Yes, we extract a lot of value. From the earth, from others (directly, or indirectly). But perhaps the depressing fact is that in terms of raw creation of value, perhaps "playing even" is not even such a bad "score"?
PS: Extracting wealth from other people is a meaningless transaction when summing the net impact of every person.
Debt / GDP ~= 4 years. That doesn't sound insane, particularly if much of that debt is secured, but I'm not any sort of financial analyst.
Of course the other issue is that my personal "gdp" runs out when I retire - thus I have to pay capital as well as interest to continue to own the asset afterwards. That doesn't apply to countries.
This inconveniently conflicts with the old focus on economic output, the 1950s baritone-narrated black and white documentary of assembly lines and all the production numbers going up - progress!
Instead, the dude in the wilderness might hint at a happy and fulfilled life based on limited ressources.
But the farmers and home builders who work at scale require tools and resources created by industry, which in turn require raw materials, an ability to process these materials, and an ability to transport them.
So are people working in those industries any less important than the farmers and home builders themselves?
Further, those industries are capitally intensive and require a financial network to raise and allocate the capital required so these industries can function.
In a nutshell - everything is connected. How do you simply decide where to draw the line of who is contributing an essential service and who isn’t?