A lot of this can be simplified by examining who makes the major decisions and what their values are. For at least 3000 years, and probably more, the rich and powerful have made decisions that keep them rich and powerful. They have forced those priorities on the less powerful. The kings paid for armies that kept the slaves, serfs, peasants, proles, and poor in line. Whether those people lived or died was often of no concern to the rulers.

In many ways that is what we are dealing with today. Boeing, Amazon, Google, Tesla, the development of Artificial Intelligence, the production and use of fossil fuels, and the deforestation of the planet all contribute to the profits and riches of those who already are the wealthiest. At the same time it is becoming obvious to everyone who needs to breathe that all of these activities are destroying the environment that supports human life — as well as the lives of millions of other creatures.

The question now is whether the slaves, serfs peasants, proles, and poor can organize and assert themselves so that the priorities are reversed.