There are many complicating factors but arguably there were never more people around with the means to sort out the wheat from the chaff if they had the right i

There are many complicating factors but arguably there were never more people around with the means to sort out the wheat from the chaff if they had the right incentives. Happiness is obviously intertwined with techological development as anybody wearing glasses or cured from a nasty disease would happily testify. On the other hand much of the planet is nowhere near saturating its consumption appetite and it is actually physically imposible for this to happen to US standards - a permanent destabilizing force. Inventing 'sustainable consumption' is growth in itself but there is a raging debate about whether it can substitute for current practices.