The only thing that comes to mind is efficiency being the not-rose-colored version of progress. Efficiency of what though? Largely capitalism. Neither efficienc

The only thing that comes to mind is efficiency being the not-rose-colored version of progress. Efficiency of what though? Largely capitalism. Neither efficiency nor capitalism are goals, but rather they are the framework that the 'developed' western world operate within. So basically there were some rules made up for the game we'll be playing during our lives. Those rules get indoctrinated within us, then we try to fulfill our inner desires and imagined goals using those rules, following them, breaking them, sometimes reinterpreting them, etc. On the plus side, if we look back several hundred years we like what we have today better, so hopefully in another few hundred years things will be even better.