The annual Great American Think-Off in New York Mills inspires ordinary citizens to write essays about the issues of our day. The winner Saturday was a Minneapolis woman who argued that freedom is more valuable to society than safety.
We were intrigued by last year's responses to the question: Competition or cooperation - which benefits society more? The following essay (edited for length) by Judith Miles, a 45-year-old law student from Cleveland Heights, OH, didn't win the competition, but offers insight into our "new age" economy.
During a vacation in Amsterdam, I discovered how society benefits much more from cooperation than competition. While out on a stroll, my aunt and sister bought some potato salad at a neighborhood deli. It was so delicious we consumed it that same evening and then set off to get more. Identifying the shop where they bought it proved daunting. Walking down the street, we stopped at four different places. Their facades and layouts were identical, but they each sold different foods. One sold fish, another meat and poultry, yet another cheese and wine. Only one sold prepared dishes, including our beloved potato salad. When my aunt asked why their stores were so similar, yet so different, the potato salad master replied, "This way we all keep our businesses and all have good lives."
To the pure capitalist, my potato salad example may resemble collusion. However, while the vendors had a sense of security, they did not conspire to keep prices at a certain level. They were still subject to market forces of supply and demand. Their customers still decided what they were willing to pay. However, the cooperative spirit that enabled their very existence created a beguiling atmosphere that is vanishing rapidly within America's borders.
I think of Amsterdam when driving past boarded-up storefronts that finished last in the competition for the consumer dollar. Those retail ghosts are evidence of the increasing clout of big-box retailers and multi-national distributors who force down supplier prices in an effort to entice every possible consumer. They want to eliminate all competition in the marketplace. Such a corporation may offer consumers greater savings than the smaller competitors, but those savings are created by offshore manufacturing and customer service call centers that used to be in our economy and workforce. Do the resulting lower wages and higher overall unemployment really benefit our society?
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Competition is the impatient and greedy child who needs immediate gratification. Cooperation is the wise, visionary parent who patiently reinforces the importance of considering all issues and potential outcomes.
The benefits of cooperative systems are evident in each of our concentric circles of interactions. Rotate 360 degrees through your world and you will see how cooperation evolves our species. Within the family, competition creates sibling rivalry and tattletales. Cooperation is an older sibling remembering when he used to be the one who broke the dinner plates and then helping a younger sibling clean up their own broken pieces before Mom and Dad get home.
Within our neighborhoods, competition is the pressure to tote your tot in a designer buggy. Cooperation is visiting sleep-deprived new parents with a casserole dish and a box of diapers.
Competition in the workplace includes backstabbing colleagues who take credit for your ideas. Cooperation is donating an ill coworker some of your sick leave even though you know your workload may increase during their absence.
Even at the extremes, cooperation trumps competition. Competitive personalities tend to adopt zero-sum mentalities. If you win, I lose. Therefore, I must keep you from winning.
At its extreme, cooperation may involve more deliberations than absolutely necessary, but it ultimately creates reasoned solutions that account for effects on all parties involved. Cooperation increases social capital through reciprocal interactions, equitably distributed resources and evenly applied laws. Indeed, small businesses seeking to compete with larger corporations would do well to replicate the example of the Dutch vendors by peddling premium experiences and quality that can't be found in the discount bin. I remember fondly how tasty the Dutch potato salad was, but the lesson I learned about cooperation was even more satisfying.
