ok so i’ve heard at least 2 different definitions of progress.
- one strictly defines progress as technological progress. the reasoning is that “progress” comes from latin “pro-gress” (marching forward) which refers to any labor process feeling very similar to a long march. exhausting.
- another nice angle i’ve heard was that “progress” is a play-on-words with progesterone which is a substance produced by biological women to advance various internal processes, as such it is understood as “what women do” or as women’s movement. it’s silly but i’ve heard it and now so have you.
especially, do you think that “progress” properly describes your goals? do you say that progress is what we need as a society? if no, how else would you describe your goals?
Killing all the bison was essentially an act of genocide against Native peoples, as far as I can tell. So sure, if you let the decisionmakers of the day define progress however they want, progress is a constant. Usually it’s thought of as a singular, abstract thing, though, that can either be achieved or not.
Burning fossil fuels was a tradeoff. We built a modern industrial economy, but in exchange we depleted the reserves in the ground and have pushed the climate out of equilibrium. Depending on how you define progress, that may have been a step forward or not.
(Also sidenote: electrification wasn’t yet complete, so rechargeability wasn’t an early car cure-all anyway. Primary cell car vs. lamp oil/lamp oil byproduct car vs. multiple fuel steam car was the competition)