Welcome to the Extraction Economy

The problem today: Our obsession with money and its glorification is not only out of control, but it has also become destabilizing. We have entered what you might call “the extraction economy” – the period in which we have normalized the behavior of individuals and corporations extracting the maximum from someone else.  

It Didn’t Used to Be This Way

One of the things I’ve been accused of over the years is having a certain nostalgia about the past. Perhaps that’s a bit naïve in the sense that our awareness or knowledge of all that happened around us was much more limited back in the 70s, 80s, or 90s, let’s say.

Yet, at the same time, I think in our rush to embrace (or adapt to all circumstances), we often lose sight of some of the positive aspects of the way we used to live.

One of those things was that not everything used to be about money. Really. In the 1970s, we used to make films for art’s sake and music for music’s sake. Not so long ago, athletes played sports because they loved the game. We pursued hobbies – for fun, not because they would make us Instagram-famous.

But more so than those select examples, we used to be more humble about money. We didn’t flaunt it. Few would be caught being so nakedly ambitious about attaining it. If you had money, people were generally shamed into not talking about it. And never – ever – did anyone talk about how much they made, at least in polite society.  

Today, we have the situation where it seems everyone is trying to extract the maximum dollars from someone else. And there’s no shame in doing that. We have CEOs who get paid 300 to 400 times what an average worker does. (In the 1980s, the average difference was about 30x.)

Are CEOs really worth that much more? No.

Want to go to a concert or even a sporting event? The average ticket price for a major act was $136 in 2024. (And for $136, you’re not getting all that close to the stage). Way back in 1985 – we went for $12. We could afford it ourselves, and our dollars went a long way. Even with regular inflation over those 40 years, that’s an absurd increase.

Want to buy a soft drink in the airport? You’ll pay triple what you’d pay at a CVS in your neighborhood. And it’s probably not that airport retailer’s fault either. The other day, I saw that a longtime local small business (an ice cream shop) moved out of a local strip mall in a high-end part of our town. The reason: The property owner was doubling the monthly rent. Let’s say that again. Doubling the rent. Because they could. Not because they had any desire to really support local small businesses while still making money. Who’s moving in? A national chain (the only one that could afford it). 

Yet do you blame those who are trying like crazy to get as much money as possible from someone else? We don’t really have a reliable or credible social safety net here in the States (and with Orange Nightmare currently running things, that is only eroding more day by day). You’re pretty much on your own in the U.S.

And after years of allowing the wealthy billionaires to lobby to cut their own taxes, which in effect is the other huge way in which they’ve been able to extract the most money possible, it should be no surprise we’re left with a system that doesn’t work for the average person.

We’re Moving to a World Where Con Artists Thrive

To be clear, no one here is against a reasonable free market system. But in order for capitalism to function, there have to be controls and regulations put in place. You can’t let companies pollute the atmosphere at will. We can’t let companies that abuse the rights of workers continue to do that. We can’t let companies that make billions get away without paying any taxes or reinvesting in the community.

But we’re basically in that exact world now. Where anything goes as long as you make money. Doesn’t matter what you promise a customer. Whether you’re a fraud and exposed as such, or whether you ever pay any penalties for bad behavior.

Partly thanks to Orange moron, we’re literally moving to a world where con artists like him thrive and are freer than ever, thanks to the fact that he’s been abandoning any oversight by the federal government over his and others’ behavior. That’s bad news for everyone.

The Future: Only the Wealthy Will Be Spending

One of the fascinating things is watching the market for services, especially high-end luxury goods or services. Generally, it’s the one area that continues to experience steady growth. Have you followed the recent moves by airlines to offer high-end lounges at airports? Caviar, sushi bars, and more. It’s great for the wealthy, who will spend the money for exclusivity.

But what about everyone else?

I was reading a New York Times article recently about Disney World. Marketed as a place for everyone, it is no longer that at all. What many of us parents already know: it’s become a place only the rich can afford to take their kids, while the middle class and the poor struggle to pay the ticket prices.  

What’s becoming more concerning – and a lot more clear – is that our “extraction economy” will have a Darwinian effect in that only those who do the extracting will be able to afford any of the products and services being offered. 

And what about technology advances such as AI? Let’s face it, AI has ONE value primarily for companies: It saves them on cost. You’re already seeing it with the mass layoffs at different tech companies, and even the AI CEOs are warning that more are to come. 

We Could Use That Sense of Shame and a Bit More Thought About the Greater Good

One of the hardest things to digest is watching people online who are so nakedly ambitious in terms of their own self-promotion or aggrandizement. Let’s face it. They’re often pretty – doesn’t matter if it’s a man or a woman, or someone who defines themselves as neither. The goal is money or fame. Or both. And they make no apologies for presenting themselves that way.

Maybe they’re entertaining. Or just good looking. But you end up watching these individuals and walking away feeling like your soul just got ripped from you. There’s no joy around it. They’re not helping anyone else. There’s no value or genuine empathy for others or what they go through. There’s no sense of a greater good. It’s about money.

And frankly, it’s pretty hollow.

Maybe part of the answer is rediscovering our collective sense of shame, not in making money per se, but in flaunting it. To make it less societally acceptable. It’s not an outrageous thought. In other countries, this is still the case.

The other piece: It’s certainly cliché now, but it’s time we have to start having our business schools or business leaders stop obsessing about profits or their own salaries and focus more on their long-term responsibilities for the community at large, their workers, and their customers. As companies and individuals, isn’t it time to stop extracting the maximum value from everything? After all, if your surrounding communities, workers, or customers break down, there won’t be any future sales happening for anyone.

It’s sad to even suggest, but if something doesn’t change soon, that may be the biggest threat our system faces in the not-so-near future.