Great little article on evolutionary genetic selection processes.... group v individual selection priorities.

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/primate-diaries/2012/07/09/the-good-fight/

I've come across this evolutionary issue/question before, so it's not a new issue, but group selection is now receiving new adherents that were formerly staunch supporters of the kin (individual) selection mechanism. I read a statistical model analysis a year or two ago that showed how the altruistic gene couldn't survive without the selfish gene and  vice-versa...and that the ratio of one to the other always remained within a range... which when nearing an extreme of the range forced a reversal toward the other end of the range.   An example of nature's self limiting servo system, where a static equilibrium condition is never achieved.... hence always cyclical.  Sounds a lot like how political economy behaves....(hence humans) .  . 

The article isn't statistical or math oriented (not one equation in it).. so fast, easy reading.

I don't like the implications in either event though... not reaching a steady state equilibrium means we'll forever bounce between some form of despotism (oligarchy) and some form of progressivism ("communism" in the colloquial form)... it's only a matter of whether the extremes will eventually be more limited as evolutionary selection processes continue.... but I don't think they will.... at least not until the globe's current group gene pools coalesce into one 'group'.  Meanwhile, significant & strong elements of the dog-eat-dog "selfish" genes will continue to hold sway.   And.... since they've always been there (in all history we know of), I can't see any reason for their holding any dominantly less sway into the future.  

There is one possibility that other species don't possess... higher levels of abstract reasoning... i.e. higher form of intelligence.... so maybe the human species can evolve far enough to the point where the use of our intelligence can find a means to limit the extremes to an effective roughly steady state equilibrium condition. .. .something like we use international sports competitions in place of physical conquest.. or something.