Freedom of competition is the freedom to produce by one’s efforts (and in conjunction with the voluntary efforts of others), and the freedom to trade what one has produced, for one’s self-interest/profit, i.e., in the pursuit of one’s happiness.
Free-competition is a consequence of the political right to life, liberty, property and the pursuit of happiness applied to the economic sphere of production and trade.
Morally, competition among producers is founded not on service to consumers — which is a result; but, upon the pursuit of rational self-interest, i.e., the profit motive. Economically, its result is a free-market. A free-market does not mean ‘freedom’ from the rule of law (“freedom without the law is no freedom at all”), but freedom from criminals and regulators who violate your rights.
The freedom to produce and keep what one has created is the application of the right to property. The freedom to trade goods on one’s terms is the application of the right to liberty. The right to advertise what one has produced is the application of the right to free speech. The right to profit from what one has produced is to keep what one has created is the application of the right to the pursuit of happiness.
Free-market competition presupposes a social system based on individual rights. Free-competition without individual rights is a contradiction in terms; it is an oxymoron. Of course, if one is a communist, fascist or socialist (all are different forms of a single evil principle: collectivism) and does not believe in individual rights then competition has an entirely different meaning.
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All social systems have competition; the difference is that under capitalism, competition for economic power results in the creation and trading of wealth, whereas in collectivist societies, competition for political power results in the plunder and destruction of wealth.
Under capitalism, competition is an economic process where men do not compete to forcibly put down others, but to raise their self-up by creating values which are potentially unlimited.
Under all collectivist systems competition is a political process where men compete not to create values but to maneuver themselves into a position to plunder and mooch the wealth of others.