Maybe this is the big filter, the one from the Drake equation and the Fermi Paradox that destroys civilizations before they can spread past their own planet. Not nuclear bombs or viruses or AI or grey goo nanomachines but overcoming the fact that the worst garbage of the species rises to positions of power because they don’t have any morals that would slow them down or give them pause for thought before exploiting the rest of the species in any way possible.