rightfully so, has been on Lance Armstrong’s tremendous performance and a record that will likely stand for a lifetime. As I was watching a news clip the other day, another angle to this story impressed itself on my mind. At the end of each day’s race, the competitors sprint to the finish line. After logging many miles, sometimes up steep mountains, they dig down deep inside and push beyond what you think would be humanly possible. The competition pushes them beyond what they would do riding alone or even against the clock.
There is something about competition that encourages each of us to greater excellence. We’ve all seen athletes accomplish amazing feats in the quest for victory. Competition is the catalyst in many other aspects of our society. I think of what has been accomplished in the areas of medicine and technology just in my lifetime. Remember a time when all telephones had cords attached to them and we only moved our lips in the car to sing with the radio? Think of how our everyday lives have been changed by innovations – everything from cars that practically drive themselves to mapping the human genome – that have come about as competitors have fought for their place in the world. It is amazing that your handheld electronic planner has far more technology built into it than the spacecraft which took astronauts on the first flight to the moon.
In a free market economy, competition acts as a check and balance to encourage efficiency and quality. It requires all to achieve our best. While none of us in our individual industries particularly like competition, it brings out the best in us. Certainly, no one would dispute the benefits of having more than one grocery store, more than one gas station, or contractor or hardware store. Those who have monopolized a certain market for a period of time are anxious to maintain that advantage and are sometimes distraught when competition moves in. Just think about how long distance rates plummeted when competition opened in that industry. It is human nature to be concerned with our own self interest, but without appropriate competition, prices escalate, quality diminishes, and complacency often enters in.
Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winner in economics, once said, “We cannot expect existing businesses to promote legislation that would harm them. It is up to the rest of us to promote the public interest by fostering competition across the board and to recognize that being pro-free enterprise may sometimes require that we be anti-existing business.” We cannot expect established businesses or bureaucracies to promote the idea of competition, so it is up to us to support such policies for the better good.
Such is the case with most government agencies, both federal and state. While there are many individual employees who work hard to provide good service, the status quo promotes policies over people because there is no true market competition, hence no incentive to refine skills and no incentive to the employee to offer customer service and quality. Milton Friedman also said “If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert, in 5 years there would be a shortage of sand.” Although an exaggeration, I think it illustrates how many view government. Of course, there are services which only government can provide, but I like what one of our gubernatorial candidates said in the last election: ‘If you can find something in the yellow pages, government shouldn’t be in the business.’
Education is one area that has seen little competition. There have been private schools available for many years, but they are expensive and not a widely available option. District schools have essentially had a monopoly until the fairly recent introduction of charter schools. As parental choice becomes more prevalent, services will improve to entice parents and children who are the end consumer to choose the option that best suits their needs and all will be benefactors. Teachers and administrators will hone their skills and become better, facilities will be redefined, and curriculum will improve as it more closely mirrors the wishes of parents. Just as a particular style or store or contractor does not suit everyone’s needs, neither will only one option in education meet the individual needs of every student.
In this society which has thrived on the principal of competition, let us remember that our lives are touched constantly by innovations that were spawned by the struggle to be number one. Take a moment to watch something like those few last meters of each day’s race of the Tour de France. If we applied that type of grit and determination to improving our schools for example, can you imagine what would be accomplished?
I close with a quote by Gil Atkinson, “Thank God for competition. When our competitors upset our plans or outdo our designs, they open infinite possibilities of our own work to us.”
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