102 LEGAL IMPACTS OF COVID-19 IN THE TOURISM INDUSTRY Corcovado Mountain in Rio’s Tijuca Forest. Materialists might seek inspiration from Ernst Bloch’s Das Prinzip Hoffnung (The Principle of Hope). We will overcome the challenge together3. Togetherness is also at the heart of competition law and policy: it regulates whether, and to what extent, companies may join forces to achieve a common objective. We are still in the state of shock that brings us together, close ranks to confront the common evil, just as in Game of Thrones, where different houses rivalling for the iron throne join forces against the Night King and his White Walkers – temporarily at least. Too much togetherness can lead to collusion, which is detrimental to consumer welfare and produces sub-competitive conditions. Competition law and policy also regulates rivalry in order to ensure a level playing field for all market players. This is no simple task, as competitiveness (i.e. the desire to win) is one of the strongest forces inherent in man. In 1919, when Europe lay devastated in ruins after an exhausting war, Paul Valéry described “peace” as the state in which the “natural hostility between individuals” expresses itself through “competitive creativity” and “productive rivalry”4. According to Valéry, the destructive forces of war are unleashed when mankind suffers fatigue, mentally and physically, and is too tired to compete. His view has important implications for the understanding of the competitive process: competition includes both rivalry and hostility, which is part of human nature; there may be ugly winners5 and disappointed losers6, but competition is nevertheless a creative and constructive process, fundamentally opposed to the destructive process of war. We, therefore, must ensure we rest well, as physical and mental fatigue would make us destructive. Competition law and policy attempt to navigate the competitive process between the temptations of excessive togetherness and destructive rivalry. Competition law and policy will undoubtedly adapt to the new situation and play out differently, but in the author’s opinion, not fundamentally. Below we explain why. 3 The author’s Portuguese friend and former colleague, Margarida Rosado da Fonseca, would certainly agree with this take on things. 4 Paul Valéry, La Crise de l' Esprit, Première lettre (1919). “Et qu’est -ce que la paix? La paix est peut-être, l’état de choses dans lequel l’hostilité naturelle des hommes entre eux se manifeste par des créations, au lieu de se traduire par des destructions comme fait la guerre. C’est le temps d’une concurrence créatrice, et de la lutte des productions. Mais Moi, ne suis-je pas fatigué de produire? N’ai-je pas épuisé le désir des tentatives extrêmes et n’ai-je pas abusé des savants mélanges? Faut-il laisser de côté mes devoirs difficiles et mes ambitions transcendantes?”. 5 Cf. The Rolling Stones, “Winning Ugly”, Dirty Work (1986). 6 Cf. The Beatles, “I’m a Loser”, Beatles for Sale (1964).
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTE4NzM5Nw==