Summary

The essay argues for a return to a more historical and philosophical rationale for advancing society in which it is not implicitly understood that 'progress' means 'technological innovation'. The belief in modern society that bliss is to get what we desire, and what we desire is unproblematically understood as 'individual preferences' rather than something which can change through moral education, so that we take it for granted that we can have whatever we desire at any given time in the local 7-11, is one of the reasons why we are facing catastrophe through overproduction.