Related: compete, exclusion, finite, profit, scarce Rivalry, whether real or artificial, is prerequisite to profit. A consumer pays price above cost whenever there is real or artificial rivalry. Rivalry is 'real' when a product is scarce even after all effort has been toward increasing abundance. Rivalry is 'artificial' when a product is scarce because of actions by owners to decrease abundance. Artificial rivalry can be held in place when consumers do not know how to organize and own the PhysicalSources of production themselves. A UserOwned organization does not employ artificial rivalry unless they are acting against new users that are not yet owners - and in that case they are not a true UserOwned company. Physical sources are rivalrous (finite) in various ways. Virtual sources have infinite potential, but are rivalrous at any point in time because they must always be hosted by physical sources. So, while most things have infinite potential, all things are rivalrous at any point in time. The virtual parts of bread include: . Genetics of the wheat and yeast. . Design of any tools used. . Techniques used, including the recipie. The physical parts of bread include: . The seeds as genetic containers. . The land, water, and tools used to till, plant, grow, harvest, store, grind, mix, knead, bake, cut. Software has infinite potential, but is also rivalrous because of the physical sources required to host it.