EXACTLY! And how to reconcile the two in a more just society occurs to me to be the million dollar question for anyone on the Left. The problem is that a lot of people on the Left grow squeamish over the words "human nature". That's too bad, and I think a lot of problems arise from the notion that everything is a social construct, that somehow violence, competition, hierarchy are things that will just disappear-poof- with the proper social engineering. Obviously, competition and cooperation both take on a certain shape under capitalism; they took on a certain shape under so-called real socialism which seems to not be lacking in cut-throat power grabbers....and it existed and had a somwhat different face in so-called primitive communism...as it does in our primate ancestors.
Unless we come to terms with this, the Left is always going to be either an opposition movement OR recreate the kind of shit that we have seen in places like China and North Korea.
Thomas
===== <<You and me baby ain't nothin' but mammals So let's do it like they do it on the Discovery Channel>>
Bloodhound Gang, "The Bad Touch"
__________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? The New Yahoo! Shopping - with improved product search http://shopping.yahoo.com