Society, as an economic participant, has options and alternate goods it can spend its money on. Historically, maybe there was nothing else more interesting to

Society, as an economic participant, has options and alternate goods it can spend its money on. Historically, maybe there was nothing else more interesting to spend money on, so people allocated their time and energy to these grand architecture. Now the Medicis of the world can spend their wealth on space exploration and memes instead. Many of these places are also spiritually motivated, and the world is increasingly atheist.