In my opinion, the only consistent feature of all these models of exploitation is a system of class.

From the aristocracy in the colonies, to the nobility of Europe. Peasants, serfs, slaves, levies, concubines, servants, tenant farmers, list goes on throughout history.

The fundamental problem, the enemy if you will, is a social order that rewards and maintains exploitation, in which the economy is commandeered to serve the interests of one class above another, as opposed to the general prosperity of all.