the selfish gene

Being currently unemployed I have decided to begin writing about the books I've been reading lately and anything else I find of interest to write about, though mostly having to do with biology of course...
Today I started "The Selfish Gene" by Richard Dawkins.

Why are people? - We, and all other living organisms on earth are "machines created by our genes." Dawkins gives us the example of a man living in the world of Chicago gangsters and how having an idea of this environment and the fact that this man lived a long prosperous life during these times allows us to make a few assumptions about him. He would clearly be tough, be able to handle guns well, and have strong social ties within the community. This can be seen as analogous to our genes and their long history through an extremely competitive world. Selfishness of a gene would clearly be an important quality to have in order to compete. If this is the case, would a gene show some form of altruism at the individual level in order to achieve it's own selfish goals? "Much as we might wish to believe otherwise, universal love and the welfare of the species as a whole are concepts that simply do not make evolutionary sense." Dawkins makes clear that he will show how individual selfishness and individual altruism are explained by the fundamental law that he calls "gene selfishness." There is a long prevailing theory in biology called "group selection" which explains altruism towards fellow members of the same species would favor the perpetuation of the species. Dawkins then presents us with the "individual selectionist" theory. He explains it as there is almost certainly a minority within groups that will not make the sacrifice for the rest and thus would exploit the altruism of the rest and is more likely to survive, mate, and pass on their genes. Having reproduced for many generations, it would become an indistinguishable between the selfish and altruistic groups.