The 2nd Wave took us off the farm, brought us new forms of governance, and expanded the concepts of wealth to include capital and labor.  But it was still based on a competitive system of limited resources, one that would once again become increasingly captured.  

Nationalism

During this time, many new forms of government came to exist (democratic, socialist, communist, fascist, etc.).  But just like before, these governments were competing for limited resources, resulting in all manner of wars and combat.  Eventually over time, the surviving governments stabilized as they worked out a way to share power -- not only among themselves, but also among the legacy elite (the clergy, nobility, intelligentsia, military, etc.) 

But just like the Roman Empire was unprepared for the influence of the Church, so too were governments unprepared for the influence of the newest class of wealth holders -- the capitalists.  Over time, the capitalist and their corporations grew into huge bureaucracies, often larger and more powerful than governments themselves.  

And just like before, competition drove the system to excess.  Which leads us to The Present.