What planet are you living on? Last time I looked, about 93% of people in this country go on to work in corporate America after going to school and corporate America is based on competition for those who want to succeed, and mediocrity for those who just want to get by. This is the system, like it or not. The rich do get richer and the poor do get poorer, generally (not always) because the rich work harder at it. It may not be fair, you may not like it like that, but it is the way the world works.
The idea of a socialist utopia where there is no competition has been tried many times and it has always failed. The reason America works is because the competition is tempered with compassion. This is the most competitive society in the world but also the most generous.
Its amusing to see slaves defend the slave system.
You work, another profits. The rich are not richer because of them working harder or any other such virture. It is leverage. They leverage capital. They also leverage the labor of peons whom they have convinced to work for less.
Competition in corporate America? Is that what explains the legions of executives of failing companies walking away with repriced options (repriced to still be above water even at todays depressed prices which is an insane thing to do from a stockholders or bond holders viewpoint), walking away with loan forgiveness + plus cash to pay for the taxes, walking away with millions of $$$ in bonuses? I refer to Kmart, Global Crossing, Lucent... there are many others...