This is the disease of political power. As soon as a king becomes rich in material opulences, he wants to dominate other nations by military aggression. Similarly, mercantile men want to monopolize a certain type of business and control other mercantile groups. Impelled by false prestige and infatuated by material opulences, human society, instead of striving for Krsna consciousness, creates havoc and disrupts peaceful living. Thus men forget the real purpose of life: to attain the favor of Lord Visnu, the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
(From Srila Prabhupada's Krsna book, ch. 73: Lord Krsna Returns to the City of Hastinapura)