I don't know that it is normal as much as it is a byproduct of survival. Sure, people huddled together after 9/11, but it only lasted a few days. Also, even within cohesive units, there is ordinal structure and hierarchy. I don't know that we'll easily get away from that and more into egalitarian mentalities. We each have a common bond of suffering - on differing levels of classification, yet similar emotional impacts - meaning that we internalize hurt in similar manners. A problem is that much of our emotional hurt is culturally created (age to have sex, results of having sex, most forms of depression, overwhelming of pharmaceutical selection), so I (and Fukuyama) might agree that we are becoming neurologically posthuman because of the enhancements available, but this still refuses to acknowledge the cause of the strife.

Some socialists say that economies are fantastical, yet these economies are the driving forces that induce innovation. From my standpoint, as a futurist, I want to see how far humanity can go and also realize a true posthuman future. To revert to barter and even promote equal distribution of goods seems, to me, counter-intuitive. It is sad that many are suffering. And that should be alleviated. It is often argued in the literature that we should fix current problems before inventing new technologies that cause even more, but I can't see us slowing down. We have a duty to push our human limits to their extreme potential, and I see no better way than freedom of choice, individual rewards, and a free market economy.

If we had reached our potential as beings, then we could cool down and spread the wealth because, as immortals, we would be forced to live together eternally and thus we'd have reached a pinnacle and would need to pull the disadvantaged up to the top (or kill them off). However, at that point, population capacities in mind, we would have to become sexless in a procreation respect. Unless we do find the galaxyy to be infinite, we'd have to cease growing. We've already reached a certain level of overpopulation. Some argue that we could reduce the size of our stature and/or build our communities high up in the air, but as immortals, or even with extremely extended lives beyond the current venture, we would still reach a point beyond diminishing returns of population.

Competition may not necessarily be normal, but it is a driving force that creates our surroundings. Competition can be unnecessarily abused, such as through sports, bullying, and impression of the opposite sex, but the bottom line is that it provides us with an identity and, usually, plausible goals.