Rampant resource extraction by the elites is a symptom of an underlying diaease of eventual social collapse. Those who can infer imminent social degeneration and collapse will attempt to extract as much resource as possible from their surroundings. The West is dying, and the rate at which this death progresses is accelerating. Scott Adam's opportunism is the only logical behavior in a society that is experiencing irreconcillable sociopolitical division within itself, facing inevitable economic contraction and disturbance. Those with means will be able to weather the near-future ruin; those without the means need to extract as much resource as possible, if they hope to survive the next collapse.