The inclination toward beautification finds its roots in the American Civil War, taking form as a consequence of “brutally disfigured corpses that would have to be transported home over long distances”, the shock and horror of which was, to some extent, mitigated by innovative embalming techniques (Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History: Human Capital- Mongolia. Vol. 3, page 300). What began as small family-owned businesses later became absorbed by large corporations. Geographically mobile societies “attenuate [their] relationship with ‘home base’ at the same time that much of small-town America shrivels in the raging stream of ‘progress’” (ibid.). These societal changes are manifested in other ways, however. Monetary inflation certainly plays a considerable role in the still-increasing cost of funeral services, but is not the only attributable factor. Perianne Boring identifies the increase in overhead cost for independently owned funeral homes as another factor in her Forbes article, "Death of the Death Care Industry and Eternal Life Online", but remarks that the domination of the funeral industry by a select few, large corporations is the primary driving force behind the increase in funeral prices: “Before 1970 almost all funeral homes in the US were independently owned.  Today, about 14% of funeral homes are part of a publically traded corporation.  Service Corporation International “SCI” is the biggest with operations in the US, Canada and Germany.  They have 21,000 employees, with a $4 billion market capitalization.  SCI has been acquiring funeral homes for 40 years and controls so much of the market that they had to seek antitrust approval from the Federal Trade Commision to purchase Stewart Enterprises, Inc., the second largest funeral provider in the US, which is also publically traded.” The pooling of resources such as hearses, embalming centers, and administrative employees, she continues, allows SCI to save on the overhead costs burdening independently owned funeral homes. Overall, an SCI funeral costs 42 percent more than a funeral at an independently owned funeral home. Such reflects social stratification, even in death: “The affluent have made funerals a venue for conspicuous consumption, even when they present themselves as humble Puritans (Stannard, 1975). Meanwhile, the powerless have been confirmed in their helpless state by callous and degrading postmortem treatment.” (ibid.). Societal changes since the Civil War have facilitated large corporations’ domination of the funeral industry, creating yet another cog in a profit-crazed machine designed to maximize profit through the most “progressive” and efficient means possible.