caitlin brings it all down to the current reality of motivation in the empire's societal goals;

Basically the problem is that our whole planet has been gamified. All the Earth’s life, resources and geography have been folded into this sick game where people commodify them into points called money, for no other reason than to score as many points as possible.

A tree is worth a set amount of points in the game. A fish, a liter of water, a barrel of oil, or an acre of land are each worth a set amount of points. Human labor is worth a set amount of points, and the products it produces are worth a greater amount of points. Nothing’s what it actually is in the game; first and foremost it’s the number of points it can be used to score. Someone who’s quite adept at the game never sees things in and of themselves, they see only their point-scoring value.

Everything’s been reduced to the value of the points it can be used to score, and all of human behavior is driven by this point-scoring game. Food, shelter and resources are not allocated in whatever way would best serve human interests, they’re allocated based on the play dynamics of the game. The ecosystem is not treated in ways that benefit its thriving, it’s treated in whatever way scores the most points in the game. People are not treated with care and respect, they’re treated in accordance with their point-scoring ability in the game.........more........