Why did Thomas Hobbes think competition and fear could lead to violence?

In his masterpiece, Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes argued that in the state of nature—a condition lacking civil authority—human beings are driven by self-interest, vanity, and competition for resources.12

Hobbes posited that violence arises from this competitive environment because individuals lack a common standard of behavior and possess no natural self-restraint. Even moderate individuals, who might prefer peace, are forced into preemptive violence because they fear that a ruthless minority will otherwise strip them of their security and possessions.34

This pervasive "continual fear, and danger of violent death" creates a "war of all against all," where life is "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short". Because individuals are rational and self-interested, they recognize that this state of total liberty is against their own interests. Consequently, Hobbes argued that the only way to escape this cycle of violence is through a social contract, where individuals collectively transfer their power to a sovereign capable of enforcing peace and punishing those who threaten it.1423