# race to the bottom (collective)

*Ordinarily means:* a situation where everyone tries to offer more for less, leading to worse conditions for all

a collective drift where each participant lowers their standard to stay in, not because they chose the outcome but because the window for better options closed as others moved first

- Computed level: L15 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: economics

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [drift](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-drift.aimless), [collective](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-collective.group), [window](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-window.range), [parameter](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-parameter.condition), [maintenance](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-maintenance.upkeep)

**Through:** competitive

**Novel properties:**
- emergent_outcome

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-race-to-the-bottom.collective*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-race-to-the-bottom.collective.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*