When certain societies began to value agricultural productivity above all else, they forcibly subjected all forms of life within reach of their cities to that purpose. Communities of people who wished to hunt, fish, forage, garden, or herd on the land for subsistence purposes would be mercilessly slaughtered or enslaved, and the ecosystems they inhabited would be converted to farmland to feed the cities. Only those engaged in the full-time facilitation of crop and animal production would be allowed in the nearby countryside. Those living within the cities were prisoners, merchants, or public officials engaged administrative and social control duties. Public education ensures that few people will ever even learn how to survive independently of the economy.
Capitalism is civilization's current dominant manifestation.
The economy under capitalism is largely governed by state-chartered organizations called corporations, which enjoy the same legal status as individuals, hence shielding and limiting the liability of its participants. Most people spend the majority of each conscious day engaged in meaningless, monotonous, regimented, and often physically and mentally injurious labor to pay their bills, either because of absolute financial necessity or because of a lack of awareness that there could be any other way. Civilization was the genesis of systemic authoritarianism, compulsory servitude and social isolation, not capitalism per se. The societal complexity that is civilization is made possible by institutionalized coercion. The aforementioned political groups do not wish to end coercion, but to democratize it - that is, to extend popular participation to its implementation.