Many times the title of the book grabbed our attention. This month, the new book, called “The Insatiable Machine: How Capitalism Conquered The World” (2026) by Trevor Jackson, attracted my interest. Jackson is an economic historian at University of California, Berkeley.

We all acknowledge that capitalism, especially American capitalism, has been the driving force for so-to-speak progress since last century. While we cannot stay away from human’s desire for growth and insatiable greed for better return on investment, it is a good time to stop and think of our history of capitalism.

I have learned the Industrial Revolution was the first for the world-scale capitalism form this book. But the more I have read through, the more I have learned how to interpret and handle the history in general.

Jackson quoted in the last paragraph:

“The knowledge that the world has ended before is also the knowledge that something comes after the end, something which is a s impossible to imagine as it is impossible to imagine the kinds of people who will inhabit that future, and how thy will look back on us as historical actors.”

And concluded:

“This book argues that capital is in some ways immortal, and the changes it has wrought on the world have happened on a time scale different from that of human lives. That recognition, in turn, allows us to see that the struggle for people against capital is also immortal, There is no escape from the march through time, and we don’t know where we’re gong. But we are not alone.”

My question is if this insatiable machine is sustainable.