[ves]

Competition in its recognizably modern form only recently became the foundational organizational system for civilization, and civilization “won” because (in part) a) it generally has no problem deploying incredible levels of violence and coercion, against people and the environment, and b) it promotes continuous population increase, even beyond what may be sustainable.

There’s about a million places to source this, but I might start with something like James C. Scott.

[s1artibartfast]

Competition for resources and violence is seen in primates and many mammals. Smaller social groups does not necessarily remove this element.

The main difference with humans is that we are capable of organizing and coordinating larger social structures.

Large Organizations of individuals require other large organizations to defend against

[goatlover]

Tribal groups did also compete, and our hominid cousins, several of who were around the same time as modern humans, went extinct.