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OPPOSITION

121

struggle. From a correlation such as this spring the bitter
quarrels that are being fought within political factions or
trade unions or families.
Competition

A special type of correlation between unity and opposition
 occurs in the different forms of competition. Competition
 is distinguished from an ordinary struggle by the
fact that it is an indirect conflict. In one form of competition,
 the object of the conflict is in the hands of a third person,
 and the mere victory over the opponent, although the
first necessary step, is not the final aim. In the second form
of competition, each competitor works immediately for the
final aim without spending any energy on his opponent.
This type of competition is illustrated in a track meet and
in modern business.
The runner who succeeds by his speed, the merchant by
the price of his goods, and the preacher by his oratory may
be stimulated by the efforts of their competitors, but they
proceed as if otherwise these competitors were non-existent
and their own aim and purpose the only thing in this world.
This complete concentration on the factual aspect of the
issue leaves only an antagonism of a formal nature. The
result is that competition can be used as a form of conflict
which will be of benefit to both parties. Competition is
often stimulated artificially, as between the regiments of
an army or between subgroups of co-workers for a common
cause. It will not only lead to an increased activity on the
part of each competing group which will be for the benefit
of the whole, but even the victory of the winner will indirectly
 benefit the losers.
This peculiar character of competition, the neglect of
the opponent and the concentration on the objective re- Soz.,

 pp. 271-77.