> If Alice performs well at her job, and her company gains a lot of marketshare as a result, she has likely caused discomfort for the employees of her company's competitors. It's frightening to imagine a world in which Alice is forced to stop performing as well because of her competitors' discomfort.
I think that's the exception rather than the rule. People are expected to act competitively in their job in a way that doesn't extend to other spheres of life.
And not so long ago there was a view that there were limits on that competition; one could outdo one's competitor, but it was unseemly to press them to the point where they were forced to fire people or go bankrupt. Workers who were very successful would charge higher prices or spend less time working so as not to outcompete others too severely; companies that were very successful would license technology cheaply, or found ways to spend their money without expanding too aggressively. In the worst case, if you put a competitor out of business you were expected to acquire them on friendly terms. Many parts of the world still operate like this. It may be less efficient than the ultracapitalist way, but it's by no means "frightening".
I think that's the exception rather than the rule. People are expected to act competitively in their job in a way that doesn't extend to other spheres of life.
And not so long ago there was a view that there were limits on that competition; one could outdo one's competitor, but it was unseemly to press them to the point where they were forced to fire people or go bankrupt. Workers who were very successful would charge higher prices or spend less time working so as not to outcompete others too severely; companies that were very successful would license technology cheaply, or found ways to spend their money without expanding too aggressively. In the worst case, if you put a competitor out of business you were expected to acquire them on friendly terms. Many parts of the world still operate like this. It may be less efficient than the ultracapitalist way, but it's by no means "frightening".