Looking at both the long-run trajectory of Goliath and current trends, our Global Goliath appears destined to hurtle down one of three paths. The first, and most likely, is self-termination. The second is a world in chains. The third is a world in which we somehow manage to shackle and control it. Reversing inequality and establishing deep democracy in a lasting fashion has unfortunately been a rarity throughout history. It is a highly unlikely outcome, which makes it worth fighting for even more desperately. While throughout history the collapse of a Goliath was usually temporary and a liberation, in the future it threatens to be permanent and take us and much of the planet with it. We are passengers on a journey that looks likely to end in chains or evolutionary suicide. Our Global Goliath will die explosively unless we kill it first.

Excerpt from Goliath’s Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse by Luke Kemp, published by Penguin Random House, New York, USA, 2025, p. 406.