The race to the bottom is so vicious I would witness sellers on Amazon unwittingly set their pricing software to undercut to the point they had to be losing money to control the buy box. There were even strategies developed by some sellers to test such software competitors were using to see if they had manually set a bottom. Some didn't, and found themselves selling their items to their competitors well below cost.

Surprisingly, there are customers who don't use price as their main factor when making purchasing decisions. I was taught not to participate in those races, and my mentors were correct that other factors such as reputation and service were more important to some segments.

I don't believe all humans are selfish babies, but do believe it is an instinct to be one. I believe that religions were invented to be a tool one could use to overcome the natural instinct of selfishness. As are national propaganda etc. Even many altruistic actions are performed for selfish reasons. Including the beginning relationship in your above scenario with the introduction of the barter between two. Each coveting variety and coming to agreement to fulfill those wants.

The question this has pushed at me for many years is how to devise system(s) capable of appealing to this trait while benefiting all involved. As mentioned, all nations to some extent do this, however the larger their influence grows the more corruption is cultivated until the beneficial ruler is now a petty dictator seeking as much sweat as possible.

A great conversation starter, unfortunately one that more often than not has unhappy endings. Seems the best one can do is implement to a degree selfless random kindness without expectation of benefit and that such behavior may spark others to do the same.