Introduction

Our data is now the most valuable asset in the world and we are not seeing a dime of it. Guano suddenly became one of the most valuable substances by weight in the world. It set off a global gold rush, well, not really a gold rush, a sh** rush. A race to get as much of that rich, avian effluvient as we could. We needed that bird s**t to save our agricultural economy. But our desperation for that sweet, sweet guano meant we didn't think twice about creating the first overseas outposts of what would become a globe-spanning American empire.