Historians and economists commonly cite natural disasters and foreign invasions to explain cultural collapses. The problem is, human families have been suffering and overcoming disasters for thousands of years. Humans cover most of the earth; they have learned to live on polar ice and in arid deserts. They have adapted to tropical islands and rain forests. Humans live literally everywhere. And wherever humans wander, they create cultures and civilizations. Civilizations fall apart when human economies and cultures collapse. The question is--what forces, over long, long time periods, divide and destroy human economies and healthy human cultures? And why do these forces keep that human family from reuniting? These forces are apparently invisible, and they work over extended periods of time, beyond the short lifespans and understandings of ordinary humans. But what are these inhuman forces exactly? And how, specifically, do they function?In police investigations, following the capital flow often leads investigators to important facts—such as, why crimes are committed and who the criminals are. Most crimes are disputes over capital. Indeed, following the capital flow, seeking the facts, is the intent of this book. We hope to encounter the true criminals of history. The conclusions should be irrefutable and obvious.But to be thorough, we need to start at the beginning, the true beginning of capital exchanges: This original capital economy, the economy of life, started long before humans arrived, billions of years ago.So we will begin 4.1 billion years ago at the origin of capital economies on earth. We will eventually include the ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, China, The Khmer, The Maya, The Anasazi, Europe, Ottomans, Africa, and the Americas. Why did they fall? Why did they fail to rise again? And how do the natural forces of cultural entropy continue to impact modern civilizations today?