I think a select few extremely narcissistic, cynical, and nihilistic psychopaths used their inherited power to institute and entrench a form of resource distribution and valuation that would secure their dynastic succession for centuries and millennia.

People are altruistic, that's why capitalism even works in the first place- in order to compete, we absolutely need to be able to cooperate, if at the very least to all agree on the framework within which we will compete in the first place, to agree on the rules by which we will play. Please do note, the ostensible motivation and raison d'etre of capitalism is that it is the system which will bring about the greatest good for all participants.

Allegedly.