play against each other in the playoff. For the past few years, it seems there is becoming a sort of dynasty established by a few teams as the same 2-3 teams have been consistently playing in the playoff. As college football teams begin winning games, they are given a reward of more access to television time. This increased time on television allows them to increase their fan bases, bring more revenue into their programs, and attract more recruits to their teams. As the teams are more visible, they can generate more money through ticket sales and booster donations. This allows them to hire the best coaches and build the best facilities at their schools. All of these things in turn entice the best players to join their football programs, which increases the likelihood that they will continue to win and be successful. The reinforcing feedback loop has now become created and entrenched in their systems.
We also see this at play in nature. The competitive exclusion principle tells us that it is impossible to have two different species living in exactly the same ecological niche, competing with one another for exactly the same food and resources. When two species are different, one of the species will either be able to reproduce faster or be more effective in using resources than the other species.
This will serve to give that species an advantage over the other one as it will begin to increase its population and continue to be dominant over the other species. The dominant species does not need to fight the other species. By using up all of the available resources, it means there are none left for the weaker competitor. This will force that species to either move away, adapt by using different resources, or become extinct. [xxxviii]
A warning from the “other side”
Karl Marx, a German economist and philosopher who developed the idea of communism in response to problems he witnessed in capitalism, believed that competition in the marketplace actually eliminates competition in the
marketplace, if left unchecked. He was very critical of capitalism as he pointed out that when there are two competing businesses, one will invariably gain an advantage over the other by being more efficient, having better technology, or making wise investment choices. That advantage would generate more money, which could then be reinvested in the company and its facilities and technology.
This reinforcing feedback loop, if it goes on without government protections, will make the dominant business rapidly able to corner the market and eliminate all competition.
We have seen Marx’s prediction at work in the United States. Automobile manufacturers have been reduced to three (antitrust laws have kept it from dropping to one), many big cities have only one newspaper, and so on.
Television, internet, and telecommunications providers continue to merge with the government, keeping a watchful eye to prevent any one company from becoming so big and powerful that it drives all of its competitors out of business.
The other side is true as well; the poor also get poorer. Poor kids usually have access to the worst education, and thus the worst jobs and income levels. Their poverty is reinforced at each stage of life. People who do not have a lot of money are either unable to qualify for loans, or must pay a disproportionately high interest rate to the well-off — who collect the money. This keeps the poor from being able to make investments and improve their futures like the wealthy can. People with low incomes often are unable to own their own homes. They pay rent to those who can afford to own property. Tenants supply landlords, whether with a stable income source or enough to buy a new flat for more people to rent. Real life Monopoly, folks.
The poor tend to pay a greater percentage of their income to taxes and healthcare. Wealthy individuals and corporations have access to attorneys who can help them find loopholes in the tax code and avoid paying a comparable
amount of their income in taxes. They are also able to lobby government more to have their interests represented and to receive tax breaks.
Often people are able to receive discounts when they purchase items in bulk.
Because the poor are unable to afford these large purchases, they often have to pay higher, per piece prices. As the poor often suffer from pollution and disease before the rest of the population, and often have no other choice than to take a dangerous, low-paying job or live in an area with a high crime rate, the reinforcing feedback loop grows ever stronger, and the cycle remains entrenched in society generation after generation.
How do you break out of the trap of “success to the successful?”
Sometimes it is possible to move, adapt, or evolve in order to escape competitive exclusion. Businesses can diversify themselves with a new product or service. It is possible to keep the “rich get richer” phenomenon in check if there are other feedback loops in place (like antitrust laws) that keep any one business from completely taking over the marketplace and driving out all competition.
Pushing the reset button and rearranging the playground or the rules can be an option to stop the cycle. In golf, for example weaker players are given a handicap. In Monopoly, a new game is a fresh start where all players can begin as equals again. School choice and scholarships for disadvantaged students can provide some with equal access to the best schools — for a lucky few. Having the wealthy pay a higher tax rate than the poor, people making donations to charitable organizations, the public welfare system, unions in the workplace, and assistance in attaining healthcare and scholarships are a few of the measures many societies have in place to combat this system trap.
Diversification can offer an opportunity to change the game and allow those who are losing to possibly be able to become competitive once again. Having antitrust laws in place to keep businesses from completely eliminating all
competition. Finding ways to limit some of the advantages of those with power and giving them to those without through unions, scholarships, or financial assistance; and offering rewards to winning competitors that will not impact future successes in the competition, are all possible solutions to breaking free from the system trap called “success to the successful.”