Most premodern societies from the invention and growth of large-scale agriculture, so from about 3000 BCE, onward, were economically exploitative. The wealthiest 1 to 2 percent of the population typically acquired half to two-thirds of the wealth in these societies. These were preindustrial societies, so that wealth came from agricultural production. The powerful elites set the system up in such a way that wealth from agriculture flowed into their coffers.
