Accelerating Growth As we conclude this map survey, let's take a moment to notice how America has changed, gradually transitioning from a farming society to an industrial, and now digital nation.

	Concentrated Wealth Since World War Two, corporations have been on an expansionist tear, gobbling up rivals as they grow. The chart above summarizes acquisitions by the big internet giants. Each has acquired a continually growing list of smaller startups, to create a behemoth that today dominates its market. This is at odds with the comfortable myth that progress has been the triumph of free-market capitalism, with lots of suppliers competing for customers on the basis of price and quality. Today, it's winner-take-all.
	Efficient Extraction Corporations are extractive, by nature. Their goal is to extract value as efficiently as possible, wherever it can be found. This leaves the entire planet stripped of any form of wealth that can be moved. Distance is irrelevant, as long as the product can be loaded onto a vessel and shipped elsewhere. After paying the absolute minimum in wages, all remaining profit is whisked electronically back to corporate headquarters, far distant from the often impoverished communities where the workers actually live.
	Subscription Model Corporations provide many benefits, but strive to do so with as few employees as possible. The ideal product is one which can be delivered as a stream of electrons to users all over the planet, paying a monthly fee. Forever. Social media uses a different strategy. Users don't pay anything at all, with profits being derived instead from advertising. The 'product' the companies are offering to their real customers (advertisers) is 'eyeballs' or 'clicks.' Social media is the perfect delivery system.
	Relentless Conflict Throughout the centuries, conflict has been the quickest and easiest way to acquire wealth. Throughout this time, the technology of warfare has continuously maximized destructive power. The maps show that man's taste for warfare is not diminishing. As Artificial Intelligence is used increasingly in the design and application of weapons, it appears almost inevitable that combined destructive power will eventually overwhelm the capacity of the planet to recover from damage. It may take a miracle to save us.
	Technology is the Driver Man has always been driven by the desire to achieve a more comfortable life, with less effort and more leisure. Technology began to intrude on the simple world of farming when the first steam engine arrived, around 1800. From then on, the pace of change has been relentless, with each new technology providing fresh ways to accumulate wealth. Digital processing is the latest rung on this ladder. It may take a superhuman, collective effort to prevent this from becoming the final rung.