A curious turn, a curious observation and us

After the glasses have been refilled a healthy number of times, the conversation of curious young men invariably take a curious turn. Of course the above statement is only a generalization based on my observation alone, but I think many would identify with it. The other day, after the usual curious turn, I thought I had made a rather curious observation-ingrained in Man's innermost self are just a handful of primeval feelings, like hunger and fear, those that can be observed in any other mammal of lower intelligence, the instincts necessary for subsistence. Civilization dawns as Man uses that intelligence to put layer upon layer on these basic instincts. Our instinct of being 'social' probably goes as far as that of a pack of hyenas, a necessary condition for survival rather than a manifestation of love and care. As for the love of a mammalian parent, it ultimately boils down to the primeval instinct of survival again, the need for continuity of the progeny. I know that this line of thought is extremely grim and fearful, and that it undermines all that we have achieved in the thousands of years as the 'civilized', dominant being that held sway over the planet. Fortunately, our intelligence has been and continues to be more than capable of countering the animal in us, and add layers of probably genuine reasons for our existence.
Nevertheless, the fragility of Man's enterprise and the ease with which the 'layers' can be peeled off can be observed quite clearly in the world we live in today. We uphold the values of civilization with infallible integrity among those in our immediate social vicinity (read country; culture; religion; etc. etc.) but discard them when we encounter those with whom we can identify to a lesser degree, notwithstanding the fact that our 'civilized' mind should have been trained by now to see the things that are common amongst us rather than the things that divide us, which are by far lesser in number and to a great extent only superficial (like skin color for example). However, our antagonisms clearly  develop due to the perceived threat of competition, and therefore survival, or merely because of our belligerent, animalistic nature of dominance. From  the Egyptians to the Romans and then to the great colonial Empire where Darkness Prevailed (if the sun never set in that expansive Empire, then conversely, darkness too had prevailed. This is in fact a more befitting description when we see how the Empire had all but abandoned its 'civilized' values upheld in 'The Island' as it subjugated colonies to its will) we make this particularly displeasing observation, perhaps even with a greater degree of remorselessness and cruelty. The hegemonic 'Leader of the Free World' today operates through a world order that subjugates a significantly major section of the global population under its will via economic strangulation. The signs are even more ominous.
If the reason is survival, then it is hard not to find the argument ludicrous in a world that is still quite clearly abundant enough to provide for us all without us having to restore to cannibalism. And if the reason is dominance, and thereby our unquenchable greed and desire for more, then shouldn't our intelligent, civilized and cultured mind have doused such negative instincts by now with the 'layers' of civility that presumably separate us from animals? A friend of mine made a strong point the other day when he claimed that education doesn't make a difference, because in the end we always seek for more, and thereby have an inherent nature of conflict (because we clearly live in an environment with finite resources) and self-destruction. A more optimistic outlook would suggest that the 'layers' that make us civilized are more permanent, and thus a part of our evolution, where Man's nature is not static but subject to change, just like everything in our vast universe.
I hope for our sake that this is true.