the cavemen did not have much of impact on the surroundings... but.. the wooly mammoths are gone... so.. the cavemen grow into a bigger society and the local cave's shaman realizes, that he does not have to hunt for food, all he has to do is BS his way around and the hunters wil bring him the food...

fast forwards a bit... now we have pharaohs, at the top of the food chain, who force a lot of people into servitude, with the help of the next tier of privileged, the nobility, who manipulates the next layer, the soldiers who keep the general populace at bay... the environmental impact is less noticiable, but the politics are born, as the underdog elite, the priests (the shamans!!), are the ones installing and removing the pharaohs, to futher their agenda, such as getting the resources without extending much of effort (granted, the temples kept the corporate knowledge)... the priest are doing their deeds with the help of "gods", and they manipulate the "public opinion" - this pharaoh was bad by the gods and they struck him down, and they installed the other pharaoh, who is good by the gods... the pharaoh is just is a marionet in the hands of the priests...

fast forward, say to our times... we have democracy but not direct popular vote... the last standing european dictatorship, Belorus, has direct popular vote... our military fights communist ideas but lives in a communist bubble of free education (heavily subsidised), free medical, early retirement - i find it very interesting how can society give them the communist perks and charge them to fight communism?...the priests have changed their ropes and now they are corporate barons, they still like the idea to get the resources and not hunt for them... when in Rome, do as romans do - and the romans wanted bread and entertainment... so, you have the football, the baseball (and Congressional hearings about how to play those games, as the Congress has no OTHER things to worry about), and then you need to feed the masses - the well fed do not revolt... so, the priests.. errr... the corporations invent preservatives, that extend the shelf life of any given product, and the store shelves are full of all kinds of food... the quality of the food is not the same any longer, but hey - your body can't tell the difference... wait... was it corn syrup? or sugar? anyways... do as romans do - keep the legions occupied, do not let them back into metropoly, have them fight wars, overfeed your population, relax, rule the world, enjoy the life...

hahaha, i went waaay out on the limb with this one, didn't i?