Is competition good?

There has always been a question as to whether competition is good or bad. This topic of conversation dates back to the start of corporations and monopolies during Andrew Jackson's presidency and has lasted until this very day and age. The range of competition can go from whether children should participate in interactive sports or whether companies are being too greedy or corrupt for their own good. Upon researching for this blog post, I read an exercept from a psychology self help book called "Be Your Own Therapist". This book excerpt talked about how a sense of competition can create a sense of determination and hard work among children. For example, being a part of interactive sports teams can push children to work hard to win games and improve at practices. This excerpt can be views here: http://www.psychologyhelp.com/work148.htm . JP Morgan was one of the more controversial members of the business community who practiced great competition in his US Steel Company. His company, the JP Morgan Social Business Advisor, posted an article discussing why competition is good: http://www.jmorganmarketing.com/why-competition-is-a-good-thing/ . One of the points in this article that struck a chord with me the most was the point that mentioned that people are always looking for the newer and better products, and without competition, there would be no iPod, Microsoft Windows Program, or Google. All of these products were created in a time period where the companies (whether it be Apple, Microsoft, or Google) were competing with others to make such landmark achievements in the technological community. I think that it is important to remember that competition can bring good for the community. Furthermore, competition benefits consumers, which makes up the majority of the American population. As mentioned in an article called "Competition is Actually Good" from OS News Online (http://www.osnews.com/story/18546/Competition_Is_Actually_Good ), competition between companies can drive prices of goods down, in order from one company to sell more products than the other. This, in turn, seems to have no negative downfalls. Consumers are offered two products, both at rapidly lowered prices, and simply have to make the choice of which one to buy. Overall, I strongly feel that competition is not a bad thing; it can instill hard work and determination, lead to the production of the best products, and benefit consumers buy marketing products at lower prices.