Well, this seems obvious to me, in two senses. You wouldn't say about carrots that it is strange that those in the broiler are always softer than those in the salad. You would say it was due to their history, in the broiler. Those who spend time at the top become top-people, which is none too nice. The second parallel sense is if you construct society so that to get ahead requires that people stamp on other people, well then, that trait will begin to appear and people with it will rise.
Sadists apply for the job.
And those in whom it appears will get ahead. Who is going to set up a society in which more than a few percent can read, in which people don't eat people, in which there is no longer slavery, etc. etc. There is progress. It is almost always due to those who suffer and see through to the causes of the suffering trying to eliminate them. This would imply that you already have an enlightened general population - which is not what we have now.