The most corrupt countries in the world outlawed profits.
Profit is but one of many ways to compete. You can't eliminate competition by eliminating the ability to profit:
Profit is but one of many ways to compete. You can't eliminate competition by eliminating the ability to profit:
Capitalism is not very old in the grand scheme of human history. Most of human history falls under a collectively owned economy.
Maybe much of human pre-history, or peoples with no history could be classified this way (although struggles for control of resources was still pervasive), but the historical period of humanity goes hand in hand with ownership and some of the first historical records were in fact to record ownership.
The principle of First Possession, where other animals have a tendency to cede control over a resource to the first animal that comes to possess it, is widely observed by behaviorally advanced animals, and game theory experiments suggest it reduces conflict, which would explain why.